Comments

HeeHee wrote on 8/13/2002, 4:20 PM
Capture at the same settings you would for digital video, 720x480 in NTSC land and whatever audio settings you prefer.

In order to capture the analog video, you need either an analog capture card or an analog to digital converter with a firewire card. The A/D converter is the better route as it will automatically convert to a DV codec and lock the a/v sync. One of the better converters out there is the Canopus ADVC-100 which retails for $300US, but you can get as low as $280 if you hunt for it. With the A/D converter you would capture just like as done with digital except in manual mode.
fuzzzzy wrote on 8/13/2002, 4:37 PM
Hi,
I have a "All In Wonder128" ATI card which has S-video and RCA connections.
But I can't seem to get the sound and the video seems all distored.

any suggestions ?

fuzzzzy
Chienworks wrote on 8/13/2002, 5:22 PM
fuzzzzy: after trying 4 different ATI capture cards, i've decided that ATI's stuff is just plain flawed. I love them for display adapters, but not for capturing. I've never been able to get a decent capture out of them with any capture software. I sprung for an external A/V -> DV converter and now all is joy and happiness.
markrad wrote on 8/13/2002, 11:07 PM
Fuzzzzzzy,
As HeeHee said "In order to capture the analog video, you need either an analog capture card or an analog to digital converter with a firewire card."

In my case I use a Sony TRV720 Digital8 video camera that serves as the Analog to Digital Converter, not to mention it's also a full featured video camera as well. I'm sorry if I'm telling you something you already know here ---> It records DV on Hi8 tapes. I can transfer nearly any older format like VHS, 8mm, or Hi8 which I have miles of footage recorded! Once converted though the video camera it will output a DV signal to go to a firewire card and from there into VV3.

Not sure if a video camera/converter is right for your situation but I had wanted to at least run the option by you.
HeeHee wrote on 8/13/2002, 11:16 PM
Ditto what Cheinworks said about the ATI cards. I have the same card as you and it is awful for audio. The sync is off and if I correct it it sounds distorted. There is also a problem with the XP driver that causes snaps, crackles and pops. I didn't have that issue with 98SE and they haven't updated the driver since like October 2001. Don't think they will either. Anyway, as did Cheinworks, I also went to an A/D converter and love it. As The_Producer said, you can also use a Digital8 camcorder with pass-through to convert VHS and other tape formats to DV. I believe you can capture HI8 and 8mm tapes to DV by just playing in the camcorder.
JoeMichalk wrote on 8/26/2002, 2:46 PM
I've been disapointed with the clarity of 8mm and VHS NTSC captures (avi) into Vidcap with Win 98 and my Asus 7700 Gforce 2 32MB TV-out/Capture card. Would the results of going through a digital video camera be better or is it all just a function of the original 8mm/VHS analog resolution?

JoeMichalk
Chienworks wrote on 8/26/2002, 3:01 PM
JoeMichalk, it's kinda part one and part the other. You will never get as good captures from 8mm/VHS as from digital because the quality of signal just isn't there. However, a good external A/V -> DV converter will help you get the best you can from the inferior signal. One of the reasons that the Canopus ADVC-100 costs $300 and the ATI AIW cards cost $60 (and remember that $60 includes video display hardware as well as the capture hardware) is because the Canopus box has much better circuitry to do it's job much better. It seems to have a bit of gen-locking to stabilize the image and some good filtering to keep the colors from bleeding. The ATI and Hauppauge cards suffer badly from both of these problems even when capturing from the best analog sources.
JoeMichalk wrote on 8/27/2002, 12:27 PM
Chienworks,

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess I'll have to look into other options on video capture equipment. I had three 8mm vid cameras running at a Safety Gameshow presentation that I put on for my organization and took captures from each to assemble a 90 second promo for the next Gameshow event. It came out pretty good, and was fairly easy doing the editing and titles in VV3, but I wish the quality/clarity/resolution was better. I am learning a lot. I may decide to look into the digital video cam option if it will serve both the digital recording and analog coversion purpose.

JoeMichalk