Are there any recommended analog capture cards for Vegas Studio?

Get a card that captures to DV AVI, not to MPEG-2. I've been quite happy with my Canopus card.

--Scott

Thanks for the tip.

Which card is that? And do other people have other recommendations? I am about to return the Dazzle 90 I spent hours last night trying (unsuccessfully) to use for analog capture.

JeffD

CompUSA sells a generic card for $50. The Canopus card mentioned previously in this thread is a great card and designed to work with most of the middle/high end NLE programs. In the beginning of the NLE world most home computers did not have the processing speed or ram needed to do video editing. Many programs (for example earlier versions of Premier) the effect had to be rendered before previewing. Hence, the video editing card was born which was specifically designed for the process. Edition, as far as I know, was the first middle/high end NLE to drop the need for a card to show real time video effects and instead used the computer's video card to render the effect for preview in real time video effects. Once real time video effects could be done that way NLE editors started dropping the need for that kind of card. This is a long way of telling you not to spend your money on a Canopus card because you really won't benefit.

A few weeks ago a friend wanted to transfer some video tapes to DVD and used a $30 program/card do to the job. It did the job. Unfortunately, to edit the file it required buying the companies editing software.

If you visit your local (well stocked) computer store you should be able to find a generic card that will allow you to import your VHS tapes. Personally, I use a Sony DV camcorder. The VHS is connected to the camera and the camera is connected to the firewire. (You will need to check your camera instructions to see if this is possible and how to configure the camera settings to make this happen.)

If you're expecting sparkling quality from any VHS tape you'll always be disappointed.

Thanks, Storyman -

I ended up getting the Hauppauge WinTV PRV2 USB ($120 after $30 rebate) from Circuit City.

It installed very easily and was up and running quickly. I didn't buy it for its TV-on-your-PC features, but I'm sure I'll buckle and use those from time to time.

> Personally, I use a Sony DV camcorder. The VHS
> is connected to the camera and the camera is
> connected to the firewire. (You will need to
> check your camera instructions to see if this
> is possible and how to configure the camera
> settings to make this happen.)

My DV-Camcorder does not have analog-in capabilities. It was one of the features I was considering when making my purchase, but I opted for a camera that didn't have it.

> If you're expecting sparkling quality from
> any VHS tape you'll always be disappointed

Understood. My goal is less ambitious: to take the best footage from 100 hours of Video8 tapes of family movies from 15 years ago and make a few DVD compilations.

JeffD

A 100 hours of tape!? You are a man of dedication.

Considering the work you are about to do you might enjoy this. This happened years ago when those National Geographic television specials were shot on 16mm film. A friend of mine was hired to sync and catalogue all of the film. It was no easy task and when done he had filled a film rack from floor to ceiling. One day a man appeared and introduced himself and said he was the editor. When he asked, "where is the film?" My friend pointed to the film rack. "No, really which is our film?" "All of it," my friend replied.

The editor shook my friend's hand and said, "It's been nice meeting you," then left never to be heard from again.

Good luck.

> 100 hours of tape!? You are a man
> of dedication.

Yeah...

The good news is that I actually have all of that footage catalogued (timecode in/out, with brief descriptions of scenes) in a 3-ring binder, from when I first took it.

Ok. So I'm a little anal.

:-)