Good midpriced capture device? at DVinfo.net

Elliot Kartus · December 29th, 2007, 11:48 PM

I've been doing some editing and video work for myself and other people around town for a while, but a problem I run into often is not being able to easily capture footage. Often my main computer and Premiere will not reconize the camera plugged into my computer as a capture device, and I will have to capture it in Windows Movie Maker (Oh, the fun that is) and then transport it via an external hard drive to the main computer. Also as I currently do not own a camera capable of hooking up to a computer, I have had to borrow peoples cameras when I need to upload something from a non computer capable dv cam.

Really the long and the short of it is, I need a decent capture device on a budget. Something that can hopefully hook up to RCA (red, white, yellow) cables so it would work with any camera. I do need good quality for my price range though. Would like to keep it under 100 dollars, preferably under 80.

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance.
(Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I couldn't pick a better one.)

EDIT: If it matters I am working on Windows XP Home, SP2. Inter Core 2 Duo processer, Asus motherboard. Also editing with Premiere Pro CS3

John Miller · December 30th, 2007, 11:35 AM

Some more detail is required.

What make/model/kind of camcorder is it? Does it transfer via FireWire or USB? If USB, Windows Movie Maker supports it natively. IIRC, Premiere doesn't.

Can't you use Movie Maker on the main computer to avoid having to transport the external hard drive from one to another?

Richard Alvarez · December 30th, 2007, 12:14 PM

Elliot,

a lot of confusing/conflicting info in your post. You state that you do not own a camera for capturing. You state you must borrow a camera for capturing. You state "I have had to borrow peoples cameras when I need to upload something from a non computer capable dv cam."

I am unaware of a "Non Computer Capable DV Cam".

Your computer either has firewire ports, or it doesn't.

We need to know what your 'capture board' is. You might just need to add a firewire card, for under twenty bucks, then all those DV cams that ARE computer capable, will be recognised by your computer.

Otherwise, If what you are stating is that you are trying to import video from ANALOG cameras... old VHS or Hi8 cameras that only have analog composite video out (or s-video out) you will need to 'digitize' the footage by passing it through a 'transcoder'. This could be a capture card, or a stand alone box like the canopus ADVC 100. You MIGHT find one for under a hundred on EBAY, but I doubt it.

IF I understand your needs correctly, you will be looking for a USED Mini DV camera that has "Pass through" capabilities, that will not only play Mini DV tapes for you to capture over firewire into your firewire equipped computer, it will also allow you to hook up an ANALOG composite sourse, such as a VHS deck, and DIGITIZE the footage as it passes it through to your computer.

Again, EBAY is going to be your best bet. But buying used gear is always a risk. For me, a 'mid-priced' capture device would be three to five hundred dollars. But then I use a $1600 DSR 11 so one man's mid price is another man's budget buster.

Elliot Kartus · December 31st, 2007, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Alvarez

Elliot,

a lot of confusing/conflicting info in your post. You state that you do not own a camera for capturing. You state you must borrow a camera for capturing. You state "I have had to borrow peoples cameras when I need to upload something from a non computer capable dv cam."

I am unaware of a "Non Computer Capable DV Cam".

Your computer either has firewire ports, or it doesn't.

We need to know what your 'capture board' is. You might just need to add a firewire card, for under twenty bucks, then all those DV cams that ARE computer capable, will be recognised by your computer.

Otherwise, If what you are stating is that you are trying to import video from ANALOG cameras... old VHS or Hi8 cameras that only have analog composite video out (or s-video out) you will need to 'digitize' the footage by passing it through a 'transcoder'. This could be a capture card, or a stand alone box like the canopus ADVC 100. You MIGHT find one for under a hundred on EBAY, but I doubt it.

IF I understand your needs correctly, you will be looking for a USED Mini DV camera that has "Pass through" capabilities, that will not only play Mini DV tapes for you to capture over firewire into your firewire equipped computer, it will also allow you to hook up an ANALOG composite sourse, such as a VHS deck, and DIGITIZE the footage as it passes it through to your computer.

Again, EBAY is going to be your best bet. But buying used gear is always a risk. For me, a 'mid-priced' capture device would be three to five hundred dollars. But then I use a $1600 DSR 11 so one man's mid price is another man's budget buster.

Sorry if the post was confusing, I was kind of rambling. I have firewire ports on my computer but whenever a camera is plugged in, no program will recognize it, the main computer also does not have WMM. The camera I own does not have a port for me to connect a mini dv to firewire cable in order to hook it up to the computer.

The issue is that cameras with this port are not recognized by premiere by my computer. There is no solution for a decent priced DV deck of some sort or something of that nature?

John Miller · December 31st, 2007, 01:41 PM

If the main computer doesn't have WMM, what OS does it have?

WMM is an integral part of Windows XP. If it is missing then there may be other stuff missing such as the drivers required to import/export DV via FireWire.

Go to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers and see if msdv.sys is there. Also look in C:\Windows\System32 for qdv.dll.

Richard Alvarez · December 31st, 2007, 02:05 PM

What John says, if you have Windows XP Home, you have WMM. If it's not there, you need to reload it.

Unless, of course, it's not a legal copy... in which case it might not have it.

You say you have a Minid DV camera, that doesn NOT have a firewire port on it??? What model?

Elliot Kartus · December 31st, 2007, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Miller

If the main computer doesn't have WMM, what OS does it have?

WMM is an integral part of Windows XP. If it is missing then there may be other stuff missing such as the drivers required to import/export DV via FireWire.

Go to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers and see if msdv.sys is there. Also look in C:\Windows\System32 for qdv.dll.

I seem to be missing msdv.sys, but qdv.dll is there.

Also this is a legal copy of Windows XP Home which does not have WMM installed.

John Miller · December 31st, 2007, 03:03 PM

msdv.sys is the driver Windows uses for DV-related FireWire.

It's odd that it isn't there.

You can try repairing your Windows installation - boot to the setup CD and follow the instructions to repair Windows (it checks to make sure all the right files are there - it doesn't change user settings etc). If you do this, back up everything first, of course.

James Brill · February 12th, 2008, 02:36 PM

Just to make sure, when you are trying to connect a dv cam via firewire to your computer there aren't any harddrives or anything like that connected to other firewire ports at the same time is there?

December 29th, 2007, 11:48 PM	#1
Elliot Kartus Tourist Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 3	Good midpriced capture device? I've been doing some editing and video work for myself and other people around town for a while, but a problem I run into often is not being able to easily capture footage. Often my main computer and Premiere will not reconize the camera plugged into my computer as a capture device, and I will have to capture it in Windows Movie Maker (Oh, the fun that is) and then transport it via an external hard drive to the main computer. Also as I currently do not own a camera capable of hooking up to a computer, I have had to borrow peoples cameras when I need to upload something from a non computer capable dv cam. Really the long and the short of it is, I need a decent capture device on a budget. Something that can hopefully hook up to RCA (red, white, yellow) cables so it would work with any camera. I do need good quality for my price range though. Would like to keep it under 100 dollars, preferably under 80. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance. (Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I couldn't pick a better one.) EDIT: If it matters I am working on Windows XP Home, SP2. Inter Core 2 Duo processer, Asus motherboard. Also editing with Premiere Pro CS3

December 30th, 2007, 11:35 AM	#2
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	Some more detail is required. What make/model/kind of camcorder is it? Does it transfer via FireWire or USB? If USB, Windows Movie Maker supports it natively. IIRC, Premiere doesn't. Can't you use Movie Maker on the main computer to avoid having to transport the external hard drive from one to another?

December 30th, 2007, 12:14 PM	#3
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	Elliot, a lot of confusing/conflicting info in your post. You state that you do not own a camera for capturing. You state you must borrow a camera for capturing. You state "I have had to borrow peoples cameras when I need to upload something from a non computer capable dv cam." I am unaware of a "Non Computer Capable DV Cam". Your computer either has firewire ports, or it doesn't. We need to know what your 'capture board' is. You might just need to add a firewire card, for under twenty bucks, then all those DV cams that ARE computer capable, will be recognised by your computer. Otherwise, If what you are stating is that you are trying to import video from ANALOG cameras... old VHS or Hi8 cameras that only have analog composite video out (or s-video out) you will need to 'digitize' the footage by passing it through a 'transcoder'. This could be a capture card, or a stand alone box like the canopus ADVC 100. You MIGHT find one for under a hundred on EBAY, but I doubt it. IF I understand your needs correctly, you will be looking for a USED Mini DV camera that has "Pass through" capabilities, that will not only play Mini DV tapes for you to capture over firewire into your firewire equipped computer, it will also allow you to hook up an ANALOG composite sourse, such as a VHS deck, and DIGITIZE the footage as it passes it through to your computer. Again, EBAY is going to be your best bet. But buying used gear is always a risk. For me, a 'mid-priced' capture device would be three to five hundred dollars. But then I use a $1600 DSR 11 so one man's mid price is another man's budget buster.

December 31st, 2007, 01:41 PM	#5
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	If the main computer doesn't have WMM, what OS does it have? WMM is an integral part of Windows XP. If it is missing then there may be other stuff missing such as the drivers required to import/export DV via FireWire. Go to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers and see if msdv.sys is there. Also look in C:\Windows\System32 for qdv.dll.

December 31st, 2007, 02:05 PM	#6
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	What John says, if you have Windows XP Home, you have WMM. If it's not there, you need to reload it. Unless, of course, it's not a legal copy... in which case it might not have it. You say you have a Minid DV camera, that doesn NOT have a firewire port on it??? What model?

December 31st, 2007, 03:03 PM	#8
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	msdv.sys is the driver Windows uses for DV-related FireWire. It's odd that it isn't there. You can try repairing your Windows installation - boot to the setup CD and follow the instructions to repair Windows (it checks to make sure all the right files are there - it doesn't change user settings etc). If you do this, back up everything first, of course.

February 12th, 2008, 02:36 PM	#9
James Brill Major Player Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Goleta, CA Posts: 299	Just to make sure, when you are trying to connect a dv cam via firewire to your computer there aren't any harddrives or anything like that connected to other firewire ports at the same time is there?