Author Topic: Analog to Digital Converter... (Read 5413 times)

LR827 · « **on:** September 21, 2003, 05:21:52 PM »

I hate surprises, but you almost have to expect them nowadays. The salesboy who sold me my G4 powerbook at the Apple store did not talk about the necessary extra eqpt I would need to edit all my home movie VHS cassettes and turn them into DVD's. Of course, my Sony camcorder is not digital, so I need an analog-to-digital converter in order to edit those movies, too. I bought it around 1998, and I am still quite happy with it, and did not care to buy another.

So I need to buy an a-to-d converter thingy, but that presents one of those annoying dilemmas: Spend $200 for a thingy, or $450 and get a new camcorder that can do the job, and provide a few extra bells & whistles that my old camcorder doesn't have (like still picture capability). The fact is, I don't want and don't need any added capacity on my camcorder right now. I like the one I have, it works great, I don't use it that often lately; and when I do decide to upgrade, I'm going to want something more top-of-the-line. I can wait a few years!

Well, after walking through Best Buy and walking out without anything (except the firewire cable I would need anyway), I told my hubby that my friends at TS were sure to be able to point me in the right direction! Thoughts, folks?

Paddy · « **Reply #1 on:** September 21, 2003, 08:33:40 PM »

Lorraine, won't you need the $200 thingy (oh, my hubby, who DESIGNS Analog to Digital converters for a living would love me calling them "thingies"

) anyway? Assuming of course, that you want to edit all that old footage? Or were you planning to use the new camcorder to record the old tapes? There is an interesting discussion of that here:

http://forum.digital-digest.com/archive/to...ic/22735-1.html

CyberPet · « **Reply #2 on:** September 21, 2003, 10:14:40 PM »

An interesting article too:
http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Background/analog_conv.html

The Hollywood Dazzle seem to be pretty expensive, haven't checked the Formac thingy. Maybe a new DV-cam would be a great idea after all?

My DV cam from Canon (equal to the ZR60) MV600i is cheap, great images and have all the bells and whistles. Can record VHS directly and it has both DV in and out so you can edit and have fun with the video as well. The ZR60 is about 450 USD (price found on DV Direct). Lots of bang for the buck.

ljocampo · « **Reply #3 on:** September 21, 2003, 11:49:10 PM »

LR827:

Belkin makes the USB Videobus II - Video capture adapter for Macintosh that should work for your needs and budget. It's only $69.99 (USD).

Check It Out Here

kelly · « **Reply #4 on:** September 22, 2003, 08:50:22 AM »

I agree with Petra.

http://www.macintouch.com/digitizingvideo.html#links

http://www.macintouch.com/digitizingvideo.html

http://forums.dealmac.com/read.html?f=1&i=...58786&t=1258786

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvanalog#dv

ljocampo · « **Reply #5 on:** September 22, 2003, 10:58:09 AM »

Kelly:

Although there is nothing wrong with using your camcorder as an interface, every once in a while. However to me it doesn't seem worth it with all the wear and tear that transcoding that many VHS tapes will put on a new camcorder, particularly when you can buy a cheap cable like the one I suggested above.

kelly · « **Reply #6 on:** September 22, 2003, 01:55:12 PM »

Well Leo. Couple of things.

"Watch your movie blockbuster at 30 frames per second and a video resolution of 352 x 288".

Too small.

Stata VideoShop 4.5

Buggy.

Also. I don't think using the Digital Video Pass Through will wear anything out.

Lorraine.

One thing you might consider for now.

Transfer some of the Movies you have now to your new machine with Ethernet.

Open them with QuickTime Pro. Export as DV Stream.

Import them to iMovie and play around with them.

QuickTime Pro: How to Export Movie to Different Formats

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42611

QuickTime Pro: About Supported File Types

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42617

LR827 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 23, 2003, 06:29:37 PM »

Oh, thank you, thank you all so much! Now I have to take some time and review all of the great links you all have suggested here, and then decide what to do.

Paddy, give my apologies to your hubby -- didn't mean to insult his life work! But seriously, one cannot be expected to write "analog-to-digital converter" all as many times as necessary to get the point across, can one? Go ahead, ask him for me! "Thingy" was just made for such occasions as this!

CyberPet, I'm closest to going with your suggestion, because I get really turned off with talk about "cables." I can't help it. I bought an Ethernet cable to transfer data to my old Performa 6205 for extra storage, and it took me hours to get it back to normal so that I could dial up the internet again. That was a traumatic experience, and I have abandoned it altogether.

Now I am inclined to buy either a thingy, if I can find one that is closer to $100 than $200 -- and maybe some of Kelly's links go there (they always do!). Otherwise, I'll go with CyberPet's suggestion there. That is about the lowest price of the camcorders with that capacity that I looked at in Best Buy.

Thanks again!

LR827 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 23, 2003, 06:38:29 PM »

I cant' believe this!!! After scrolling back through all of these replies and suggestions, I noticed kelly's remark about "Strata Videoshop 4.5"..... I HAVE THAT!! Kelly, do you remember when I was trying to upgrade my video edit feature on my G3 tower? I lost Apple Video Player when I went from 8.6 to 9.0. You linked me to an auction where I bought the PCI to USB card and also Inter View 2.0, which included Strata Videoshop 4.5!!! I still have those in the box (okay, I don't always get to things right away!!)

So, then, do I already have everything I need? Do I need that special cable that LJOcampo linked me to, or just Strata Videoshop? Wow, this is amazing!!!

kelly · « **Reply #9 on:** September 23, 2003, 07:22:36 PM »

Lorraine. You have enough to do something.

Don't know if that's the Interview that will work with OS X.

But it should work with OS 9. And Strata Videoshop is very buggy.

Frequent crashes etc. I've used it.

It will be the same small size as the one Leo mentions.

If that's enough to make you happy. Fine.

I think you'd be a 100 times better off following Petra's suggestion.

ljocampo · « **Reply #10 on:** September 23, 2003, 09:26:10 PM »

Kelly:

Why do you think that the cable will pass through at 352 x 288? She can bring it into iMovie and export it as NTSC which is 720 x 480 the same as DV stream. Or use Quicktime Pro to do the same thing.

kelly · « **Reply #11 on:** September 23, 2003, 10:23:26 PM »

That's the specs at the site Leo.

Yes you can export and make it bigger but it will look worse.

I've done all this. I know whereof I speak.

LR827 · « **Reply #12 on:** September 24, 2003, 05:45:23 PM »

My movies resolve at 72 pixels / inch. Is that the same resolution I would get on a new camera, such as the one Petra mentioned? I can only enlarge my pictures so much before losing quality (when I print frames).

Would it make sense for me to use the InterView 2.0 to import movies taken with old & older camcorders on VHS and Hi8 tapes, at their "normal" size (322 x 244), edit them on iMovie, and burn them onto a DVD, since I can't really enlarge them anyway? Would the new DVDs look just as good on a TV screen as the tapes?

kelly · « **Reply #13 on:** September 24, 2003, 10:47:58 PM »

1. Don't know what 72 per inch has to do with it.

But with the Camcorder you can get good Full Screen Movies.

2. I don't think so but you can try it.

Paddy · « **Reply #14 on:** September 24, 2003, 11:18:25 PM »

Lorraine, I believe the acronym for the "thingy" is an "A to D converter". Of course, if you're not an engineer, this might mean about as much as "thingy"!

News:

Author Topic: Analog to Digital Converter... (Read 5413 times)