Canopus ADVC 300 user - considering ATI 600 USB

[JoRodd]

I have been closely following the "Please review my video capture!" thread. Sadly, according to the high-end users (with respect, no sarcasm intended), it looks like I have been getting sub-par results with my ADVC 300.

I am looking to convert VHS and Beta tapes to DVD. I have a fast computer (i7-6700 Skylake CPU, 16 GB RAM, 4 GB EVGA nVidia chip video). I also have Adobe Premiere for editing.

Questions: 1. Is the ATI 600 USB that much better than the ADVC 300? 2. In what file format does the ATI 600 USB produce the captures? 3. Will I be able to use Premiere to edit and correct video?

I apologize if this has been covered. I did search and did not see these particular questions addressed.

Thanks, in advance, to all who respond.

[n1000]

Well, I am no expert on either device. I recently started capturing all of my vhs tapes again. I went strictly by the information on these forums. I used the ATI 600 usb and had great results. Of course I got one of the recommended vcrs and an external tbc. As far as the format goes, you can use virtual dub and capture in any format you want I suppose. However most recommend a near lossless format. I would also guess premiere can load most formats. Not sure what kind of results you were getting before.

[sanlyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoRodd

I am looking to convert VHS and Beta tapes to DVD. I have a fast computer (i7-6700 Skylake CPU, 16 GB RAM, 4 GB EVGA nVidia chip video). I also have Adobe Premiere for editing.

Questions: 1. Is the ATI 600 USB that much better than the ADVC 300?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoRodd

2. In what file format does the ATI 600 USB produce the captures?

You determine the file format. If you intend to capture VHS/Beta to lossy encoded video, why don't you stick to your Canopus or buy a DVD recorder? You don't need another capture device to capture VHS to lossy formats. The forum recommends ATI and others for lossless capture to YUY2 media losslessly compressed with huffyuv, Lagarith, UT Video, or other lossless codec.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoRodd

3. Will I be able to use Premiere to edit and correct video?

Capture to lossless Lagarith or UT Codec. Premier Pro doesn't take very well to 3rd party codecs, which is one of its many limitations in video work. You can "Edit" with Premiere, and do some nice color correction if you learn to use the advanced Adobe tools you paid for. Premeire Pro is OK for edits, but you can't do much "correcting" with it. Repair and restoral work, inverse telecine, colorspace conversions, denoising, etc., would use something like Avisynth or Virtualdub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoRodd

I apologize if this has been covered. I did search and did not see these particular questions addressed.

They've all been covered numerous times, but it's OK to ask. Try the restoration and repair sections of the forum. Posts there have useful information going back about 12 years.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoRodd

I have been closely following the "Please review my video capture!" thread. Sadly, according to the high-end users (with respect, no sarcasm intended), it looks like I have been getting sub-par results with my ADVC 300.

You're in NJ, so USA, therefore NTSC. And for NTSC, DV 4:1:1 is not great. It degrades quality due to heavy chroma compression. VHS to DV is the worst, as the format is already weak chroma-wise. DV was never meant to be used for conversion. Native DV looks fine.

The real issue with the ADVC-300 is that it adds artifacts due to over-filtering. And it cannot be turned off. The main selling feature of the 300 was the filtering capabilities -- but it was poorly implemented. It's not much different than the Panasonic ES10 on passthrough. (Horrid results is ES10 + ADVC300. Double bad!) But the ES10 is for situations where tearing needs to be removed, and can be removed from the chain when not needed. The net effect of an ES10 is improved video when used. The ADVC-300 obviously cannot be removed.

Quote:

I am looking to convert VHS and Beta tapes to DVD. I have a fast computer (i7-6700 Skylake CPU, 16 GB RAM, 4 GB EVGA nVidia chip video). I also have Adobe Premiere for editing.

Not too different from my own setup.

Quote:

Questions: 1. Is the ATI 600 USB that mauch better than the ADVC 300?

To me, yes.
The ATI 600 is not flawless either, and isn't double ("that much better") than the DV box, but it is noticeably better. Your source is still VHS and Betamax, and nothing can fix that. The goal is simply to not make it worse, which is what DV does. The ATI AIW is better than the 600, but obviously can't be used on your new build.

Quote:

2. In what file format does the ATI 600 USB produce the captures?

VirtualDub = any AVI
ATI CMC = MPEG-2 DVD specs, MPEG-2 BD specs

Quote:

3. Will I be able to use Premiere to edit and correct video?

Premiere has no issues with most AVI codecs.
Tip: 64-bit Huffyuv for Premiere, 32-bit for VirtualDub. See also: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...html#post44169

Quote:

I apologize if this has been covered. I did search and did not see these particular questions addressed.

No apologies needed.

[JoRodd]

Many thanks for the replies. This gives me a lot to go on.