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-   -   Capture Card Suggestions with Vista 64 bit (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-capture/316-capture-card-suggestions.html)

cgcarter 12-01-2008 02:50 PM

Capture Card Suggestions with Vista 64 bit
 
Hello,

I recently upgrated to a new computer and had Windows Vista 64bit with MCE installed., but have come to realized that my options for capture cards (PCI Based) are limited due to lack of support for this platform.

Could you make any reccomendation for a capture card that will work with my current configuration.

I have many VHS tapes that I wish to preserve selectively, and have a JVC 9911u VCR that I am happy with. Also own a Canopus 110 which is easy to use, but not satisfied with results, and do not need the DV controls for my projects.

Am willing to spend some $$ if I can this to work, so I am hoping that there is a solution somewhere out there.

Also, as a side question, would it be easier to covert an entire VHS to DVD with my new Phillips DVDR-3576H, and capture selcted video to my computer for further editing etc?

Thanks so much for your help!

Chris

jrnyhead 12-23-2008 04:34 PM

I'm in the same boat as you. My P4, XP machine is dying a slow death. I'm also looking for a pci-e capture card, tho there are some out there, but it's the software that going to be a real chore to find (imo).

admin 12-23-2008 08:33 PM

Both of ya'll have found yourselves in situations that have been growing worse in the past two years. We've honestly taken 2-3 steps forward and about 6-7 steps, when it comes to digital video, since late 2005/2006.

Vista is a problem.
The 64-bit OS is a problem (Vista or what-have-you)
PCI-e is a problem.

Another big one is how AMD bought (and probably meddled in the affairs of) ATI Technologies.

This big stupid push to "HD" and "DTV" has also ruined a number of things. (I don't feel the need to elaborate on this now, not pertinent. --- It just affects everything.)

My bread-and-butter comes in the form of video work, especially that of conversion, restoration and archival needs. I do not use my PCI-e and/or 64-bit systems to capture video. Those boxes are solely for editing, photo, other tasks. The capture cards in service are, of course, ATI AIW Radeon AGP cards, from the 9x00 series (9200,9600).

I acquired a "new" (used, but new to me) computer, an AMD64 system, and it has an AGP slot, Windows XP Pro SP3, and a 750GB secondary drive. It has one task: capture video. It sits on the floor, next to my desk. I use this KVM from Airlink, so the same monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers are used. The desk is relatively unchanged. The "change button" on the KVM is physical, I hate those keyboard-command KVMs.

To "get around" the PCI-e problem, I usually suggest a second system. Barring that, the next good idea is to use a Hauppauge PVR-250 or PVR-350 card (likely to be found used only), for MPEG capture in a PCI slot. If that too is a problem, then a Hauppauge USB2 PVR is a good choice, although I've not personally tested any of these to date (my intel is from trusted associated). I was eyeballing the HD+QAM PVR version from Hauppauge at OfficeMax just two days ago, but at $99, it was outside my budget for a while.

But I don't know how well these options work on Vista, or Vista-64. I'd assume the new QAM+HD device is fine there, but I'm not sure what software it comes with, if it's like the older Hauppauge PVR options.

The Hauppauge doesn' do much for signal cleaning, and it's fairly soft compared to other capture devices, but for a computer option, it works and it works well.

The Phillips DVDR-3576 (I have the 3575, basically the same model) is an excellent machine for recording off of television (either HD/QAM or traditional standard analog), but it's as awful as a Panasonic for VHS. It does no cleaning of the signal, and therefore can come out looking worse than the tape did. If you want to go the DVD recorder route, I still suggest finding either a Toshiba XS-series machine, or the JVC DR-M10/100/30/300/MV1/MV5 model series machines. They're all used, but it's the best machine made for VHS transfers. They're often sold as refurbs online, or used in places like eBay or craigslist.

If you're satisfied with the level of quality coming from the JVC VCR, then the DVD recorder (or capture card) may be fine. But given how you're not satisfied by the Canopus ADVC-100/110 devices, I doubt you'd be pleased here either.

So while we now have better software, faster computers to process video, we've been shafted on the hardware side all of a suden. We can do great things with video once its digitized, but options to get it there have been near-obliterated.

So given this, I suggest going with what you already know for capture (the "old" computers), and then use a new one for all the speed and muscle for editing, encoding, etc. Transferring between systems is as easy as external hard drives or home networks powered by gigabit ethernet cards/router.

Of course, you can ALWAYS consider PCI solutions from Matrox. The RT.X100 cards (and newer) would work well, albeit expensive ($500-1,500). I'd love this myself, but again, out of my budget for the foreseeable future. I have a hard time justifying the costs, too, given the return compared to what I know already works and is in place.

Let me know what your thoughts are.

jrnyhead 12-24-2008 04:47 PM

K,-
I think I will keep dusting off my XP system, it also sits on the floor next to my Vista pc. I still use my AIW 9600 AGP card along with my good old JVCS9800U VCR, with no internet, no virus software, no other software, only capture software (mmc 9.02). I then send the cap to my Vista pc. I want to build a system that includes the new Intel i7 chip mainly for editing, restore and encode. That's where the muscle will come in handy! The encodeing process will fly with my new system! I just might experiment with a pci-e card, but I know what the outcome will be:(

It's really too bad that AMD has screwed up the capture scene with taking over ATI. We are left with no choice but to use the "old" pc's.

I also use a KVM switch (starview) push button type and the same monitor to switch between pc's. But, I can not do this while capturing, I always get a flicker when I switch. Any thoughts?

Anyways, I really like the NEW board, it looks great!

admin 12-24-2008 07:16 PM

It's the KVM, I'd bet. I had problems too, until I started using the exact KVM linked above. It's a high-bandwidth unit (clean video on my big LCD), and it comes with some systray software to help "sense" (and maintain constant) USB connections, even when you've switched. A lot of KVMs dump the signal, and some computers get angry when the keyboard/mouse is suddenly not found. That is why I dropped frames.

The best price for it that I've seen is at http://www.bostonbestpc.com/aiak4usbkvms.html
Unknown store, but I buy parts from unknown stores all the time.

A lot of people hesitate to use more than one computer, but after you do it for even a short period of time, you never want to go back to a single machine. There's always a spare system to troubleshoot the other one, if nothing else. I've been in that situation a few times.

cgcarter 12-27-2008 11:07 PM

Capture Card Suggestions with Vista 64 bit
 
Thanks to K and Jrnyhead for your replies. The idea of using dual systems with the KVM Swith seems the best solutuion yet...hadnt thought about this, so thanks for the idea.

I am going to try a PVR-350 card in my vista system and see what happens...from here if all else fails, will use a KVM Switch and run bot my XP and Vista systems, and acquiring a Matrox X.100 card which should suit me fine...

Will keep you posted on my progress with the PVR-350..

As far as the DVD Burner is concerned, could you name me your top choice in the JVC group for a unit that will do the best job with VHS Transfers, again utilizing a 9911 with TBC etc. Would it be the JVC DR-M10.

I will be listing my ADVC 110 unit on Ebay shortly...Not happy at all with the interface and the end product...Hard to control the Audio portion of the capture as well.

Thanks again and best regards!
Chris

admin 12-28-2008 01:03 AM

I would suggest either the JVC DR-M10/DR-M100 or the Toshiba XS-34/XS-35 units, for the best VHS-filtered signal. The JVC does best at total noise removal, while the Toshiba is good at noise suppression (suppression = not fully removed, but potentially not too filtered -- an issue purely of preference).

The Toshiba has black level controls, to either over or under-shoot the IRE, if desired. Personally, I use a proc amp, either the Elite Video BVP-4/BVP-4 Plus or a SignVideo/Studio1 PA-100. The Vidicraft proc amps can be decent too, for less money, and slightly less performance quality.

My current primary setup consists on a Panasonic AG-1980P or JVC HR-S9800, to a AVT-8710 TBC, to a Elite Video BVP-4 Plus, to a JVC DR-M10 or ATI All In Wonder AGP Radeon 9200. This is for low to mild restoration, purely in hardware. Another important issue is to wire it with quality cables, and use s-video only. I rotate the equipment regularly, to fit the project at hand. This is what I was set up for prior to Christmas break.

I plan to add a PVR-250 card to one of my test systems, if the person donating it follows through (not everybody follows through on equipment donation offers, unfortunately). I'm hoping to write some detailed Hauppauge guides.

... speaking of which, if you would be interested in a temporary loan of that Canopus card (3-4 months max), or would consider a lower sell price (maybe $65), I could potentially make some guides for it -- both reasons to use it and examples of why NOT TO USE it. ... I've never had access to one long enough to write up such documents, which is bit disappointing. Just a thought, if you're interested in helping out. Just wanted to throw it out there...

If I had to do a Matrox right this minute, since I own the Adobe CS3 Master Collection (which includes Adobe Premiere CS3), I'd go for the current Matrox RT.X2 card setup. If I was on a slightly older version of Premiere, I'd look at either the RT.X100 or maybe (maybe) the older RT2500. Some of them come with Premiere versions. Always make sure the card being used works with the version of Premiere for which it was made.


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