Video Capture Card Recommendations

GregGerlach · Post by **GregGerlach** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 3:28 am

Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regarding capture cards that have composite and/or SVHS inputs and can encode good quality DV/.avi video files for editing in VideoStudio.

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:03 am

Look at canopus, they are excellent. I've not looked at the internal range for a while, but the external advc range connect via firewire, lock the video and audio and produce dv-avi files which are superb. You can get different models of these which will allow you to send stuff back out to an analogue or digital source, some evel let you use an external monitor like a tv to view your movie while editing...

www.canopus.com

Other alternative for external is www.milgia.com

mcfallison · Post by **mcfallison** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:24 pm

Has anyone used the Pinnacle Studio AVDV pci card for capturing analog into Videostudio 9 or 10? I tried to capture MPEG-1 but the image was stretched too wide.

M-JPEG capture was too much for it- a jerky picture if not frozen.

DV seemed to be all right.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:15 pm

Pinnacle cards are made to work only with Pinnacle software which confusingly is called Studio (currently Studio 10, to make it even more confusing)... So if you have one, you have to capture with the software which came with the card, and then open it for editing in Video Studio...

mcfallison · Post by **mcfallison** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:10 pm

Thanks for the info. Is there an analog-in compatible solution for Videostudio 10 which allows input of VHS, 8mm, Hi-8, etc?

Is MPEG-2 the only choice for that?

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:26 pm

Most medium priced capture cards will only capture uncompressed AVI (huge files) or mpeg-2 or mpeg-1 (and some will now also capture to highly compressed formats like WMV or mpeg-4). Skier-hughes has already pointed to the Canopus series which will capture analogue video straight to DV format, though there are some others. But they are all rather expensive. I have recently installed a Winfast DTV2000H HD TV capture card which only allow these formats. But for HD, my understanding is that you only need to capture in mpeg-2 or HD WMV anyway. Someone is sure to correct me if I'm wrong!!

For my analogue collection, I personally took the even more expensive route of buying a Sony DCR-TRV480E Digital 8 camera which can actually play both standard analogue 8mm and Hi-8 tapes over the camera's firewire connection to be captured on the computer as DV. And I can attest that the results are superb. I genuinely have trouble telling any difference between my end DVDs produced this way, and those I produced from my mini-DV digital video camera. Plus I get a back-up digital camera (albeit using larger tapes) this way too! I can also connect a VCR to the Sony either using a cable that has RCA yellow/red (or black)/white plugs at one end, but go into the Sony's AV-input jack at the other; or else an S-video/RCA audio set of plugs at one end and the AV jack at the camera end.

Other people of course use their standard digital cameras' AV jack to connect to an analogue source. But the digital camera has to allow this process of 'pass through'. Those that use it speak highly of it. My own Canon does not allow it however.