Video Capture

OK, so I'm trying to play the sweet husband role. I bought a DVD burner and want to create a compilation of my marriage video and various vacations. Later, I want to be able to add baby-related to it. So I have most of the technicals figured out...most...

Looking for opinions on the various capture cards out there. Right now, I'm going from a VCR to computer...so I really only need the 3 RCA inputs or S-Video...fine. Somewhere down the line, I do want to go directly from camcorder to computer...but I plan on getting a digital camcorder.

So.....I'm looking at the Belkin USB VideoBus II, and the different Digital Video Creator products by Pinnacle. Has any used? Any thing good (or bad) to say? I like the Belkin b/c it seems relatively small and will fulfill my basic needs. The different Pinnacle products have me a little confused...it seems the major differences or inputs and/or outputs....but I could be wrong. Plus, the Pinnacle units are a little large. I forsee using this for work here and there and the Belkin looks to be a better fit amongst all of junk. So if anyone has used either product (or has another suggestion)...let's hear it!!!

My biggest thing is quality...I want the best capture quality I can get. TV-Tuner is out of the picture because A. I think to buy a tuner card for a laptop is a little useless (personal opinion) and B. I don't watch that much TV.

 

Look for one that does the MPEG encoding in the capture box. It will result in better quality and faster encoding.

First PC = Vic-20, 8" 128KB Home-Brew Floppy Drive ... Current Rig = eMachines m6805 ... Quantum Leap?

 

Mr. Calhoun
If your not already sick of me yet..maybe this might help:
I had some old video tape footage I wanted to transfer to a dvd. Ok..so first I bought the 'DVD Xpress Video Capture' unit by ADS Technologies. Got it home. Installed it on my laptop and...uh...
I tryed and tryed to record but nothing. I did get it going...once but then back to nothing again. I was MAD and the clock was ticking if I was to return it. So I [ !]'Road Raged' back to the store, and got 'VideOh! DVD' by Adaptec instead. Like last time I read the instructions, but this time they told me to first update my video driver. I did. IT WORKED!!

How did it turn out? Well...the VHS source wasn't the best so I also recorded straight tv as well using both quality settings in the supplyed software. (Note: You can't use any other capture software but what's supplied, for most units) The picture wasn't as sharp and colors seemed a little faded but over all not TOO bad. If anything bugged me, it was fast movement 'artifacts' and Windows Media Player freezing near the end of the files(played fine in others). I haven't researched this to length but, there seems to be to kinds of encoding methds. Software and hardware. The computer specs recommended (on the side of the box)for software encoding where huge (3ghz and up) and for hardware much lower(600-800mhz). So I figured, on the hardware side the encode/decoder chips inside the little box where taking most of the load off the main CPU of the computer. Awhile back I tryed recording video to much older laptop (700mhz) using a cheaper ATI tv turner device. It was a hit or miss affair. Ok or choppy mess. The overall specs of your laptop are much better then mine though, so your machine might handle software encoding much better. Also, the ADS product may work fine for you as well. It seemed like a better product to begin with.

As you can see, even though the writing on the box makes it sound like a snap...It just Isn't.

The good news: Digital. I pluged in the firwire cord to my DV camcorder
then to my laptop. It instanly took over. I could control it from the laptop from Windows Movie Maker 2. It was Great! EVERYTHING WORKED!! I edited a little video in no time. This IS the way to go. Painless. easy.[ ]

links:
http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/product/prodtechindex.html?sess=no&language=English+US&cat=%2fTechnology%2fVideo

http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV_701/intro/usb701intro.asp?pid=USBAV701

I hope I helped.

 

olyteddy, thanks for the heads up. Speed and quality are very important to me. Not so much speed; I have no problem setting something up to go overnight. But since I'm already dealing with VHS, I raelly want the best picture possible. Thanks again, I will be looking for that spec!!

AdvidG, I know I'm in for a treat!! [ ] I've been looking at the forums and tutorials at CDRlabs and it doesn't seeem like the smoothest process. Since my target date is Christmas and I bought a 50 pack of DVDs...I figure I have alot of time to experiment and burn some coasters. It's alot like CD-R/Ws when they first hit the scene...you had to take your source files and convert them to .WAV and then burn them. Now, most CD burning apps will burn the straight MP3 file. Hopefully DVDs will follow in the same path...simplified operation. I even thought about a standalone VHS-DVD burner but I'm not looking to convert that many videos and I'm hoping for a digital video camera for the holidays.

 

Well, I did a little research on the unit you where 'eying' and found...
"However, the VideoBus II does not offer full motion grabbing (25 or 30 frames) at resolutions higher than 352x288."

Also this device costs $72(US). the 'VideOh! DVD' I bought cost...$80(US) out the door! 'DVD Xpress Video Capture' about $99(US). Both these units can capture at MPEG-2(DVD) quality. Those other units either cannot or are more expensive. Reading many reviews, I found that the 'DVD Xpress Video Capture' device is the best for the money. Just because It didn't work for me, means nothing. Heck, I'm even thinking about re-trying it after reading so many glowing reviews for it(Updating my drivers may have did the trick). Many are like this:

"Worked right out of the box.
I purchased this product after reading many horror stories about other USB video capture devices. I was happy to find that this product works great! I connected the hardware and waited for XP to ask for the CD with the drivers and it handled that without a problem. I then installed the software and connected my video recorder up and had a MPG file in no time. I also found that you can record live video by setting your video recorder to camera mode and recording with the software, there is a 1 second delay but who cares? I did not install the DVD maker software yet, but it looks really nice in the instructions. I do not have a DVD burner so I plan to make VCDs so at least my videos will be off magnetic tape and on a better media when I can make the transfer to DVD. The MPG files go right into Microsoft Moviemaker which came with my PC. I am running a desktop 2.4MHz, 256RAM, 80G.
From Ed, August 06, 2004"

Or:

Easy to use even for a newbie!
I read the horror stories about the Dazzle products, so I decided to look for another Video capture device. I came across the DVD Express and thought I would take a chance. I purchased a USB 2.0 card and the DVD Express for about $125 shipping and all. I had the card installed with no problems. I then installed the drivers for the DVD Express with no problems. I installed the hardware with no problems. I captured my first video (from VHS) with NO problems. And I did all of this in about 10 minutes. The video quality is excellent. My VCR didn't have an S-video so I had to just use the composite and I thought that would make me lose quality, but nope. The software is really cool and easy to use. I would definitely recommend this product... and this review is coming from a hardware newbie! So if I can install the darn thing and capture video with no problems, anybody can, lol! I'm running Win XP Home, 40G HDD (about 16 free), 256 Ram, 1.8 P
From Shan, March 13, 2004

"I even thought about a standalone VHS-DVD burner..."
NOOOO Sir!!![:0]
That's what you bought that big hunk of plastic,wires,medal and pc boards for in the first place! She CAN do what you want. Just needs a little help. That's all. Dont give up!...And you should NOT need to 'experiment' either. The Included software should allow you to throw what you want together, edit and spit it out onto a DVD.
Mission "Sweet husband role"...acomplished.

Oh yea...If really want that digital video camera for the holidays you better start throwing "hints" NOW! You know, like:"WoW..What a great sunrise. If only they made something to capture something like that with. Do they make things like that yet? Oh! Here's one in the paper...and[:0]LOOK it's on sale even!![ ]". That was really cheesy, but you get my drift.[ ]

One other thing. I Simply LOVE this software and you must try it out.
You probaly have wedding photos and or others. 'So what' you ask? This little baby is going to knock you out! and you could add it in with your videos too...I will say no more. Just Download it and give it a spin.

link:
http://www.photodex.com/products/proshowgold/

-Later

 

the avermedia UltraTV USB 300 is really good for video capture. and you can find it online for 80-90$.

 

TSS Modder:
Dear lord sir....that thing looks EVIL![:0] Are you sure it won't try to take over my home when I plug it in? Mmmm...but: "CPU : For TV Viewing - Intel® Pentium® III, 1GHz . For PVR features - Intel® Pentium® 4, 2 GHz or higher or equivalent AMD processor"

By the looks of it, it should be able to encode by hardware alone. But with those specs...its doing it by software.[V] ...If you have those specs then no worrys[8D]. But for some of us....[B)]


http://www.aver.com/products/tvtuner_UltraTV_USB_300.shtml

 

i guess i will throw this in here, when it comes to software, if you are going to use windows movie maker 2, imo Ulead VideoStudio will do much better then WMM2. I found it nicer to use, and it encodes faster then WMM2. Plus it comes with extra software for movie burning, Picture slideshows and some dvd copying ability. If you do get a Digital camera, firewire is the best to use. its fast and doesn't loose quality during transfer. If you have the HD space, saving initially with raw DV-AVI will lose the least quality and does take up alot of space, but can downsize it easy enough and retain a higher quality. If you have the money a good video editor is imo Adobe Preimire (more pro with much more options and capability), and a good audio editor (i haven't really used it yet) is Adobe Audition (use to be Cool edit Pro). A fast processor can help, but you can still do fine.

 

RadcomTxx,
Thanks. I know I should not be promoting products from the 'MicroEvilgate' empire. There are much better programs, but I was just shocked that..for once something just worked as promised. I tryed to use 'Adobe Preimire' but quickly switched to 'Sony Vegas' but can still only use a few of it's features because...well I'm just a newbe with it. Must these programers asume we where once all pro master video editers in a past life?[ !]