Long Post on Capture, edit, final but worth theread I think

[arcorob]

sorry if this is long but I am sure many have run into this.

I have an analog Hi-8 video of my daughters wedding that I am trying to capture (in pieces) , edit with a good tool, and transition to Mpeg 1 or VCD for VCD burn.

Now my capture card is ATI AIW 128 Pro. System is P4 with 2 gig CPU, 1 gig memory , 3 hard drives (NTSF on a 120 gig for larger files) Sound card is Creative Labs SB512 . With that out of the way..

I have MULTIPLE tools, every one with an issue !!!
ATI native capture to .AVI works great, but I notice if I go too long (over 10 minutes or more) I get audio drift. As I understand it, this is due to clock cycles differing on sound card versus video card. Oh Joy. So is the answer to that, keep the files small ? 10 minutes or less on each ?

Okay, here are the tools I have tried and the issues.

Adobe Premier 6.0
Ulead Video Studio 5.0
MGI Video Suite 4.0 SE
TMPG

Adobe...What can I say except I dont have a master degree in videography and it just doesn't seem to do what I want. I am sure it can. This is end user ignorance.

Ulead. Several issues. If I capture using ULEAD , they look great. But if I render, it always finds a BAD frame for some reason and aborts.
So I try capture in ATI first, render in ULEAD with transitions, etc. Works fine but the color and transition to VCD format sucks. Dropped frames, poor color, audio erratic.

MGI. Works well. Keeps as in sync as original. Color better but for some reason I cannot adjust the color. Sliders are LOCKED so the best I can do is select a preset (cooler colors). As to capture, looks like it will, but when I clcick VIDEO + AUDIO I lose audio. Yes, I told it the AUDIO was the SB512. I hear it but cuts out as soon as I hit start. COmes back when I reset. Ugggg. HAs all the features I want and if I could get the color going I would use it after capturing with ATI.

TMPG. Simple conversion, use simple color correction and get what I want, but get an audio delay , have to clip out .0325 of a second or so to fix. No transitions, no titles, just a plain converter.

Now looking at Video Factory 2.0. Looks really good. I hear it keeps sound in sync. BUT three questions. 1) How is it at capture ? 2) Does it really keep sound in sync and 3) Is there a color correcter ? I find on conversion, things to BRIGHT in color and especially too red.

Sorry for long post, but as you can see I have a wealth of tools and none that can run the whole race.

Yes by the way, I have virtual dub, Tmpg, WINVCR and every other conceivable aid...Who makes a GREAT all in one ? Is it ADOBE and I need lessons ?

HELP .....LOL

ROb A.

[ahfairley]

Vegas Video 3

www.sonicfoundry.com

[arcorob]

Not at 419.00 !! LOL

How about the video factory 2.0 or will it be missing the color correction ? Thanks !

[BJ_M]

video factory 2.0 has color correction

[arcorob]

YES !!! Thank you ...Will try it out....

[arcorob]

WOw ! Just wanted to report back. Purchased Video Factory 2.0C last night and it is fantastic. Corrects ALL of the issue I was having with Ulead, MGI and ADOBE. Within an hour, I had learned quite a bit of the interfaces to the point where the first 5 clips of my daughters video are done, with transitions, title text, color corrections and PERFECT AUDIO sync on final output.

Thats why I say WOW. I have used Ulead , MGI and various tools for a while but was basically confronted with doing everything in peices, whatever they were good at and never happy with the final output.

Thanks to those who replied. If anyone wants more information on Sonic Foundry's Video Factory, email me at
ARCOROB@HOTMAIL.COM

be happy to share my experiences with it....