VEGAS Pro 21 - On Sale Now!
DISCLOSURE: Movie Studio Zen is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on this site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Solved Video capture to Laptop

  • kobo
  • kobo's Avatar Offline Topic Author
  • Zen Level 3
  • Zen Level 3
  • Posts: 38
  • Thank you received: 5

Video capture to Laptop was created by kobo

Posted 22 Aug 2014 03:14 #1
Greetings,

I am looking for educated suggestions.

I have a Lenovo T420 Laptop, i5 2540M, with USB 2.0, Firewire & Esata port, plus I will be adding a USB 3.0 card via the PCMCIA slot.

Can anyone suggest a good video capture utility that I can use to connect my older camcorders to the laptop?

TIA

K
Last Edit:25 Sep 2014 00:04 by kobo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Replied by TreeTops on topic Video capture to Laptop

Posted 22 Aug 2014 04:35 #2
You didn't give too much info on the camera output but if it's DV then use this software: videohelp.com/tools/WinDV
or use the software that came with the camera.
Last Edit:22 Aug 2014 04:36 by TreeTops

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • kobo
  • kobo's Avatar Offline Topic Author
  • Zen Level 3
  • Zen Level 3
  • Posts: 38
  • Thank you received: 5

Replied by kobo on topic Video capture to Laptop

Posted 22 Aug 2014 08:05 #3

TreeTops wrote: You didn't give too much info on the camera output but if it's DV then use this software: videohelp.com/tools/WinDV
or use the software that came with the camera.


My apologies; I shall endeavor to be more specific:

I am looking for recommendations on a piece of HARDWARE, compatible with either of the data transfer formats outlined in my previous message, which has worked reliably for other members with experience transferring video formats such as VHS & Hi8 to their computers. By Hardware I am referring to something such as 'Dazzle' or any other of the similar interfaces out there.


Have a Magical Day

K
Last Edit:22 Aug 2014 08:07 by kobo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Replied by TreeTops on topic Video capture to Laptop

Posted 25 Aug 2014 01:46 #4
I have used honestech VHS to DVD to transfer VHS from a tape player to the computer then I made a DVD from that file. Quality was fair but not as good as the tape. Hi8 is another story. I haven't found a good way to do that media. Some have used pass through digital cameras to capture the Hi-8 files with good success.

Edited post to add this link for Hi-8 conversion to digital: www.dvinfo.net/forum/long-black-line/524356-question-digitizing-hi8-tapes.html
Last Edit:30 Aug 2014 06:36 by TreeTops
The following user(s) said Thank You: kobo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • kobo
  • kobo's Avatar Offline Topic Author
  • Zen Level 3
  • Zen Level 3
  • Posts: 38
  • Thank you received: 5

Replied by kobo on topic Video capture to Laptop

Posted 13 Sep 2014 07:33 #5

kobo wrote:
Can anyone suggest a good video capture utility that I can use to connect my older camcorders to the laptop?




So, to answer my own question, here is what I have ended up with.

While researching the various types of capture devices out there, most were in the $20-$50 range, and just not feeling warm and fuzzy about any of them I stumbled across a old thread in which someone mentioned the name Canopus; specifically the ADVC-110 & ADVC-300. Researching now on these devices I found:

1 - they are well regarded among professionals
2 - they don't come cheap.

A web search shows the ADVC-110 going from around $175 to as high as $275; eBay has them often going for around $100 or more just for the unit alone; no literature, wires, box or anything else, but you can find some bargains as well. And if you can find a ADVC-300 dont be surprised if they are asking around $450-$500. The ADVC-300 does some extra magic to restore the video while it is passing through.

I then found that before the ADVC-110 there was the ADVC-100; basically the same device but they changed the way it gets its power (the 100 has a dc power supply & the 110 gets its power directly from the firewire connection to your computer (although it does have a port to connect a optional power supply if needed) - all these devices require a firewire connection to your computer)) they also dropped a audio port on the 110 and, apparently, disabled the ability to unscramble Macrovision copy protection; but I read conflicting threads on whether you can still do it on the 110; I have no need for that so I don't care.

Hunting around I found a lightly used mint in box ADVC-100 on Amazon with the manual & all the peripherals for $150. After making sure the dip switches on the underside were in the right position (if you are in the US pay particular attention to the 2 different NTSC options) I hooked up my camera, Sony Movie Studio recognized everything, and all was golden. :woohoo:

I have thus far transferred 6 one hour videos; two had minor drop out issues, but I think it was more a problem with the tape/camera than the device.

So, if you are in the need of simple plug-n-play capture device (there are no drivers to install) that can handle both analog & digital and is MAC & PC compatible as well, check out the Grass Valley Canopus series of devices ADVC-100, ADVC-110 & ADVC-300. They also have a more compact unit; the ADVC-55, but it does not appear to accept firewire as an input, I could be wrong, I didnt really research it.

They don't come cheap but I guess it falls into that old saying 'you get what you pay for'.


Have a Magical Day!

K
by kobo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Replied by TreeTops on topic Video capture to Laptop

Posted 14 Sep 2014 01:49 #6
Thanks Kobo. Happy that you found a good solution. Are you now going to put that on a DVD or just leave it on the hard drive? I would like to see if the quality was good, excellent or poor.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • kobo
  • kobo's Avatar Offline Topic Author
  • Zen Level 3
  • Zen Level 3
  • Posts: 38
  • Thank you received: 5

Replied by kobo on topic Video capture to Laptop

Posted 14 Sep 2014 23:13 #7
Greetings T T,

Presently I just have them sitting on my hard drive; most are vacation videos I will want to do a bit of editing on.

I did put one that belonged to a friend on a DVD and from what I can tell the quality was pretty good; certainly not HD but neither was the original. I connected to the ADVC-100 via the composite (Y,R,W) ports & it automatically determined a analog source. The colors are maybe a bit flat; not as bright, but that can be handled in post with color correction. I think I read that the ADVC-300 helps in that respect; whereas the other devices, the 100, 110 & 55 act simply as a conduit to get the signal reliably into your computer.

Transferred to the computer with SMS doing the encoding the 50 min video resulted in a 12gb avi file; perhaps crunching that much data down to fit on a DVD has had an affect, the camera also had a wide angle lens attached which causes its own distortion as well. But overall It came out pretty good; I have seen much worse.



K
by kobo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Not Allowed: to create new topic.
  • Not Allowed: to reply.
  • Not Allowed: to edit your message.
Moderators: DoctorZen
Time to create page: 0.812 seconds