Stupid DV Question...

David_Kuznicki wrote on 9/9/2001, 10:00 AM
OK-- this is off-topic, so I apologize...

I'm used to working with a Media 100 at work, but I'm looking at picking up a simple card for home use w/ Vegas. It's either going to be a simple DV200 or DV500. Just curious, does anyone know (because I can't seem to find out!) if they use the same codec, or am I going to squeeze better video out of the DV500?

Comments

SonyEPM wrote on 9/10/2001, 8:35 AM
Have you considered going with a generic 1394 card and the Sony DVMCDA2 analog/dv converter? Cheap, clean, NO 3rd party driver hassles ever (driver is part of the OS). DV all the way is your best bet for Vegas.
MoBetta wrote on 9/10/2001, 3:45 PM
I am considering the Sony DVM CDA-2. Any additional hardware or software required between V.V. and the converter?

Thanks

MoBetta
SonyEPM wrote on 9/10/2001, 5:08 PM
just a 1394 card (SIIG, Pyro, anything that is OHCI compliant)
MoBetta wrote on 9/10/2001, 5:16 PM
The Sony website mentions the following" Requires camcorder with control L and COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE.2".

Would they be refering to V.V. as the software?

MoBetta
Chienworks wrote on 9/10/2001, 7:46 PM
That's only if you want your computer to control the camcorder as if it
was an edit deck. If you don't have Control L, then you'll have to
operate the controls on the camcorder (play, pause, rewind, etc.)
manually, but you can still capture analog video through the Sony
device just fine without the Control L features.
David_Kuznicki wrote on 9/10/2001, 7:51 PM
I'm still a bit confused though-- are all firewire cards going to allow you to capture w/ the same quality?
My reasoning for either the DV200 or DV500 is simple: I want to shift back and forth between Premiere and Vegas. Both have their benefits-- Premiere has After Effects, and Vegas has a much better interface & audio tools...
Chienworks wrote on 9/11/2001, 7:32 AM
Once your video is digitized into a DV stream, quality is basically
irrelevant. As long as your firewire card is OHCI compliant (and you'll
have a very hard time finding one that isn't) it will accurately transfer
the bits. There is no signal degradation in digital transfers.

The quality issue would be in the Sony converter box being discussed.
It is the device that actually converts your analog audio & video signals
into the DV stream. And from what i've read in the reviews, it does a
very good job of it indeed. I'm planning on picking one up soon.

Speaking of which, i've found it listed at B&H Photo Video in NYC
http://www02.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___194151___SODVMCDA2___REG___CatID=0___SID=E917DEE49A0
for $299.95. There are full specs listed there if you can follow that URL.
SonyEPM wrote on 9/11/2001, 8:35 AM
also: Both Premiere 6 and Vegas work well with OHCI DV cards, no problems. Vegas was designed from day one with DV in mind, so consider that your best Vegas option.

Vegas support for anything Pinnacle is limited, but if you go to either the Adobe or Pinnacle forums you will see that Pinnacle cards are not problem-free in Premiere either. Not slamming Pinnacle, just reporting what I've seen.
jboy wrote on 9/11/2001, 2:27 PM
Sonic, (or anybody else who knows the answer to this question), is there any qualitative difference between Analog-DV transcodes made using any of the many Sony camcorders that do this, and Sony's DVMCDA2 Analog/DV converter ? I ask this because everybody always seems to recommend the DVMCDA2, even though for a few hundred dollars more you could have a transcoder and a very usable DV camcorder..
pb wrote on 9/12/2001, 3:18 PM
I use a 99 CAD Pyro on an AMD 1.2 ghz/512 meg RAM and Premiere 6.0. Output is just as good as wife's Pinnacle DC1000DV, though effects must be rendered (but I do mostly cut, having entered the trade in 1981 when A/B Roll was restricted to high end post facilities).

Only suggestion I have is use a proper industrial strength drive such as the Lacie Cheetah; one of my EIDEs is beaten to death already.

pb
SonyEPM wrote on 9/12/2001, 4:58 PM
We haven't seen or conducted any scientific comparison, but using a camcorder to convert analog to DV and vice versa is a great second use for the camera. We do that all the time here.

If you can afford it, get a DV camera and you can do it all (if the camera has analog in- make sure you confirm that).