I'm new to this board, but am thinking about making the jump to VS9. After reading endless reviews of the various software options, and being totally confused, I have decided that VS9 is the least objectionable (at least to those who have used numerous products).
Though this question has probably been answered once or twice on this forum (I drilled down a bit, but couldn't find the answer), what are the prevailing recommendations for PCI cards and/or USB devices to capture video with this software? I am running XP Media Center with an AMD 64 dual core chip. I would like to capture digital video from my DV camera and analog video from a VHS recorder.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Capture Cards or USB device
Moderator: Ken Berry
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PeterMilliken
- Posts: 264
- Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 9:03 pm
- Location: Sydney, Australia
Your DV camera will most likely have a Firewire connector for downloading to your PC - so that answers the question for that portion 
Camera's that have a USB connection (as well) usually reserve it for downloading "still" images (at least that is what I believe from reading posts to this forum - my camera has only Firewire).
If you are lucky, your camera will allow/have "pass-through" for capturing your VHS tapes i.e. it will accept an analog video signal as input (usually mentioned in the manual as allowing recording to mini-DV tape) - the signal can then be extracted from the Firewire connection into your PC. This is the most reliable of mechanisms for capturing analog VHS tapes.
If you don't have pass-through in your camera then you'll either have to invest in a capture card of some form - although you need to "drill down" on the forum for advice in this area, there are "good" cards and there are "bad" cards, so be wary of spending too much before you are sure it will work for you. The most common problem people have experienced with capture cards is that of loss of sync between the video and audio - which shows up on capturing long periods (usually) and so a "quick" check in a store isn't of much use. On a recent thread, one user even reported they found it cheaper to purchase a cheap mini-DV camera that did have pass-through rather than a capture card - so beware!
Goodluck,
Peter
Camera's that have a USB connection (as well) usually reserve it for downloading "still" images (at least that is what I believe from reading posts to this forum - my camera has only Firewire).If you are lucky, your camera will allow/have "pass-through" for capturing your VHS tapes i.e. it will accept an analog video signal as input (usually mentioned in the manual as allowing recording to mini-DV tape) - the signal can then be extracted from the Firewire connection into your PC. This is the most reliable of mechanisms for capturing analog VHS tapes.
If you don't have pass-through in your camera then you'll either have to invest in a capture card of some form - although you need to "drill down" on the forum for advice in this area, there are "good" cards and there are "bad" cards, so be wary of spending too much before you are sure it will work for you. The most common problem people have experienced with capture cards is that of loss of sync between the video and audio - which shows up on capturing long periods (usually) and so a "quick" check in a store isn't of much use. On a recent thread, one user even reported they found it cheaper to purchase a cheap mini-DV camera that did have pass-through rather than a capture card - so beware!
Goodluck,
Peter
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lydgett
Don't bother with USB capture devices into VS9, they just don't work. VS9 though is fine with firewire inputs - I use a Sony mini DV.
I have also had sound sync problems using an analog video capture card from a camcorder. When successfully captured, I found the VS pixellated the lower quality analogue data - which gave a poor definition output when burnt onto DVD and viewed through a wide screen TV .
My ultimate solution for analogue camcorder film capture was to buy a HDD recorder with DVD burner, its very quick & easy!
I have also had sound sync problems using an analog video capture card from a camcorder. When successfully captured, I found the VS pixellated the lower quality analogue data - which gave a poor definition output when burnt onto DVD and viewed through a wide screen TV .
My ultimate solution for analogue camcorder film capture was to buy a HDD recorder with DVD burner, its very quick & easy!