Comments

Former user wrote on 12/1/2008, 11:25 AM
If you are talking DV (not HDV), then I recommend the Canopus boxes, either the 110 or the 300.

Dave T2
rs170a wrote on 12/1/2008, 11:51 AM
If you (or a friend) have an old miniDV camcorder that has the pass-thru feature (even if it no longer records), this will do just fine.

Mike
ingvarai wrote on 12/1/2008, 12:19 PM
What about capturing from VHS to Vegas?

I have just acquired a Canopus 300 for this purpose. Allegedly, it will enhance the original VHS video to an extent the improvement becomes visible. I have played with it now for a few hours, and am probably not using it right because I see no real difference between the original analog and the captured "enhanced" digital video.
Nevertheless, I am able to move my VHS footages over to the PC, which was the main purpose with this purchase. Besides of previewing my Vegas project on a TV monitor, of course.


video777 wrote on 12/1/2008, 3:24 PM
Thanks for all your ideas. It never occurred to me to use a camcorder for this. I do have an old Sony DCR-TRV720 that will fit this bill rather nicely.

I will be looking into the Canopus 300 to capture VHS tapes. The big problem I had with the Liquid BoB was that the audio would get out of sync every time without exception. Generally after about 10 minutes it was noticable. Based on the comments here it doesn't sound like the Canopus has that problem.

Any other suggestions are welcome.
DavidMcKnight wrote on 12/1/2008, 3:31 PM
You know very well why the audio gets out of sync after 10 minutes...

...it's a Pinnacle product :)

The Canopus boxes work great, I have a 110 that I use every day.
Coursedesign wrote on 12/1/2008, 4:02 PM
The Canopus 300 has a built-in low end time base corrector.

This can help with old decrepit VHS tapes, but if the tapes are OK you will not see any difference.

JJKizak wrote on 12/1/2008, 4:32 PM
And remember the control software that comes with the 300. Also there is another ouput (special conversion cable) fo feed the component input of a TV so you can view two videos at the same time
on different monitors, that is if you are viewing also from the main buss.(VHS composite buss monitor and the 300 monitor).
JJK
video777 wrote on 12/1/2008, 8:31 PM
Thanks I was able to successfully use my Sony DCR TRV-720 to preview on my desk TV. It's amazing how different it looks on my LCD monitors compared to an actual TV. The LCD monitors make the video look washed out while the TV has a richer, more saturated look. It's also not quite as sharp on the TV. I've got some other priorities right now but will consider the Canopus 300 at some point. I did check prices and reviews and it looks good. I appreciate all the comments.
kentwolf wrote on 12/1/2008, 9:33 PM
>>...it's a Pinnacle product :)

To note, the Studio 8 hardware (break-out box), as horrible as the program was, DID capture correctly using Scenalyzer/SCLive.

I read somewhere that the program writer somehow obtained access to the Pinnacle info which enabled him to make SCLive work with this.

You migh consider trying it with the Liquid stuff.

The Pinncale breakout box:

1.) Would not capture with the Vegas capture app seeing it is not a compliant device; proprietary.

2.) Would not capture well with the Pinnacle app because it was a Pinnacle app. Gets out of synch after a short bit.

3.) Would capture flawlessly when using Scenalyzer. Did a 4 hour capture (plus many more) before like this. No dropped frames, no out of synch, worked great.

Switched over to the Canopus ADVC-100 some time ago. Flawless.

But if all you have is the breakout box, I would give it a try with the SCLive/Scenalyzer app. You can download a free trial.

http://www.scenalyzer.com/download.html

Note: If they are *still* having this *same* out-of-synch issue they had back when I switched over to Vegas *4*, well, I guess that's what makes Pinnacle Pinnacle. I think I read then this issue was old then. The blame, of course, if *your* system. Yeah. OK. Wasn't all bad though. Had it not been so horrible trying to get Pinnacle stuff to work, I would have never discovered Vegas. It was worth it.

End.
video777 wrote on 12/2/2008, 11:20 AM
Thanks.
Laurence wrote on 12/2/2008, 12:33 PM
Keep in mind that an external box like the Canopus 110 only previews at SD resolution. Yeah you can use it with HDV but it converts to SD on the fly and is horribly inefficient. If you want to work with any kind of HD with a firewire to SD convertor (or camcorder), you really need to work with proxies and set your project properties to match the preview device.
video777 wrote on 12/2/2008, 2:24 PM
Well I'm not doing HD yet but that's good to know. Thank you.
Laurence wrote on 12/2/2008, 9:55 PM
The other thing you want to keep in mind is that you really want to make sure that the SD format you shot, the the project format, and the TV format should all match so as not to be doing any unnecessary recoding. In other words, if you shot at 4:3 60i NTSC, you want the project settings to match and you want to be using a 4:3 TV. When all these match, you should be able to monitor your CPU usage and see next to no overhead wherever there are no transitions, effects, or titles added. Today, with dual and quad core systems this isn't such a big deal, but a few years ago with the much slower processors this made an absolutely huge difference in workflow.