Vegas and DC 30 Capture Card

georgiajoel wrote on 7/16/2002, 2:02 PM
I am attempting to set up an intel 845d motherboard with an Intel P4 2.0 ghz chip and 512 DDR ram. Using Windows ME and Sound Blaster 5.1 Live Drive.
I am using a Pinnacle Systems DC 30 Capture card.
I have over 12 years of video footage from SVHS,VHS and HI-8 Sources.
Could anyone give detailed info on how to implement this system and wich codec to use.
The help files on Sonics site say i cannot use Windows 2000 or XP with the DC 30 card.
Currently I have no intrest in capturing Digital video since I have no way of doing so or no sources that require it.

Any info you experienced guys have to lessen my burden would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

HeeHee wrote on 7/16/2002, 2:25 PM
Please indicate what media you want your final product on; VCD, SVCD, DVD, Web, back to VHS? This will let us know the codec to use.

I would steer clear of analog capture cards. I went this route and found it to be a chore. With analog capture, the AVI files created are huge and the audio sync gets off line with the video.

If you are planning to edit the footage, then you should consider purchasing an analog to digital converter. such as the Canopus ADVC-100, and an OHCI 1394 firewire card. The AD converter will lock the audio/video sync and will use a hardware codec to convert the analog signal to a DV AVI file thru the firewire card. This lossless file is about 5 times smaller than an uncompress AVI created with an analog capture card. You can then edit the file, add music or whatever and render to the desired format. AN alternative to the AD converter is some Digital Camcorders, most noteably from Sony, have A to D passthru so you can hook up your VCR to it and convert the video to digital. You still need a firewire card. It will also play your HI8 tapes.

If you do not plan on editing and just want to go straight to the desired format, then the analog capture card is OK. There is also a new set top solution on the market that will take a VHS tape (It may have other inputs as well) and burn it write to a DVD. I think Phillips makes it.

Anyway, let us know how you want the end result and someone will let you know what codec to use.
p_l wrote on 7/16/2002, 3:27 PM
If your goal is simply to archive old home movies on VCD, check out this gizmo:

http://www.terapintech.com./fea_cdaudio.html

And is that a DV firewire input I see on the front panel?
HeeHee wrote on 7/16/2002, 5:00 PM
That VCD Recorder is cool. The Phillips DVD recorders can be found here. They range from about $800 to $1600 US. The Terapin VCD recorder is about $500.
georgiajoel wrote on 7/16/2002, 7:02 PM
I thought the DC 30 CARD WAS A CONVERTER IN ORDER TO FOR IT TO CREATE FILES ON A HARD DRIVE.
I DO PLAN TO EDIT THIS FOOTAGE WITH VEGAS VIDEO AND ADD EFFECTS.
I HAVE 2 30 GIG DRIVES AND 1 80 GIG WHICH ALLOWS ME TO CAPTURE UNCOMPRESSED FOOTAGE OF ABOUT 30 MINUTES AT A TIME AVI WHICH IS FINE FOR MY PURPOSE.
THIS FOOTAGE WILL BE OUTPUT BACK TO SVHS TAPE USING S-VIDEO OUT ON THE DC 30.
I AM ALSO USING A ATI RADEON 64 MB 8500 VIDEO CARD.
p_l wrote on 7/16/2002, 7:26 PM
Or here, if you don't read Chinese:

http://www.consumer.philips.com/global/b2c/ce/catalog/category.jhtml;jsessionid=KXPJ2DSO5SCPECRQNE2RYUYKGBUCWHD0?divId=0&groupId=VIDEO&catId=DVDRECORDERS
HeeHee wrote on 7/17/2002, 2:16 PM
It appears to me, from looking on Pinnacle System's website, that the DC30 is a analog capture card. This means that it will capture video directly from an analog source with either RCA or Svideo jacks. It will also send out from the computer to the analog destination as well. The DC30 does not convert from analog to digital unless you use a software codec during or after the capture. This is where problems occur like huge file sizes, dropped-frames and audio does not sync to the video very well. I can't speak for the DC30, but it sounds very similar to the ATI All-in-Wonder like I have. (The Wonder stands for "I Wonder why I bought this piece of crap?")

Anyway, it appears that this product is obsolete as it only appears on Pinnacle's support page. If you haven't bought it yet, I would seriously consider purchasing the Canopus ADVC-100 and a firewire card. It will cost you about $300, for both ADVC-100 and another $30 or so for the firewire card. I wish I had done the same before getting the ATI AIW. I could have pruchased a decent dual head video card instead. No more trying to stretch and sync the audio to the video and more space on my hard drive to do longer captures and/or more projects at a time.

Good luck!
falz wrote on 7/17/2002, 3:40 PM
I used to own a DC30, and it worked great in its time (7mb/sec analog, sweet!). Ah the days when you NEEDED raid.

Anyway, 4 years later.. Vegas does not function with the old win3.1 style video capture codecs, only directwhatever compliant devices, which are solely OHCI firewire cards.

So you could do whatever all here suggested, or get a firewire card + media converter ($350 total?) and you can do all editing directly in DV format.

I believe that MOST of the converters work both ways, so you could output back to any composite or Svideo source. The good part is you get excellent quality of video (depending on your source of course) at only ~3.5mb/sec.



SonyDennis wrote on 7/17/2002, 5:32 PM
The Canopus ADVC-50 and ADVC-1394 are analog input only, no analog output. The fine ADVC-100 does both, as does the Sony DVMC-DA2 if you can still find one. The ADVC-100 seems to be the box of choice these days.
///d@
vinmangraphics wrote on 7/19/2002, 8:24 AM
The DC30 will most likely not work with XP, but it does with 2000. (Somebody was working on *unofficial* XP support, but Pinnacle has stated they will not create supported XP drivers)

I've used a DC30 Pro in both Win98SE and Win2000. The board works similarly in both operating systems. You'll need to use the Pinnacle software for capturing (not capturing directly from Vegas). You have no choice but to capture in the board's supported format - MJPEG. You do have a good deal of control regarding the capture quality (up to 7Mb/sec) assuming your drive can handle the sustained throughput.

Once the video is captured, you'll be able to edit it in VV with no problems.

As far as sending video out through the DC30, it again needs to be in the DC30 MJPEG format. I'm not sure if the proper codec will show up in VV3, or if they relied on a special Premiere plug in for that. (The machine I have VV on does not have the DC30, but instead uses a software MJPEG codec to be able to use the movies)

If the codec does show up, you can save your output as an AVI file using the dc30 codec, play the movie in MediaPlayer and it will automatically output through the dc30. If the codec doesn't show up, you'll need to save in a format that the copy of premiere that came with the card can read (like MPEG1, or uncompressed AVI), let it do the conversion to DC30 MJPEG, and output the file from within premiere.

--

I would suggest ditching the DC30 (I did) and get yourself an analog/dv converter like the canopus advc-100. This way your capture device won't be bound by OS restrictions, plus you'll get the ability to capture at typical DVD 720x480 resolution (dc30 maxes at 704x480, which is still a legal resolution, but atypical).
This will also create standard DV format AVI files, which are more portable. If your DC30 dies, you won't be able to read your MJPEG files without buying another DC* card, or by purchasing a software MJPEG decoder like the ones from MorganMultimedia, or MainConcept (both around $20-$30 USD)


- vin