Video capture hardware recommendations, please! (1 Viewer)

[John_Berger]

Jeff, I'm definitely looking for your input on this.
All right, folks. I'm having problems with my ATI Radeon AIW 7500, so I'm looking at getting something else.
Two that have been recommended or at least look very good are:
* Canopus ADVC1394
* Pinnacle Systems Studio Deluxe 8
Both of these products include proprietary hardware that allows capturing from both analog and digital sources as well as MPEG-2 capture, which is really what I'm looking for.
Now ... has anyone put a lot of hours in with either (or both) of these products? If so, I need positives and negatives to both. They're about the same price, so I'm not concerned about that. My only concerns are functionality, stability, and performance, primarily under Windows 2000.
So, if you have experience with either or both of these cards, your related success or failure stories will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The Canopus has gotten very good reviews, I'd say you can't go wrong with it, they're a great outfit. Sorry, I don't have any links, just print reviews

 

[CameronS]

Problems with the AIW 7500? I was just looking to buy one of those. Maybe I should also look at a few more options.

 

[JasenP]

John what difficulties were you having with the AIW 7500?

Many times it's just a configuration/software issue.

 

[John_Berger]

Actually, I think it might be a configuration issue. For whatever reason, I checked the IRQ settings of my Sound Blaster Audigy and my AIW 7500. Both of them are using IRQ 10, and I only have problems capturing during high-action scenes. Unfortunately, I can't change the IRQ for either of them.
My motherboard has a cheapy sound card built into it (but I like Sound Blaster and the Audigy has a FireWire port in it). I can change the IRQ of the on-board sound. So, as usual I'm completely rebuilding my system tonight to see if there is any difference having the on-board sound and AIW on separate IRQs.
Cameron, don't necessarily look away from the AIW. It really is a good card, but my needs are very specific. I'm also a perfectionist - the problems that I'm having with it probably would not be noticed by most others. Don't just bypass it because I'm having a very particular problem. Hell, for all I know it's a motherboard issue! (It would give me an excuse to buy a new motherboard andfaster processor. )

 

[Drew Dockery]

I'm looking for a video capture card myself. The problem is that I know absolutely nothing about it, so I really don't know what I'm looking for. Can anyone point me to some place that has a good primer for this sort of thing? I'll primarily be taking VHS and trying to convert it to DVD.

 

[Matt DeVillier]

John,

I've used the Canopus AVDC-100 quite a bit, and it's outstanding! I'd highly recommend any of their analog->1394 solutions

 

[dave ratcliffe]

So you're able to use the 50 or the 1394 to capture stuff from a vcr or cable tv onto your computer? Or does it only convert?