I need to buy a video converter to digitize my old VHS tapes and
put them on my Mac G5 tower computer. I have seen several of these
for sale, but I do *not* know how to evaluate them.

What makes a video converter good enough??? What features should I
be seeking out??? How much resolution do I need??? What does the
$500 unit have that the $100 unit usually does not???


Show quoteHide quote

On Wed, 08 Feb 2006 05:27:47 -0600, Charles Richmond
<richc***@comcast.net> wrote:

I think the Canopus ADVC110 remains the cheapest solution that
guarantees audio/video synch.  The ADVC300 offers additional image
stabilisation features.   They connect by Firewire and emulate a dv
camera's resolution.   I think you will be disappointed with cheaper
boxes.

I agree with Laurence. I use the ADVC 100 from Canopus on my G4 with
Final Cut Pro HD. It gives rock solid capture and syncro of audio for
long projects, that you never need to worry about. Best investment I
made, other than buying a mac for video.

I have customers that rely on good video as I shoot a lot of weddings.

In article <1139628584.040370.47***@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
I have also been considering buying a device like the ADVC 100/110 from
Canopus. BUT: Why not buy a digital camera with so called pass-through
conversion of analog to digital signals?

I own two Sony Hi8 camcorders and heaps of non edited tapes, just
waiting for a conversion (and editing). The time is approaching when I
have to go fully digital, and I am scrutinizing the net to find a
reasonably good replacement to my Hi8 camcorders.

Pros and cons as to a digital camcorder in this setting would be highly
appreciated - converter box versus camcorder.

Regards,
Bjorn Eithun
Oslo, Norway

Bjorn Eithun <bj***@online.no> writes:

Are you going to digitize the output of an analog consumer VCR?

The video coming off the rotary head of any VCR has jittery timing,
because the head rotation rate speeds up and slows down slightly as the
servo systems adjust to keep the average head RPM correct and the
tape motion synchronized with the head rotation.  This means that any
one scanline can be output a little before or after it should appear,
which in turn causes horizontal jitter in the picture.

Professional analog VCRs have timebase correctors.  They digitize the
video coming from the head using a clock derived from the video itself,
so the clock speeds up and slows down along with the head.  The
digitized data is saved in memory for a little while (a few lines), then
converted back to analog using a sample clock that is a fixed frequency
(or synced to incoming reference video).  So you get stable video out.

Consumer VCRs lack timebase correctors, so for the best results
digitizing their output you want to feed the video through a TBC first.
Some external digitizer boxes also include a TBC.  Do any of the video
cameras with passthrough inputs?

    Dave

In article <dsqrrk$18***@swain.cs.ubc.ca>,
da***@cs.ubc.ca (Dave Martindale) wrote:

No, I am primarely planning on digitizing my own Hi8 tapes. I own a Sony
Hi8 VCR deck, the EV-9000E (European model), which I think was named
EV-7000 in the US, and may be also in Canada.

Show quoteHide quoteI doubt that the EV-9000E will create problems like these, mainly due to
the built in Time Base Corrector and other sophisticated electronics.
But I don't know for sure. I have not tried this as yet, but I think
that playing back the tapes in the EV-9000 through a digital camcorder
for digital conversion (pass-through), should render good results, in my
humble opinion the best available as regards Hi8 source tapes.

My question was: With such an upset, do I really need to worry about a
standalone device like a Canopus box? Wouldn't a digital camcorder do
the job just as well?

Regards,
Bjorn Eithun,
Oslo, Norway

I agree with Laurence. I use the ADVC 100 from Canopus on my G4 with
Final Cut Pro HD. It gives rock solid capture and syncro of audio for
long projects, that you never need to worry about. Best investment I
made, other than buying a mac for video.

I have customers that rely on good video as I shoot a lot of weddings.

I can *not* find an ADVC 100, but I *can* find an ADVC 110. Is that
substantially the *same* device???

Show quoteHide quote

In article <43F16D74.1915C***@comcast.net>,
Charles Richmond <richc***@comcast.net> wrote:

As far I as I know, not exactly identical, but the 100 and 110 are VERY
similar.

Regards,
Bjorn Eithun
Oslo, Norway

Producing good quality video in a lab
Tapeless recording devices
Another daft question - NTSC camcorder - PAL DVD Recorder
distortion problem in playback of DVDs
VHS to DVD - help please