Rookie question

chazborazbo wrote on 4/24/2007, 9:45 AM
Wow, I am overwelmed by what I am reading here on this fourm. I feel like I'm reading Greek. I have a recording studio and have been recording audio since the days before digital recording was ever even imagined. We need to get more into video and have a host of questions. I will ask them one at a time.

1. What is the difference between video capture and just downloading, (drag and drop from explorer, from my HD camera)?

forgive me if this seems so elementry, but I am just beginning in this field of video.

Thanks, charlie

Comments

Tim Stannard wrote on 4/24/2007, 10:22 AM
Welcome aboard! For the record I haven't recorded since audio went digital :)

1. Video capture relates to transferring something from a tape (or linear, or streaming (?) ) format to a random access format, such as a hard disk. Normally, nowadays, this is achieved via a firewire (or sometimes USB) connection. The "sending" device (eg camcorder) plays the file and the receiving device (eg computer) captures the output and turns it into another file.

Your HDD files just need to be copied. This can happen at a far quicker than real-time speed and is one of the main advantages of HDD.
Chienworks wrote on 4/24/2007, 10:23 AM
Video Capture is storing a stream of video data into a file. Up until recently, camcorders didn't have files that could be dragged from their storage to the computer. They would only send a stream of information in real time. The capturing program would accept this stream, then place it into a file and save it. This is because up until recently camcorders recorded on non-filesystem devices like tape.

Some newer camcorders now contain hard drives. This drive captures the video from the camera and creates the file there. After that you can transfer the video file from the camcorder to the PC the same way you would from any portable/external drive.
chazborazbo wrote on 4/26/2007, 9:37 AM
thanks guys for the info.
That leads me to the next question. If I can capture video with FW or USB, (I have both on my computer) why would I need a video capture card? Does it depend on the camera that I have. I have, at this point, a SR60 I think and don't need a capture card, I just drag and drop, but, I will be buying a better more pro camera in the future. I have Vegas 6.0 (not movie studio) and I think it has capture built in, does it not? If so, does a capture card capture faster, or with better quality or do I need one at all?

Thanks for your answers,
Charlie
Laurence wrote on 4/26/2007, 10:14 AM
No it sounds like you don't need a capture card for capturing video. You might want to consider a Firewire capture box for previewing video though. I have a Firewire Canopus ADVC-100 capture box that I use for monitoring SD video though even though I rarely capture with it. Monitoring with a Firewire capture box gives you fullscreen high resolution monitoring while you edit with minimal use of your CPU.