2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:  
| Video Capture Card?
I'm ready to jump into converting my VCR tape library over to DVD. Have the DVD burner all in place with software and such. But need advice on what video card would be good for this. I'll be playing off of a regular VCR player into it and using capture software provided with my Sony 510A DVD burner.
System is an AMD 1800+ on a Gigabytes GA-7VAXP board with 8X AGP capability, 256 MB RAM. Operating system is Windows XP Pro.
Taking nominations for new video board. I'm partial to nVidia, but will consider all brands since the end quality is more important than brand loyalty  .
Please - no holy wars, if you like a card, recommend it -- unless you have specific documented proof of poor operation by a "competing" product, sssssssshhhhhh!!
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Man - the animal voted least likely to leave well enough alone. |
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MRK8
Premium
join:2001-01-11
San Antonio, TX
clubs: | I've always been partial to Nvidia for display cards, but if I were to buy a VGA/capture card, I'd go with one of the ATI All-in-one cards. I've never read any negative comments about their quality or performance. |
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m2pmd70
S.O.D.
join:2000-11-23
Mountain Home, AR
| reply to 2kmaro
Not from personal experience... but I've always heard it was better to go with a seperate TV card. The Leadtek Winfast or the ATI TV-Wonder seem to be the best cheap ones. Depends on how much you can apend on one, what level of quality you're looking for, etc.
$28-$1125 on newegg, lol.
Then again I've got a 3dfx voodoo 3500 TV-in/out I'll sell ya cheap.
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"You're Dead." - The Ballad of Jimi Hendrix - S.O.D. '85 |
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sak1
join:2000-12-27
Wethersfield, CT
| reply to 2kmaro
No expert here by any means, but I was able to capture several small video clips off my sister-in-law's video camera using an older ATI 64m. DDR VIVO without too much trouble. We burned clips to CD for a college project she was working on.
So if a rookie can get through this wihout any great effort using an ATI card and software, guess you have one vote for ATI...
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Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. |
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Kunfoochi
Premium
join:2000-11-02
Woodmere, NY
 ·Optimum Online
| reply to 2kmaro
2k...I'm actually in a similar situation. I used the All In Wonder Radeon from beginning of its life until very recently. Leaving the outdated graphics aside, the card never let me down as far as multimedia features.
Now that we're in the future though;), I'd probably suggest a newer line of the All In Wonder Series. Depending on how much you want to spend, either the All In Wonder Radeon 8500 or 9700.
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| reply to 2kmaro
Thanks for these inputs. Will continue to check in. I'm thinking "great/professional" quality isn't all that critical, considering the quality of VCR to begin with. As long as I'm not introducing too much additional noise into the signal...
Anyone know if something like the ATI All-In-Wonder would permit this? I suppose what I'm really asking is "does the card have input jack for output signal from the VCR player?". I see the descriptions for various jacks available, but at this point the definition of a description eludes me. What would/do they call the input jacks for a video signal in the tech specs for a board? As I recall, I'm using RCA type jacks to connect from the VCR to the TV now, not S-Video (at least I don't think I'm using S-Video jack, didn't look this morning).
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Man - the animal voted least likely to leave well enough alone. |
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liverdude
Premium
join:2002-04-01
Mississauga, ON
| reply to 2kmaro
I have an ATI card at home and it is great for capturing video up to 15 minutes and after that it runs the risk of dropping frames and having your audio and video out of sync and looking like a bad asian film.
Now I know people are going to say that there are a thousand different ways to setup your HD/Processor/Ram but I have never really got this to work beyond 20 minutes without dropping frames.
If you are going to be doing full movies I would go with a Osprey card. There is no video out as this is strictly a capture card only. |
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| Now I could go with something like that also! Only problem is that all sources I've found so far for Osprey 210 are "not in stock" - takes special backorder. CDW said they had had 3 on back-order for a good customer for some 4 weeks already. Place called PC Universe claims to have them, but phone call reveals actual stock is "-10" -- i.e. they have 10 on backorder already also.
Still looking. Thanks.
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Man - the animal voted least likely to leave well enough alone. |
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liverdude
Premium
join:2002-04-01
Mississauga, ON
| reply to 2kmaro
Sorry I don't know the area but is this to far to order from?
PC Computer & Software, Inc.
Certified Osprey Provider
Product(s): OSPREY
8125 East 51st Street, Suite G
Tulsa OK 74145 USA
Tel: 918-664-8833
Fax: 918-664-2877
Contact: Nick White
Email: sales@pccompsoft.com
»www.pccompsoft.com |
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| It's "just up the road from me" -- but I'm at work now and that would be a personal phone call. I found the reference for that also. I'll be looking in to it. Maybe a little daytrip up to Tulsa (a little over 1 hour each way) will be good for the weekend!  Thanks for the extra effort in looking up that reference.
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Man - the animal voted least likely to leave well enough alone. |
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slonocode
join:2001-07-28
Ann Arbor, MI
|  reply to 2kmaro
Couple of questions.
Are you planning to burn these files to dvd to play on stand alone player or just to play on a computer? Do you think you will want to start capturing other sources once you get into it a little? Meaning record tv shows, etc.
Canopus ADVC-100 gets rave reviews. It doesn't capture to mpg though so your files will require the long process of encoding if you want to burn them to play on a standalone dvd player.
I have a Hauppauge PVR 250 that captures straight to mpg and I love it.
I haven't used ATI products in a long time because I always felt their drivers were suspect and I never had good luck with them. Others swear by them.
Whatever you decide prepare yourself for a steep learning curve for all things digital video Especially if you become as addicted to it as I have. |
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| Thanks for hints/past experience comments. Much appreciated.
Yes, you could pretty much say I'm intending to burn the VCR tapes to DVD to play on stand-alone unit. Right now I even have my eye on a new unit for a few months from now (at $800 or so, I'll need to save up a few bucks). Either that or move one of the computers over near a TV and use it to feed the TV (via some card with TV out ability). But I'm really thinking of a stand-alone unit.
Some of the future plans include something like one of these:
»catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc···DMR-E80H
or
»www.dvdrecorder.philips.com/view···#dvdr985
or (I really like this one - BBR's editor breaks this up, cut and paste the link, remove the space between "ht" and "tp://" and the one after "CatalogCategor" and just before the "yID=" )
ht tp://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=iU7hPx-B2SbhNCF16lTrNFCO7On7_zdo-P4=?CatalogCategor yID=A1cKC0%2eNTk0AAAD11DJfveQy&ProductID=o6IKC0%2eNr1sAAAD1evtfveQ4&Dept=hav
Or maybe even one of these little jewels when the prices come down? »www.compoundsemiconductor.net/ar···/7/3/1/1
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Man - the animal voted least likely to leave well enough alone.
[text was edited by author 2003-06-21 10:09:37] |
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ok1234
@attbi.com
 from:
2kmaro 
| reply to 2kmaro
I have the "old" osprey 100 card(no audio) and it
works fine for capture from VCR..use the cable from
VCR to osprey and to audio card in my puter...can also
hook up my cable TV to VCR and capture from TV channels..
set up a raid set of 55GB for TV capture and all works fine...newer osprey cards with audio are better but you can use the old 100 if you can find one...FWIW |
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| reply to 2kmaro
I guess I've made up my mind:
Pinnacle Studio 8 Deluxe: »www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_···gue_ID=7
Has capture card, breakout box, and software all wrapped up in a $200 package.
I want to thank everyone for their inputs, suggestions and comments. Knowing what to look for was a real help. I think I opted for this "solution" for a couple of reasons:
it's a dedicated solution - no trying to mix a bunch of features into a single package.
it's a packaged solution (hardware and software should play well together)
it's a home user solution (so maybe ultra-n00b like me can actually get some decent results out of it)
it was available immediately (yes, it's in hand and will be getting set up either this evening or Sunday).
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Man - the animal voted least likely to leave well enough alone. |
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SandShark
So it goes
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-23
Santa Fe, TX
clubs: | reply to 2kmaro
Do you presently have a DVD camcorder with Firewire? If you do, you can use its analog to digital pass-through feature.
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2kmaro
Think
Premium,ExMod 1 BC
join:2000-07-11
ColossalCave
clubs:
| No, but that's something that may happen down the road also - and the setup is in place! (or will be shortly)
Right this minute the only thing I'll be doing with it is capturing off of the 100's of VCR tapes I have to put them onto DVD. That keeps me from having to buy the DVD to replace them. Tape has a limited lifespan, and some of my tapes are old, no, make that OLD! First one I ever bought was Conan the Barbarian and it cost me $89.00 way back when! Talk about the "bleeding edge" of technology, ROFL!
Once I get that done, I can have one hell of a yard sale: VCR Tapes, Like New $2.00 each!!
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Man - the animal voted least likely to leave well enough alone. |
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