Need to replace video capture card

Storyman wrote on 9/21/2007, 2:00 PM
I need replace an old capture card. Of course quality and dependability is a concern, but so is price.

Has anyone used Pinnacle's Studio Movieboard Pci Capture Card? I'm using the latest version of Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum and will not consider using any other company's software. (This is the third version of Studio and not once has it crashed!)

I'm mainly interested in capturing video from a VHS tapes, so if a card's quality is marginal it will only deteriorate more when transferring analog video tapes.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 9/21/2007, 2:33 PM
Pinnacle has a long history of making hardware that only works with their software. I don't know if that's true in the case of the card you mention, but it's probably very likely that if you do use that card you'll have to install the Pinnacle software that comes with it for capturing. Of course, you can then edit in Vegas afterwards.

If you're serious about good quality captures from VHS i'd suggest you look at an external converter box. Canopus makes the ADVC300. This box has analog A/V inputs and outputs and a firewire port. It connects to the computer the same way a DV camcorder would, through firewire. It converts the incoming analog to DV which can then be captured by SONY's VidCap. It also includes circuitry to stabilize poor incoming signals, which most capture cards won't have. It's a bit pricey (maybe in the $400 range? dunno, haven't looked in a while), but not much more so than a good capture card would be. I think you'll also be very pleased with the results.

Canopus also makes some cheaper boxes with fewer features, and some internal analog ->DV cards as well. But if you're doing a lot of VHS then the higher end 300 model is probably worth the consideration.
Kennymusicman wrote on 9/21/2007, 3:33 PM
Yep - external is good, and definitely go firewire - forget about USB for video.

Ken
4eyes wrote on 9/21/2007, 4:13 PM
What's nice with the Canopus ADVC300 is you hook up the cables and go, no software required.
Nice analog to digital conversions.
Only thing with this device is under capture preferences turn dv control off and your set to go and capture.
GBR wrote on 9/21/2007, 11:28 PM
Another option, not much more expensive than the Canopus external box is a DVD recorder. You can connect your VHS VCR directly to the DVD recorder and capture the lot. If the DVD recorder is a hard disk model, you can do a lot of editing before transferring the file to Vegas Movie Studio for final editing.
GBR
Storyman wrote on 9/22/2007, 6:44 AM
Thanks to everyone for the guidance.

A little back story. For several years I had been using Sony's TRV-17 digital video camera for analog video capture. That model allowed you to connect to an analog input and output digitally through a fire-wire. Something seems to have gone bad on the camera, so I need to replace the camera and at the same time find a way to input video from an analog source.

In short I'd prefer to apply the $400 for an ADVC300 box to a new camera. In the meantime there are some analog things I'd like to capture.

From what everyone has said Pinnacle is not the way to go and having had Pinnacle hardware in the past it is not my first choice.

What I need is a 'good enough' way to capture analog. It appears that it should be a fire-wire device that converts to a DV signal that Sony's Vegas Studio can use.
4eyes wrote on 9/22/2007, 6:09 PM
In short I'd prefer to apply the $400 for an ADVC300 box to a new camera. In the meantime there are some analog things I'd like to capture.Most Canon cameras have the passthrough mode, so just as easy to buy another camera with this feature built in.
Paul Mead wrote on 9/22/2007, 7:22 PM
Like Kelly hinted, you can consider one of the cheaper Canopus converters. I use the ADVC110 and have been quite happy with it. It costs half what a 300 costs.