Comments

Chienworks wrote on 6/21/2003, 11:46 AM
You'll need some sort of analog -> DV converter. Lots of folks in these forums like the Canopus ADVC-100 which sells for about $250 to $300. This device has a firewire connector for the digital connection to the computer, and also analog composite, S-Video, and audio connections for your VHS VCR.
BarJames wrote on 6/21/2003, 2:33 PM
Sometime I will get a straight answer from people I buy stuff from. I appreciate the info Chienworks, however when I purchased this video program from SonicFoundry, I was told that I could transfer VHS..not one mention of any other item needed. I purchased FireWire because I was told that I needed the capture procedure. No mention of needing another $300.00 item to bring vhs to the system. When will this stop?

JohnnyRoy wrote on 6/21/2003, 3:39 PM
> however when I purchased this video program from SonicFoundry, I was told that I could transfer VHS..not one mention of any other item needed. I purchased FireWire because I was told that I needed the capture procedure.

That statement sounds like two different people gave you advice. SonicFoundry was correct. You can capture VHS tapes provided you have an analog capture device to use with VideoFactory. I guess they assumed you already had a way to plug your camera into your PC. Since you say that they didn’t mention you needed any other item, then I assume someone else must have told you to buy the firewire card. This is the person that steered you wrong. They didn’t know what they were talking about if you told them you wanted to capture VHS and they suggested that just a firewire would do that.

> No mention of needing another $300.00 item to bring vhs to the system. When will this stop?

You don’t need another $300 item to bring VHS to the system. Chienworks was just trying to save you a lot of headaches by telling you what works best. You can get a USB video capture device starting at just $29. ADS and Dazzle make a few products that do this. You might not be happy with the quality and you may have audio sync problems, but it will work. Do quick search on Google.com for “usb video capture”.

You can also use a graphics card that has video inputs (I think ATI makes one) and the quality varies with the quality of the card. If you don’t need to go back to VHS tape, you can get the Canopus ADVC-50, which is only $200. If you want the best quality possible, get the ADVC-100 or ADVC-50. I don’t think you’ll be happy with the other solutions so make sure you buy them from a store that takes returns.

~jr
BarJames wrote on 6/22/2003, 8:27 AM
Thank you for a clarification. It would appear the best solution is to skip to digital video since it is easier/better quality. One more query, I have a Canon sureshot. Is there a way to utilize the VideoFactory in editing the 30-second videos shot on this camera?
JohnnyRoy wrote on 6/22/2003, 9:58 AM
If the movies that the Cannon sureshot takes are MPEG (most digital still cameras that take movies use this format) then the answer is yes you can if it is MPEG1 format. VideoFactory will edit MPEG1 right out of the box. If its MPEG2 format, you will need to purchase the MPEG2 encoder ($30). The size of the video will probably be very small (160x120 as compared to 720x480 for NTSC DV).

MPEG is not an optimal source for editing. It is a lossy final rendering format with very high compression. You may not be happy with quality after you edit it because it will need to be entirely recompressed. By contrasts, DV only needs to recompress the parts you change. I would not expect too much quality wise.

~jr
DaveCT wrote on 6/22/2003, 10:59 AM
If you can borrow a digital camcorder from somebody you can use that as an Analog>Digital converter. Plug an analog VCR into the digital camcorder's video inputs and pass it through to the FireWire output. Many digital camcorders can do this.

-Dave