I want to get all my old VHS, 8mm video&film and laser all into my computer in a fast inexpensive way. After all this transferring I'm sure I won't need the equipment much. I don't want to get into the habit of being the family transferer guy. So should I buy a used Sony digital8 with firewire & AV input? Or should I just do it real with a used Canopus ADVC110?
You would get better quality with the Canopus Unit and your Wouldn"t have any sync problems and you wouldn"t have any Macrovision Copy protection problems which you will have with the Sony device.... Also after you are Done with the Canopus Unit you could sell it for pretty much what you paid for it as these Devices have a very good Resale Value and are in High demand because they are Such good capture devices.... Cheers
If you still have your old Hi8 and VHS cameras/players, another option is to buy a standalone DVD recorder (you will probably want one eventually anyway) and just copy the tapes onto recordable DVD's using the video and audio input jacks. Your tapes will then be in digitzed form and can be copied onto your hard drive to be edited with most editing software. I've gotten good results this way. DVD recorders are available for less than the price of a Sony digital8 camera. If you don't want to buy a DVD recorder, there are services that will copy your tapes onto DVDs for a reasonable price. Many are mail-order and advertise on line.
nobody ever made a multi track audio and video capture and midi box with xlr phantom power together did they?
No, Not that I know of But what Video sources have XLR outputs and require +48v Phantom Power? You can Get Audio Capture devices that have Mulitple Inputs and Midi and Phantom Power and have 24bit/196khz A/D Converters Like the some of the M-Audio External Audio Boxes... What I do is I have a Professinal 8 Channel Mixer which I output to the "Line in" On my sound Card and then Record Live through the Mixer on to my PC and then use Multi Tracking Software to add extra tracks (Guitar,Bass,Synth,Vocals ect) and digital effects.... I am actually looking to maybe get a M-Audio Delta 1010 or a Delta 66/44 or even an Audiophile 192 which will let me Record from Multiple Inputs on the PC at the Same Time so I can Maybe also Hook up my Makie 1604 16 Chanell 4 Buss Mixer so I can get up to 24 Live Tracks of digital Recording with up to 256 Tracks I can add after Live recording..... Right Now I have 6 Mics which i am useing to Mic My 5 Piece Drum Kit and I usually Record Drums and Guitar Live and then Overdub the Bass and Lead Guitar Tracks and Vocals and add effects and Mix it down and the Recording sound pretty Good, I have only Just Set it up this Last week and so Far it is a pretty good Sounding and easy to use set up and after I get the Multi Input Sound Card I will be set, I also got an AWESOME Deal on my Equipment.... Cheers
i'm changing methods again! i got my old ATI card to work with Vdub! It captures uncompressed video & S video perfect but at 13gb/hour its too much for my family videos. Vdub can compress and capture really well even with shareaza running on my 900mhz cheesy desktop. I have only the stock microsoft codecs right now. What is the best codec to use when I transfer these family videos. I want to the highest quality but still be able to edit in premiere pro. Should I ask the codec question in another forum? I hear xvid seems to be the best. As for hardware I have my sisters hi8, but all my VHS decks are biting the dust. I'm checking ebay for some big sexy pro decks. From what i hear old pro and consumer mitsubishi, sony and JVCs are still good even at 10 years vintage. They have heads that are self cleaning, mechanics that last, s-video in and out, and i can find them from $60-250 used. Are there any other DECKS I should look for? There are some cheapy DVD/VHS combo decks with S-video out but I feel they won't last very long and I think an old big pro deck would just look so much cooler. Plus I can save the money from the canopus and put it into a real firewire sound box like the M-Audio or a layla.
