capturing video

gmes29 wrote on 9/4/2006, 6:16 AM
sorry for the deluge of questions lately but i'm starting to like vms and there's still a lot of stuff i don't know. eg:
according to the Help, VidCap60 requires no more than your camcoder being hooked up to your video/capture card. first, i'm assuming this capture card would have to be firewire capable (ieee 1394) correct??
if so, will my Sound Blaster Audify suffice for a capture card given it came with a firewire connection??
will VidCap automatically search for and find my firewire port??
can i capture straight from a VCR instead of a camcorder just as easily??

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 9/4/2006, 6:51 AM
Well, first of all, have you tried capturing through the firewire port on your Audigy card? Please do try it and see if it works. There have been some successes reported. VidCap should automatically use that port if it sees an active video stream coming in through it.

Firewire connections do not have anything to do with your video capture card. The are completely different technologies. I've had a few high-end video cards with video capture built in and none of them have had firewire ports. All my firewire ports have been separate cards that have no other features. In your case, as you've pointed out, your firewire port is on your sound card.

If your VCR has a firewire port (doubtful) then you should be ready to go. Since it probably doesn't, you might want to look into using your camcorder as a capture device. Many camcorders will convert analog A/V input to DV through firewire on the fly. Some will only record the A/V input, but you can then capture through firewire while playing the DV tape back.

If your video card has analog video inputs you an try capturing from your VCR with it but VidCap may or may not be of any help. You may have to use the capture/recording program that came with the video card to capture an AVI file, then open that file in Vegas afterwards for editing.
gmes29 wrote on 9/4/2006, 11:59 AM
"Please do try it and see if it works"
i would but i'm not sure what's needed/how to set it up..
"you might want to look into using your camcorder as a capture device"
unfortunately, i don't have a camcorder..
"If your video card has analog video inputs you an try capturing from your VCR "
i do have this now that i've upgraded to an ATI All in Wonder.. i'll check into whether or not i can record input from the VCR..
Chienworks wrote on 9/4/2006, 12:09 PM
If you've got the all in wonder then there shouldn't be any reason you can't capture from your VCR, well, unless your VCR is so cheap that it doesn't have A/V outputs.

Aren't you doing some capturing of some sort now? If so, what and how?
gmes29 wrote on 9/4/2006, 1:03 PM
i thought i had all my capturing done.. i was using ADS Tech's DVD Express/CapWiz to capture VHS tape input and the files created always worked fine in Pinnacle so i didn't know any different. but now that i've seen that some editing programs have some trouble with files captured via other means/programs, i may have to start over again - at least with some files..
but my VCR is fine.. i'm already using the A/V outputs with ADS Tech's capture device. unfortunately my ATI card doesn't take the white, red and yellow inputs, just coaxial cable inputs/outputs.
Chienworks wrote on 9/4/2006, 2:03 PM
Ahhh, well, you could use the coax RF out of the VCR to connect to the All In Wonder. I don't think you'd be happy with the quality though. Probably worse than capturing A/V to MPEG with the ADX box. ATI's video recorder program is pretty abyssmal too.

Maybe there are some third-party capture programs that could capture AVI with the ADS box. Have you ever looked at scenalyzer?

If you're really serious about this, there are some decent A/V -> DV converters out there for under $200. I bet you could find some used SONY DVMC-DA2 or Canopus ADVC 100 or 110 on ebay for under $50. These work so much better than anything you've tried so far that you probably wouldn't believe the difference until you see it.
gmes29 wrote on 9/4/2006, 3:07 PM
thanx for all your help - for this and other posts..
gmes29 wrote on 9/5/2006, 2:58 AM
one more thing..
"Well, first of all, have you tried capturing through the firewire port on your Audigy card? Please do try it and see if it works. There have been some successes reported. VidCap should automatically use that port if it sees an active video stream coming in through it."

could you give me hint on what i need to even attempt this? i assume i need some sort of 1394 compatible cable but where would the other end go given i only have a VCR??
Chienworks wrote on 9/5/2006, 5:21 PM
Read my previous paragraph about the SONY DVMC-DA2 or Canopus units. Those have analog A/V inputs and outputs and a firewire port.
Clarke wrote on 9/7/2006, 7:57 AM
gmes29, I have a Creative Audigy soundcard with the firewire port and it works for me when capturing using that.

Hope this input helps.
gmes29 wrote on 9/7/2006, 1:04 PM
thanx for that.. now i know that it should work..
did you use VMS's VidCap to capture the stream??