Video Production Woes...

[brandon184]

Me and some friends have spent the last week or so creating a video in our spare time. We are going to edit/burn it on my system after we capture all the video onto my system from the VHS tape and burn it onto a VCD.

Problem... We must use my system, because it is the only system around with the specs needed to capture/edit video. BUT...

I only have 4 PCI slots. All of which, of course are used with: 56K Modem (used regularly), NIC 1 (Needed), NIC 2 (Needed) and my Sound Card, which is needed.

We want a PCI capture card. I've been told that USB capture cards (which would be the only alternative) produce poor quality video.

Any magical solutions are greatly appreciated!

Thanks. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[darrell]

The only "magical" solution would be to get an AGP video card that has the capture built in to it. The ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon would be the best one at $200 or so online. If you're not a heavy gamer, you could get an ATI All-In-Wonder 16MB or 32MB AGP. Those are a lot cheaper and the capture would be just as good on those.

The only other option would be if you have a free ISA slot then you could get a cheap ISA capture card, but the quality may not be the best..

Hope this helps

darrell

[brandon184]

AGP slot is already in use with a card that is not being removed.

No ISA slots.

[RobRich]

How serious are you about the quality of this project? The reason I ask is that most USB capture cards produce decent quality video, but definitely nothing towards the quality of a semi-professional $200-400 solution. If you are just working on a personal project or possibly an amatuer presentation, then a product such as the WinTV USB provides the same video quality as the standard WinTV PCI card. USB provides more than enough bandwidth for raw video transfers at decent resolution and frame rates. The processor will be the determining part in regards to your wish for MPEG-I VCD compresssion. Any system with a 500+ MHz processor should be able to produce satisfactory results in regards to non-professional compression performance.

If you decide to try USB (about your only choice outside of a new m/b), then go for a Pinnacle Systems Studio series or Happauage WinTV USB card. Each are readily available for under $100. The Pinnacle is your best bet in regards to bundled software, but may prove diffcult to find on local retail shelves. To contrast, the WinTV solution offers a rather poor software bundle for video editing/compression, but is readliy available at most local retail computer stores.

Good Luck,
Robert Richmond

[golfcart]

Could get a USB NIC or even 2. would free up some space.

[RobRich]

Interesting solution, though I'm personally not sure about relying on USB for network operations. Just my personal opinion, as I have witnessed several nightmare configurations using USB nics, especially with Win2k.

[This message has been edited by RobRich (edited 05-07-2001).]

[brandon184]

I'd go with USB Capture in an instant, but only if I knew it provided quality output.

I mean, it doesn't have to be DVD quality, but I don't want poor quality. And I emphasize that.

The quality should be good enough so that I can transfer the video onto the machine, burn the VCD and the person watching the VCD won't be P.O'ed or disappointed in the quality.

[brandon184]

BTW - Can anyone refer me to some captured video that has been done with one of these USB Capture devices? I would greatly appreciate it!

[RobRich]

MPEG-I VCD is generally a robust format with good conversion quality. Assuming your original source is of good quality, then I believe a standard USB capature card should be able to offer the quality you desire. VCDs cut with my WinTV PCI look basically onpar with my original source. My source material is often HiFi-VHS or sometimes analog feed DVD.

Check this out:

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/displaydoc.asp?prodid=5&doctype=1&templ=8

Only one downside to the StudioTV USB: it only works in Win9x/Me. Win2k is currently not supported.

Robert Richmond

[brandon184]

^

Any more comments?

[xavierdtt]

go to pricewatch.com and select video capture. Should be only $50. If you need the card for games, too, get the rage fury pro 32MB for $80 including a couple of games, which has tv out and video in.

[Joel Kleppinger]

Well, you've put yourself in quite a corner. You are using all the slots in your board, you don't want to replace the AGP card, and I'm guessing you don't want to replace the board (which I would probably recommend first, after replacing the AGP card http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif ).

My suggestion is to get an external 56k modem. Internal 56k modems are generally junk and waste a slot to boot. It's also easier to share the modem across computers when you don't have to yank it out of a slot to do it. Then stick your PCI capture card in there.

A more "creative" solution might be to use one of these babies to replace both NICs: http://www.neticamall.com/P_594.htm

I'd probably avoid USB if at all possible. 12mbps isn't much bandwidth, and your CPU will have to do doubletime tracking the USB bus, the IDE bus, and doing all the MPEG encoding functions. I don't give a USB device good odds of resounding success, especially if you want to use Win2k (and you should http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif).

Another random tip is to use a PCI All-in-Wonder type card along with your AGP card. Be aware that the All-in-Wonder has to be master of the bus to do things like capture and play TV (which means it will also be the gaming card), but if you swap back and forth between your current AGP card and the AIW (I have done this over and over http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif ) then it would work out.

At any rate, doing video is quite intensive. I've learned the hard way that it's usually best to give a video system as much computer as you've got... sharing it around like you're doing is quite taxing and making its job even tougher.

And that's the way I see it. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif