Jill,

Do you have a digital camcorder yet? If not and you plan to invest in one in the near future, I would recommend buying a camcorder that has built-in analog IN-to-digital OUT converting capabilities. Digital camcorders with this feature typically cost about $100 more than standard camcorders without the feature. The camcorder would then function exactly as the Canopus card.

If you already have a digital camcorder without the AV-DV IN converting feature or if you are not interested in purchasing one, then I would ask why you would go for the ADVC-100 instead of the ADVC-50? The ADVC-50 is $199 ($100 cheaper). The only difference is that the ADVC-50 does not have analog OUT capabilities (which I don't know why you would need anyway.) I have the ADVC-50 and it does an excellent job. I would not try to go with "cheaper" cards. I have an ATI All-in-Wonder video card that supposedly does real time analog-to-digital conversion, but the quality is inferior to the Canopus card. The colors from the Canopus card are much truer and the picture is sharper. Furthermore, the Canopus card produces DV .AVI files which are of the exact same format as digital camcorders. The format is the best for use with VF or any other video editing package for that matter. The ATI A-I-W card, on the other hand, generates MPEG files and other non-DV formats, which can cause troubles with VF.

The Canopus card does not come with any software and it does not need any. Basically, you connect the firewire cable into the Canopus card just as you would connect the firewire cable to a digital camcorder. You also connect the analog cables from your analog camcorder or VCR (or any other device) into the card and you capture using the VF Video Capture software.

I would guess ULEAD is offering the retail box version for $25 just to clear their stock of a physical product. The download version doesn't take up any physical space.

My only other suggestion I would make would be to purchase TMPEGEnc for your MPEG-2 encoder instead of purchasing the MainConcept MPEG-2 add-on offered by Video Factory. For $48, TMPEGEnc gives you complete control over the various rendering settings, while the $30 "lite" version of VF's encoder gives you no control -- you're stuck with the pre-defined settings (you have to purchase the much more expensive Professional version to get the same level of rendering controls offered by TMPEGEnc.) The rendered MPEG-2 files from TMPEGEnc or, in my opinion, superior to those from the MainConcept encoder in VF.

Overall, it sounds like you're on the right track.

The ADVC-100 with the analog output could be very handy indeed if you want to print back out to VHS tape!

Definately keep the firewire card in your computer; this is what you'll use to connect to the ADVC or other similar converter.

There are cheaper capture cards (like the ATI) and cheaper converters (like the Dazzle), but if you can afford the $300 for the Canopus unit it's well worth it. The difference in quality, ease of use, compatibility, reliability, etc. is just phenomenal. It's basically a "plug it in and forget it" device. Most anything cheaper is going to leave you annoyed and forever tweaking, and in general being disgusted you ever got into digital video editing. ;)

thanks ralphied.. I do not have a digital camcorder.. the one I have is a Sony analog and it is only a yr old so I am not ready to replace it.

About the firewire cable and card.. the card that is in my computer is a Texas Instruments OCHI compliant IEEE 1394 card.. is that going to work with the canopus? (I have a sinking feeling that I was supposed to return that card back to Dell with all the other stuff)

About the Mpeg-2 encoder.. will I be able to choose different formats with the VF software.. what I mean is, if I wanted to save a video in a WMV format to post on my website, would I be able to do that with VF? Why would I need to have control over various rendering settings?

Remember..I'm new to all of this so I understand very little about all the different formats and hope I am not asking moronic questions.

I just want to make sure that I am getting all the right stuff and spending my money wisely.

Buying that Dell package was a real eye opener.. and I don't want to make anymore mistakes.

If you'd like to see my first crude attempts at making digital video's from my old analog tapes, take a quick look at my site at www.wiscoy.com There's a short little WMV file on the front page, (the photo on the front page was also taken from analog tape) and then on the *Our Labradors* page, there are links to Topper, Duncan and Leo, which all have video. The video of Topper was actually taped onto a VCR from the television (he was at Westminster a few yrs ago) and then I transfered it to a digital file.

I do allot of video of the dogs, and being able to capture it in order to freeze a single frame is really handy. It would not be unusual to have to shoot a couple rolls of film in order to get *one* good picture. With the video, I have hundreds of frames to choose from.

So anyway, this is the type of stuff I'd like to be able to do..just play around a bit with something that isn't going to give me an ulcer to use.

thanks for helping me out,

Jill

hi guys..for what its worth.
i have dell 8100, originally me, now xp. had dazzle mohave etc.

my dazzle worked ok, but i was limited to the 4 gig file limit in ME. so i updated my op system to xp. as i expected, my dazzle would no longer work. so i finally got my canopus advc-100. it works fine with the texas instruments firewire card that came with my dell. im very happy with the canopus.
i capture, edit, and output back to tape in vf2. make dvd with dvd complete. find that tempgenc makes best mpg2 file for use in dvd authoring program.

good luck
joe s

Jill,

Just checked out your site and am impressed by your page design. We have a Lab also along with 2 miniature weiners...and yes, they boss the Lab around. Quite funny as he weighs in over 95 lbs and they are both under 9 lbs.

As for the system advice, also recommend you go with the Canopus and keep the firewire card. I've run the circuit with Dazzle and analog only to be frustrated with the quality. I decided to go digital and haven't looked back. My solution was to buy a Digital 8 camcorder that has pass through capability so I can digitize my VHS tapes. The canopus does that for you and hooks into the firewire card in your computer. The quality is SO much better when viewed at TV size. Hope this helps.

Good luck to you and if you want to see a sample of our videos, check out our site...which my 15 year old son built and maintains...at http://www.geocities.com/cr_home_videos/crhomevideos.html .
We just loaded up some footage of 25-30 foot waves at Waimea Bay that we filmed yesterday.

Aloha,
Randy

I print out to VHS tape via the analog out of my digital camcorder that is hooked up to the computer via the firewire. You don't have to record to the camcorder, it's just being used as a pass-thru.

The Texas Instrument IEEE 1394 card will work fine with the Canopus card. The main thing is that it is OCHI-compliant.

Rendering files to WMV format comes standard with VF. You don't have to pay extra for it like you do for MPEG-2 capability.

If your primary use of digital video editing is posting to a web site then using an analog camcorder will work fine. Given the size and resolution of the WMV files, it will be difficult to tell the difference between analog and digital original footage being played on Media Player.

If you start using your system to burn high-quality DVDs then you'll find out quickly what I mean by wanting to have control over the MPEG-2 rendering settings. DVDs are built from MPEG-2 files. However, there is no ONE MPEG-2 format. The MPEG-2 specification allows a very wide range of numerous rendering settings, such as constant or variable bit rate, the actual bit rate itself, GOP structure, quantization matrix, etc. -- it can get very technical, very quickly and very confusing. But, the bottom line is that the MPEG-2 specification was intentionally developed to provide the user FLEXIBILITY because there's always a trade-off. For example, the specification is broad enough that you can render excellent quality video with very little pixelation, ghosting, etc., but the trade-off is that the file size will be very large and you won't be able to fit a lot of footage on a DVD. Likewise, you can change the rendering settings to produce a video of low quality, but compressed so much that you can fit a lot more onto a DVD. It's all in what you want and need.

Once you've gone through enough trial-and-error renderings, you'll eventually settle in on your own "standard" settings that you'll use for the majority of your work. (I've finally reached that point after about 4 months.) But, you need the MPEG-2 encoding software to allow you the flexibility to get the final results you're looking for -- and that's what it's all about.

Ralpied...thanks for taking the time to explain that to me. you all have been very generous with your advise, AND very patient with this newbies questions. I appreciate it. Thank you.

stewardr.YOU must live in Hawaii?? Very cool waves. **I** live near Buffalo...want to see the snow storm we're having this week?? ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

-Jill
(I will go ahead and order the canopus 100 and VF. Merry Christmas to me) ;-)

Woooo! Someone close to home :) I'm about 5 hours east of Buffalo. And yes, i have experienced your storms! I remember visiting a friend one January and waking up to 23 FEET of new snowfall in the morning. Wow.

Kelly, if you're 5 hours east of Buffalo, you can't be all that far from me then.
I'm 1.5 hrs east of Montreal.

M

23 feet?? tsk..a mere annoyance. we are a hearty bunch up here. ;-)

You must be close to Albany.. my kids go to school north of there.. up in the Adirondacks.. Saranac Lake.

-J

All,
Lived in Mass. for 2 years and experienced all of the white winter wonderland, with a little ice storm thrown in, that I care to. I wish I could say that I feel your pain but over here...when it gets below 70 degrees, the winter clothes and comforters come out. It's quite amusing...people complaining about being cold. The average mean temperature doesn't change more than 2 or 3 degrees. You can predict the weather as 82 and sunny and be right 95% of the time. Yeah, I'm getting tired of this brilliant blue sky with cotton ball white clouds against a back drop of palm trees and green covered mountians and ringed in golden sand beaches looking out over tourquise oceans for sure...NOT! Maybe we should ask So Fo to hold a Video Semminar here. Think anyone would come?
Aloha,
Randy

"brilliant blue sky with cotton ball white clouds against a back drop of palm trees and green covered mountians and ringed in golden sand beaches"

Yeah, I've been there a few times... but then the alarm clock wakes me up and I have to go scrape the ice off my car so I can go to work! I bet you don't get too teary eyed when you remeber what it was like to shovel the snow bank the plow left in your driveway. :)

M

M,
Yeah, I'm all choked up when I see those blizzards on the news. Makes me shiver in my flip-flops, shorts, and t-shirt. It's hard living in paradise...but someone has to do it. Hope you had a good time here. Winter is a great time to visit...big waves, awesome weather, no crowds, excellent off season package deals. Are you thinking about it yet? :-)
R.

I don't know, but I hate you already!! :)

You're lifestyle is the reason 90% of the population north of Myrtle Beach buys lottery tickets.

Later

PS: I hope you pinch yourself every morning when you get up.

Shakka brudda', goddit goood, yeah? You like? Come'in geddit. Its da bomb for shur.
;-)
Aloha,
Cuz Randy

Yup, snow. I'm in Montreal, but grew up in upstate New York, near Albany. I often visit friends down near Camden, N.Y. Hey, Chienworks, that's probably not far from where you are.

Hobart, NY these days. http://www.kellychien.com/newhouse/secondsnow.html Which is about 70 miles south-west of Albany.

Nice pic's Kelly. Looks like country living. My wife has always dreamed about a farm or ranch in the country.
R.