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Originally Posted by via Email or PM
The colors of the video from the analog sources seem to be a little off. Is that something the TBC can correct, or should I just adjust color in software?
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DV is 4:1:1 NTSC (or 4:2:0 PAL), and compresses color depth, sometimes with a loss of 50%. It's very noticeable, even to laymen (grandmas, etc). The loss can be tolerable to unacceptable.
Consumer DV camcorders were not intended for this analog>digital usage. It wasn't optimized for the low-end analog quality signals. DV was only supposed to be a shooting format. (By the late 90s, DV converter boxes were a hack to force better-than-camera DV capture, but it still was limited to being DV.)
The ideal way to "correct" DV conversions is to not make DV conversion. Capture lossless, or at worst high-bitrate MPEG (but that's not common anymore).
While the TBC won't correct color, it will correct the overall signal quality. Some is visual, most is not visual. The TBC prevents errors, so what you'll "see" is no problems, vs. your current non-TBC problems. TBCs are supposed to be (mostly) transparent, allowing you to capture without issues. TBCs are like "video oxygen" -- the can't see it, but you need it.
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I'm not wed to the Mac, actually, I also have a good Windows machine (USB and USB-C, but no free slots inside). I haven't tried my workflow with my Windows machine yet, I don't know if the Apple Thunderbolt adapters will work with Windows. I should try (if my kids will stop playing games for a minute and get off my machine). Should I consider using the Windows machine if you think there is a better solution? Do I need to get an expansion chassis?
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Yes, Windows easily has superior quality capture options.
You can put all that Firewire/Thunderbird in a drawer, as all you need is good ol' USB2.
Any system from the 2010s (or newer) tends to work perfectly for capture.
NOTE: I was doing this in the 2000s, and 2000s system will work. But those older IDE single-core systems are a PITA compared to the SATA SSD multi-core we've all been used to for the past decade.
For Windows OS version:
- XP and 7 best
- Vista passable
- 8/10 can be a problem
- 11 seems okay so far, rarely issues
Just let me know what OS you have, or are willing to install.
You also need to disconnect a capture computer from the internet, and a clean OS install is recommended. So if the kids are using the system for games, just unplug their drive, and use a different boot HDD/SSD for the video work. I can even suggest neat switch option, if you have an open bay.
(FYI: Apple adopted DV, and only DV, because Steve Jobs refused to play nice with others companies like Adobe, or consortiums like The DVD Forum. Tim Cook was not an adversary to video companies in the 2010s, for the HD era. But for SD, it was too late.)
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Gosh, the TBC's are crazy expensive now.
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TBCs were never cheap items. Never sold at low-end stores like Walmart or Best Buy.
- When TBCs were new in the 90s-00s, costs averaged $500 to $1000+.
- And when still sold new, used versions would fetch about 66-75% pricing.
- When TBCs no longer sold new, used prices rose again to that $500-1000+ range.
- Then costs started rising about 5-6 years ago (~2019-2020), largely due to several TBC units failing en masse, reducing the supply of remaining TBCs. Then came inflation (food, cars, everything), making costs/time to refurb/vet increase. Costs 2x'd, like many of things, so $1000-2000+ is now typical. This is not likely to ever reverse, as lower supply will keep dwindling faster than a lower demand.
Known-bad models are on eBay for $1k+ now (bad buys for suckers!), and untested/"tested" units on eBay for $1500+. So my units, that are also refurb'd/vetted, can be quite competitively priced, cheap even depending on model. (A confirmed-bad green AVT-8710 "for parts" recently sold for $925! Insanity!)
TBCs are just boring required tools, not much different from a refrigerator. They both have one job (purify video signal, keep food cold). Sure, you can try to live with either, but the result is bad video quality, or eating crackers with tap water (or spending far more $$$$ to eat out).
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Which one are you offering? If I buy from you, at least I know you've tested it and will stand behind it.
Please advise at your convenience.
Thanks!
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Too often, somebody asks me for a model #, so they can run to Google, and "extra extra, read all about it".
But most TBCs pre-date the modern internet. Or those old sites from the 90s/00s are now gone. Many even pre-date the Wayback Machine, or nobody knows the URL to even look up. Contrary to popular myth, the internet is not "forever". Stuff disappear, and frequently.
Quite a few items from the 80s/90s/00s are not things you'll find much information about online. Some things didn't have a lot of information back then, either! You had to be there. Not everything can be Google'd.
For certain video gear, you'll often find that Google'd information leads back to this site, or to me on another site. I sometimes feel very alone in this video world. Most of my peers are long gone, retired or RIP. This field has never been filled with "chatty people" anyway, and they didn't "talk shop" for fun. But I was always an educator, helping others learn.
Sometimes, you'll look up information, and the AI bots hallucinate, or Google Images will show you a picture of vacuum cleaner or car engine part. I find it humorous, but also sad.
Back to PM...
