capture from Betacam machine for DVD authoring

[brjames78]

Hi,

I am looking to create a DVD using a Betacam master. I have a Betcam player and am looking for advice on a good capture card. I presume I will be capturing an anologue video signal into the PC? What capture cards would you recomend? Can I capture straight to the DVD format or do I need to convert it fist?

Thanks

Ben

[brjames78]

basically whats is a good card for capturing for DVD output?

[BJ_M]

you can capture straight to mpeg2 or capture .. you need a capture card with componet input and rs422 deck control (or you can manually just hit play) IF you have a Professional betacam (sp or pro level decks)

if yur talking consumeer betacam - you would just what people also recomend for VHS capture and you can do a search on these forums for recomendations. i would suggest the Matrox RT.X100 for really quality and ease of use.


for pro level betacam your choices are:

with editing (NLE system) or straight capture --

with editing and capture to mpeg2 as a choice i would go with the either video toaster or matrox rt2500 or matrox digisuite .

for straight capture the DARIM MPEGator 2 works fine -- straight to dvd authoring captures .. there are many other products also .. straight capture to mpeg2 and further editing works fine with vegas video (but will be re-encoded)

[brjames78]

HI,

thanks for the reply.

its a professional broadcast betacam player. (PVW - 2800 P).

Ideally I want to just create DVD from the betacam masters. I don't require any other facilities like editing.

I am looking for a cheap capture card that will produce professional quality DVD's.

[BJ_M]

well it boils down to if you want to go YUV 3 wire or Y/C ... i have the same player and I can tell you that the quality from the YUV is much better ..

i think for the money you cant beat the MPEGator 2 (with YUV input and balanced audio input) .. though there are a few products that are more (lots more at times) and a (very) few that cost less ..

http://www.darvision.com/product/mpegator2.html

capture right to dvd mpeg2 ..

designed for betacam colorspace ..

[brjames78]

thanks again for the reply.

is YUV 3 wire the same as component?

To be honest for our current demand to produce DVD the cost is too much but will look into the products you have recomended.

Are there any cheaper products that will do the same job? Is there a way of capturing to the PC maybe using a different codec/card and then converting to the DVD ( mpeg2 ?) to save money on hardware?



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[BJ_M]

yes - YUV 3 wire is component..

well you could always send the tape to me and i can send you back a DVD and/or a dvd stamping master on dlt ..

to do it cheaper with YUV -- cheapest I heard of is about $1200 US -- but quality im not sure of nor avaibility (do a search on google) ..

OR

for really cheap you can get a y/c (s-video) capture card , they are everywhere ... but quality is nowhere the same as from YUV pro betacam component.

for the cheaper route for audio you will need a balanced to unbalanced convertor - which you can make yourself or purchase - as the 2800 doesnt have stereo unbalanced output .

[brjames78]

I am based in the UK, I'll email you regarding the DVD.

Is the quality very different between the cheaper cards using s-video or composite or is it just a performance thing. I.e hardware encoding , speed etc?

cheers

Ben

[BJ_M]

I am based in the UK, I'll email you regarding the DVD.

Is the quality very different between the cheaper cards using s-video or composite or is it just a performance thing. I.e hardware encoding , speed etc?

cheers

Ben

the quality is -very much so- better ...

[The village idiot]

Here might be a cheaper solution. Check Datavideo web site. I know they have a component analog to firewire (DV) converter aimed at the betacam users (Y, R-Y, B-Y). I don't know the price, but I'm impressed with their $300 TBC-1000. It's damn hard to find another good TBC for even slightly more.