Video Capture Device

hi everyone,

I have been wanting to buy a video capture device to put my VHSs on my computer and have decided the time is now. I have looked at the Dazzle Video Creator Platinum and am happy with the reviews but it doesn't have 64 bit drivers. So would do you guys recommend to me? If I have to I can buy the dazzle and just use it with my old xp machine but I would like one that I can use with my vistax64.


I guess a tv tuner would also work but what software would I use to record and seperate one video stream in to two files?

-Greg

hi,

this probably isn't much help to you but I solved this problem without software.

I purchased a used digital video camera on eBay that had analog video inputs and firewire output. I could then capture the firewire, and also had the option of recording to dv tapes. This cost about the same as the dazzle, and handles audio too.

I had some terrible experiences with pinnacle a while ago, not a fan.

Simon

I had great trouble with one of the Dazzle range and finally threw it in the bin.

I bought an old Video Recorder for a few pounds, connected it to my DVD recorder and copied all my tapes to DVD-R.

Pinnacle Studio recognises them and lets me edit them on my computer.

what if I got a composite to firewire cable and hooked up my digital camera to my computer. I don't have to have a hardware encoder right? I have a pretty beefy CPU so I think software encode would be fine.

Do they even have composite to firewire? lol My camera has composite out and s-video out.

As of now, my main question is what software to use to capture video? I guess windows movie maker could work. There is also Pinnacle studio but I have read so many bad reviews I hesitate to drop $50 on it.

I am going to borrow my friends pinnacle video recorder 80 and his pinnacle studio and test it out. I know I won't buy the recorder as it is not support under my vista machine but I mostly want to test the software. I am having a hard time finding drivers for the bugger. I'm now thinking maybe you don't need drivers for it. I'll experiment tomorrow.

all good TV tuner cards come with software to capture with. Just check the box

check out sony vegas. you can download a free trial. Sony Creative Software - Vegas Pro, Vegas Movie Studio, and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition

Pinnacle Studio 11 works perfectly in Vista. The only problem I had was getting it to install in the first place.

The answer was to make sure that UAC was turned off.

I use Ulead Video Studio.... lots of ex Pinnacle users

It can capture most formats including HD....it edits...and authors DVD's or upload to youtube automatically.

Try the free DL but if you chose to buy it uninstall the free Dl version to avoid installation problems.

Yes, I'd heard that a lot of people had jumped ship

I've tried earlier versions of Ulead but Pinnacle suits me better. Horses for courses, I guess :D

Thanks for all the advice. I am going to buy a Hauppauge 150 but I'm not sure if i should buy Newegg.com - Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 1062 MCE Kit Tuner Card w/MCE Remote - Retail
or
Newegg.com - Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150 MCE FM 1042 PCI Interface - Retail

The first one comes with the remote and ir reciever but it is $30 more. I know Im buying this to record home movies but I thought it would kinda be nice to have the tv option open (with the remote). I'm just not sure if it is worth the extra $30.

I got my card and I haven't got it working yet. When I turned on my computer after installing the card itself, vista installed drivers and I could not cancel it. So I opened up ulead video studio and powerdirector and tried to capture analog video via the composite ports and I counldn't. It allowed me to capture tv but the channels were blank. I only tried like 20 out of 158 but still.

Now I think it is a driver problem. I uninstalled the drivers and had to restart so I restarted and vista reinstalls the drivers!! I then download the most recent and installed them over it and still no luck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

dogdude... what version of Ulead VS did that card come with? it's bound to be an SE version.

If that's the case it's possible it's not compatiable with Vista.

Check it though

I think I figured the problem out, the pvr 150 does not work in b4 bit with 4gb of ram. It is too much for the crappy drivers and I am very angery. I spent $65 on this tv tuner and it claims to work with 64 bit vista but yet it can't handle the extra ram of vistax64 and one of the main reason to go 64 is the extra ram.

For now, I put it in my few years old p4 dell and use that to capture video and then transfer it my good comp. and edit/store it. Thats all great until my dad wants his dell back. I borrowed it as a temporary computer but oh well.

Well it seems I wasn't the only one having this problem. Here is what I did. I bought the ROXIO. It loaded and works GREAT with Vista 64. However, I don't feel it is as user friendly as the Pinnacle was. Primarilly when it comes to trimming the video. Also if you like to add all the whistles and bells to your production it is great. Me, I just wanted it plain Jane. Burn the video content to disk and play it. SOOOO I now capture all my video with the ROXIO (and it's a/v capture device works perfect with vista 64). DRAWBACK: Having to use 2 programs to meet one objective. PLUS: getting the results you want.
HINT: make sure and order the capture device with your ROXIO software. IT DOES NOT come with it. Also, the capture devise is a 2 piece system. IMPORTANT: When you get the capture device plug them together and TAPE THEM TOGTHER FROM THE USB to 1" FROM THE END OF THE S-VIDEO/VIDEO/AUDIO ENDS. This will make a single cable device and save you in the long run from having wire and connector issues. TRUST ME this is important and worth the effort BEFORE you start to use it. Otherwise you will loose video/audio connection at some point or end up twisting and taping the pieces to get it to stay ON later. Their capture device is not the best design but if you follow my advice you won't ever have a problem.
I am using the Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate and the ROXIO Creator Ultimate 2009.
Hope this helps.