Capturing Devices

muledalton · Post by **muledalton** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:12 am

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what type of capturing device I need. I am trying to capture Hi-8, MiniDV's, VHS tapes, and digital recording from my satallite dish. Currently I have an ADS "USB Instant Video CD" device. I'm not getting good results with it. It only cost $30 online so how good can this be?

Thanks, Darrin

bagpiper · Post by **bagpiper** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:59 am

Hi Darrin
I recently bought a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150. This is not the most expensive one but it does provide hardware Mpeg2 compression. It is providing me with a good quality image and works well with VideoStutio 10+

This can be bought for less than $99.00 US. Indeed I bought it for $69.00.

For the price, I would recommend it.

The unit I had before cost about $49.00 and used software compression. It was money wasted. It was the CompUSA Video Grabber, USB 2.0. See the link below.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product ... eo_Grabber

Cheers
Jim

muledalton · Post by **muledalton** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:06 am

By the way, I have videostudio 8......if it matters!

And thanks for the reply!

bagpiper · Post by **bagpiper** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:18 am

It does not really matter. The Hauppauge package comes with it's own capture software. Once you have a good capture you can use what ever you have to manipulate the file. I did not like the software editing software that came with it but any of the VideoStudio packages work fine with the captured file. I like the Hauppauge because it creates Mpeg2 from hardware and is very quick and the quality is excellent

Cheers
Jim

muledalton · Post by **muledalton** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:23 am

Yes, but what I'm talking about it the horrible sound that was captured. The video was OK but the sound was no good at all. I couldn't adjust the source volume control when capturing. It was maxed out and I couldn't move the slider to lower the source capture volume.

roy wood · Post by **roy wood** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:09 am

Hi, capturing Digital Video (D/V) is simple all you need is a 1394 (Firewire) connection if you don't have one you can add a PCI expansion card to your PC very cheaply.
Analogue capture (AV) is a different matter. Most people will agree with your findings that USB capture devices generally provide poor results.

The best results will come from an Analogue Video PCI capture card of which there are very many. Since we are from different parts of the Globe I don't now what is available to you however I can give you some advice on what to look out for.
1. Full Frame Resolution 720x480 NTSC. A lot of cards are only half frame Mpeg 1 VCD 320x240 (low resolution = poorer picture quality).

2. S-Video as well as Composite connection so that you can take advantage of the superior quality of Hi8 over 8mm.

3. Many cards have a 'Video Out' option which allows you to record back to a VCR or DVD recorder.

4. Never Assume. If it's not mentioned in the Specification it's not there.

I do have some links somewhere which may help you to find a suitable card as soon as I find them I'll post them seperately.

roy wood · Post by **roy wood** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:19 am

Hi back again, take a look at this site it lsts nearly 700 capture cards with specs write ups and prices so I think it will provide all you need.

http://www.videohelp.com/capturecards

TDK1044 · Post by **TDK1044** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:22 am

I use the ADS DVD Xpress DX2, and I find it to be very good for analogue capture.

Doug2006 · Post by **Doug2006** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 7:08 am

I bought the Plextor 402u convertx and it seems to work well. I have not tried any other capture devices to compare it with but from the vcr player the picture and sound seem to be as good as what I would see on my TV from the vcr tape. One thing I will mention is that I did have some problems earlier on with random jumps in the capture. I always believed that was something in the computer and the other day I bought a $12 usb 2.0 card and tried it with that, instead of the usb 2.0 built into the motherboard. I believe it is making a tremendous difference. This is begining to make sense to me in that the motherboard usb is a few years old and maybe the separate usb pci card has better transfer rate. So until I can get a new motherboard computer this was a cheap fix.