Yes, I can transfer the HD files from my camcorder to my PC by moving the card from the camera to the computer.

My main concern at this time is to capture a lot of training videos I have created over the years on VHS, to Vegas Pro and edit and burn them to disc. I also want to make sure it will work with the Sony Vegas capture feature. I was just thinking if I was going to buy a capture device get one that does SD and HD formats.

As I have researched more since I wrote this initial post, I was wondering how a Hauppauge Colossus card would work. My main concern is capturing the VHS video in the best quality. Many of the videos were made in the early days of VHS camcorders.

Search the Goodwills and flea markets for a zR series Canon camcorder.
It goes between your VHS player and computer Firewire.
A->D Passthrough is likely all you will need.
Capture with Scenealyzer which can still be found.
Tape transport doesn't even have to work. Average price $5 - $10.

I tried two ATI capture cards when I needed to capture some old VHS footage. An ATI Wonder Pro (as in, I wonder what happened to the quality) and a Osprey 230. Both were disappointing to say the least. Get a through-put FW device as MV suggests.

Old Sony Digital8 cameras can do this A-D conversion as well. Some (all?) also have S-Video input/output.

With VHS tape, the weakest links are likely to be the tape and player. You will never get top SD quality if you start with VHS, so don't worry too much about the capture device, unless you can get one with a good time base corrector (TBC).

"I want to purchase a video capture device to use with Sony Vegas 12. I saw someplace that the Vegas Pro capture program only works with Fire Wire devices. Is this true?"
As others have pointed out... Yes, it's true. So unless you plan on buying a firewire card for your PC you cannot use Vegas Pro to capture because Vegas Pro Capture utility only works with firewire.

"My computer doesn't have any firewire input and I wanted to get a USB device if it will work."
It won't work with the Vegas Pro Capture utility but you could use whatever software comes with the USB device to capture. Just be very careful of the format that it captures in. You want it to be a format that Vegas Pro can edit. Firewire devices capture DV AVI files which Vegas Pro edits quite easily. Do not get a USB device that captures WMV files, for example, because Vegas Pro has a hard time editing these. So be very careful if you are not using Firewire.

"My main concern at this time is to capture a lot of training videos I have created over the years on VHS, to Vegas Pro and edit and burn them to disc. I also want to make sure it will work with the Sony Vegas capture feature. I was just thinking if I was going to buy a capture device get one that does SD and HD formats. "
Take a look at Blackmagic Design's Intensity Shuttle for USB 3.0 ($189 USD at B&H Photo). It comes in both a Mac version that connects via Thunderbolt and a Windows version that connects via USB 3.0. Be very careful to read the computer requirements because it doesn't work with Dell computers and has very specific motherboard requirements but it captures 10bit HDMI HD and analog video in SD.



Here is what it says on their web site:

Sony Vegas Pro
Sony Vegas Pro works seamlessly with Intensity Shuttle for an incredible SD and HD editing experience! Use powerful video effects and versatile audio editing tools while previewing your work in real time even with full HD projects! Capture up to 10 bit uncompressed so you can start with the best possible image quality for your Blu-ray Disc creation or Windows Media 9 content distribution.

So this looks like it meets both of your requirements of working with Vegas Pro and capturing SD and HD. I would contact Blackmagic Design before purchasing to make sure it will work with your computer. Having said that...

The industry standard firewire device for this is the Canopus ADVC 110. They are getting harder and harder to find these days. If the training videos need Time Base Correction (TBC) to correct tearing from old footage, you'll need a device like the Canopus ADVC-300 (which is what I use) that has TBC built-in. I bought a firewire card just so I could use this device so once, again... Firewire is the way to go. As others have said, firewire cards are cheap only costing about $15 - $29 and you'll get much better video that's easier to edit as a result. Get one with a Texas Instruments chipset!

"As I have researched more since I wrote this initial post, I was wondering how a Hauppauge Colossus card would work. My main concern is capturing the VHS video in the best quality. Many of the videos were made in the early days of VHS camcorders. "
It looks like it will get the job done but I would buy it from some place that you can return it. Here's why: You will need to use the included Arcsoft ShowBiz software to capture the VHS tapes and it will store them as H.264 files. On the surface this looks all well and good, but I have a Hauppauge HD-PVR that uses the same software and the H.264 files that it produces don't edit easily in Vegas Pro. Maybe the software has gotten better but I had to transcode all of the capture videos to another format before I could edit them. This card may be different, but like I said, only buy it from somewhere that you can return it if it doesn't work as you expected.

~jr

Thanks everyone for the posts. It has helped me get a better idea of what I need.

>> the weakest links are likely to be the tape and player. You will never get top SD quality if you start with >> VHS, so don't worry too much about the capture device, unless you can get one with a good time base >> corrector (TBC).

I'm Transferring a fair quantity of VHS tapes. I just bought a used JVC HR-S9911U VCR. That unit has TBC. In the past I've transferred with a non-TBC VCR using my old DV camcorder (Panasonic) with decent results for 720 x 480 using WinDV.

Should I worry about the capture device? Would it make any noticeable difference to get a Canopus ADVC110? Or something beside my old Camcorder?

Hopefully this helps:

I had the same issue. I use DVX-100's (for church) and the firewire port burned out on the camera. I searched and found that an old Pinnacle Movie Box 510 for SD (or 710 for SD and HD) did an excellent job on transfer thru USB 2.0 or 3.0.

I was shocked at the amount of quality drop-off which was very little to none. I found it on eBay for $35 bucks. Since Vegas' capture interface only accepts firewire, I had to capture using Pinnacle's Movie Studio 14 which came with the box. Very simple and easy.

I did a search on youtube to see if it would work and a few professionals said it was a great way for VHS transfer. I took a chance and it worked with very, VERY good results.

I also have a Canopus ADVC 300 but its very old and I believe it burned out too. The S-video still works but I'd still have to get it to the Computer via USB so it was useless.

Those Pinnacle Boxes (510 or 710) are started to increase in price on eBay so I think the gig is up and people are starting to realize how valuable they are. Some prices are exceeding $100 bucks!

Look into it . . . may be worth it! When I found how good they work, I bought a few before the prices went up. Hope this helps!!

*Edit:*: They also accept firewire in for transfer . . .

Skywatcher

> "Should I worry about the capture device? Would it make any noticeable difference to get a Canopus ADVC110? Or something beside my old Camcorder?"

There is absolutely no difference in quality between a Canopus ADVC110 and a firewire Camcorder using passthru. They are both doing a digital file transfer and not actually "capturing". As long as you are using firewire you should be fine. No need to get anything else.

~jr

My old camcorder is Panasonic. PV-GS250 .. The manual says the DV port is USB. But I think I've used it with a firewire cable in the past with an old laptop that had a firewire port. I'll try to test it later if I can find that old laptop.

Could a DV port be used USB or FIrewire?

I suppose it's possible, but it would be exceptionally rare. I've never seen one.

Most of those camcorders used the USB port for transferring stills or a very low quality MPEG "web camera" version of the video. Generally the full DV signal is only sent through a firewire port. Back in the day when DV was born, USB was limited to 11mbps while DV requires almost 30. Firewire does 400 so it was the natural choice. USB2 can handle the speed, but by the time it was commonly available DV was already starting to fade.

Thanks guys. This Panasonic PV-GS250 seems to have both USB 2.0 and Firewire ports. In the manual the spec's clearly show that the DV port is Firewire. Digital interface: DV input/output terminal (IEEE1394, 4-pin) -- but there is also another port with that funky USB symbol.

I have an old PC running XP that might do with a Firewire card installed (which I have somewhere). Can't find my old laptop. Must be long gone.

To do a bulk of VHS transfers I'll need a separate system anyway. Very time consuming.

Regarding the Black Magic Intensity shuttle usb 3.0. I used one for a long time for external monitoring but the most recent builds of vegas 13 no longer work with it.

That is, it works for a few seconds and then vegas crashes every time. No longer usable for external monitoring. The words describing Vegas Support on BM's website apply to Vegas 9 I believe. The trick of using the Vegas 11 decklink.dll in V13 no longer works either.

I've had to buy a new video card ( not supported by vegas' gpu rendering) that supports 3 monitors to drive my grading monitor. I got an hdmi switch so i can use the shuttle with Magic Bullet Looks and after effects. They work fine so it's not my machine. Also, the shuttle works great with the catalyst products so I know SCS knows how to do it.

I'd be interested to hear if it's working for anyone in Vegas 13.

BM mini monitor cards have never worked with Vegas, device not found.

Whether it works as a capture device without crashing I do not know. I still use my ADVC-300 when I need to capture DV as it has the TBC and hardware noise reduction.

rocky

Don't worry if Vegas capture won't work. Just use some other software for the transfer. It is quite independent of any subsequent editing.