What is the definitive capturing device you prefer?

[crabbj]

Hi Folks,


I have been visiting this forum for almost eight years, and it has served as an awesome resource for video capturing. I have always been a fan of Ulead VS 9 & 10, WinDVD, and for a while, DVDMoviefactory. My biggest issue is on the hardware side, trying to get the most sucessfull analog to pc capture, either from a VHS source or older 8mm camcorder. I have been through numerous PCI capture cards, from ATI, to Hauppauge PVR150, which I have had a long time but with mixed results. I also have an ADSDVDXpressDX2, which is a USB2.0 capture box, but have audio issues with it (people on other sites state this is due to VS and Windvd drivers conflicting with the ADS.) When I try to capture using the Hauppagge I get codec errors that I never had before when I first bought the card, and can only change codec settings if i switch to AVI capture mode in VS 10. I uninstalled the PVR150 and VS and reinstalled drivers and software, and still can't capture with them. As said before, the DVDXpressDX2 captures audio and video for about 6 minutes then drops the audio.

I guess what I am trying to say is, I don't want to give up using Videostudio and need to know what else is out there for analog to PC capturing that is reliable and not too expensive. Additionally, is there a current device out there that also captures audio that is Windows XP friendly? Thank you so much in advance for your help.

[Ken Berry]

I don't see anywhere that you say which software you used to capture from the various devices you name. In fact, I got the impression, since you want VS to work, that you are trying to use VS as the capture software, as well as then editing the captured video. If that is the case -- and please post if you are not doing this -- then it is the wrong way. We *always* recommend that you use the software which came with the capture device to capture. It is specially made for the device. And often, the manufacturers of the hardware refuse to share their secrets with software makers like Corel. So VS will not necessarily work, or work well, with different capture devices.

Your Ads device is a case in point. Normally, that comes with an excellent piece of software called CapWiz. It always works perfectly with the Ads devices, and then, when captured, the video will open in whatever version of VS you have and is successfully edited in it.

Personally, when trying to capture from an older 8mm camcorder or even an old VCR, I use a Sony Digital 8 camcorder which can be connected to the source via firewire; or will even play the analogue 8mm tape directly. You capture in DV format via firewire, and the quality is as good as it will ever get. Or you can do the same thing with a DV capture device, such as one of the Pinnacle ones, though they are a bit expensive.

But failing that, a decent USB device, capturing with its own software, will usually do a good job too.

[crabbj]

Sorry, I failed to mention in the previous post I used Capwiz with the ADS box, and tried to use VS with the Hauppage PVR-150. The WinTV capturing software on the Hauppage gives little leeway as to capturing options, so that is why I tried to capture via VS for that product. Thanks for the tips.

[Ken Berry]

If you do a search on the Video Studio forum for Hauppage, you will see that many other users of such a device have asked the same question, but our advice remains to use the software which came with the device for capture.