Hi - my job involves capturing oodles of analog video from vhs, dvd, audio tapes etc. Currently we use Osprey 100 series cards but I'm looking to improve the quality of video coming through here (some is pretty bad) and also to kick audio/video sync problems by getting a capture card with audio in and locked sync. The end product ends up on the Internet so we capture at 240x180 - Currently I use the M$ Mpeg-4 Video Codec V2 to capture at with data rate at maximum. The only editing that is really done is straight chops (mainly cutting off the front and end of video) using Direct Stream in VirtualDub. Can anyone recommend a good quality capture card that is somewhere in the $150-$300 range that has locked audio sync? I was looking at the Canopus ADVC-50 because it has some excellent reviews - I want to make sure it works with VirtualDub though and supports the above MS codec. I'm not that interested in the analog > dv conversion of this card since the DV files sizes are going to be huge and I'm looking to keep the file size down because I move gigs of *.avi's around daily on our network. I realize the above listed codec isn't anywhere near the best when we're talking about quality but I'm looking at get the input capture quality as good as I can. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I use an ATI All-In-Wonder video card for capturing and they are great. The main thing that I like about them is the flexibilty in what format you can record into (the Canopus ADVC are DV AVI only as far as I know). Capturing with VirtualDub can be done with WDM I think it's called but I don't use VirtualDub so I am not 100% sure (I just use the ATI MMC). Maybe if you have any money left you can get a full frame TBC.
If you are working with Such Low resolution Files(240+180) then I suggest you Just keep the Card you have but maybe Modify your Method.... If you capture to a High Resolution (720+480) and then resize to 240+180 you will "Greatly" improove the Quality of your Final file because you will Increase the Pixel dencity which Makes a Much Clearer and Sharper and Noise Free Image..... The Best capture devices you can get in your Price Range are the "Canopus ADVC-100/110/300" Line of analogue Digital Converters but these devices Like most of the Professinal Quality capture devices Capture to DV AVI format that only Supports Full D1 Resolution or Higher and Trying to Capture at Such a Low resolution you aren"t going to be able to Get that High of Quality no matter what you do.... If you capture at the Highest Resolution you can (720+480) to a Low Compression AVI format (PicVideo Mjpeg or HuffYUV) and then use Virtual-Dub to Encode the High Resolution File to 240+180 maybe useing a Couple of Filters and you Will find that the Quality of your Files are so much Better than Before that you will hardly believe it...and if you have a Fast PC the encodeing from 720+480 to 240+180 useing MS Mpeg-4 V2 will be extremely fast , probably about 5+ times real Time so you will probably be able to compress an hour of Video in about 10 minutes or less when working at such a Low resolution..... Cheers
Thanks for the info. Speaking of full frame TBC's - any that are recommended that have excellent image control features that are in the $150-$300 range? I'm sure this is in the entry level price range but just looking to test one out that has semi-high marks in that range. As far as locked audio sync - do all capture cards that have audio input on the capture card itself have locked audio or does it need to indicate that as a card "feature"? This has been a problem with a few computers we've assembled at the office with different configs and usually the sync is off fairly dramatically fairly from the get go. I'm looking to have a rock steady solution where this doesn't happen.
Hi, There are a Few TBC"s that are of a Reasonable Price ($200-$500) like the "DataVideo TBC-100" which is actually an Internal PCI card that you Put in your PC and you Just Hook your Video signal into the TBC and output to your Capture Card and then Capture .... These cards are about $200.. What might be a Better Choice is the "DataVideo TBC-1000" which is an external Unit about the size of a DVD player and Costs about $350 and from what I hear it is a Very Good unit for the Price but then again for that Price you can get an ADVC-110 which has it"s own TBC and audio Lock Feature..... If Sync problems are a Major Concern then you Could still get a device Like an ADVC-100 and encode the Files to MS-Mpeg-4 v2, You would get Extremely Good Quality and have Perfect Audio and Video Sync, also the ADVC units Can disable Macrovision copy protection so you can copy retail VHS tapes without any Problems.... And because a Capture Card has an audio Input doesn"t mean it has an audio Lock feature but some do, but most all are Hardware Encoders.. Sync problems are usually due to the Sound and Video Capture Clocks being slightly different or from dropped Frames which you should not do when captureing at such a Low resolution..... There are a Few Capture devices that use Hardware Mpeg-4 encodeing so you could Capture directly to Mpeg-4 but I am afraid that the Quality will not be any Better when captureing at such a Low resolution..... Cheers
Minion: Thanks a lot for your answers. I think the most important thing right now is simply a decent card that has 1) locked audio 2) supports ms mpeg 4 v2 codec 3) captures in VirtualDub. Do you know if the ADVC-50 will do this and if not - any recommendations?
No ,None of the ADVC devices will work in Virtual-Dub because they are Firewire devices and V-Dub is a WDM Capture program so they are not Compatible.....
minion knows exactly what I am going to say here... The Canopus 110 has great audio/video lock and works perfectly. 100 tapes and counting. that's at least three hundred hours of video. not a single synch issue.
The AVT-8710 TBC has a minor proc amp built in but you can also get older TBCs on eBay if you want to save money (just make sure for Y/C S-Video). VirtualDub doesn't natively support the ATI AIW cards but using WDM I am pretty sure you can use VirtualDub (I don't use it though so not 100% sure). I have never had any audio sync issues with my ATI card but again I don't use VirtualDub so not sure if problems may occur but I doubt it. Also the Canopus ADVC's are only line TBCs (like JVC 9000 series VCRs) and not full frame TBCs. With a full frame TBC you will almost never get dropped frames.
