1 Can anybody tell me if i can buy a camcorder that i can plug my old analouge camcorder into to convert to digital?.
2 Would i be better of buying a stand alone converter i have read about the "Director’s Cut “Take 2”! converter, but wonder if the would be better spending the extra cash and use the above option?

Thanks Tez

[vonhosen]

1) Yes Camcorders are available with "AV In" but these will vary. Some will let you convert "On the fly" straight thru the camcorder, others will require you to record to the DV camera's tape first then capture from this to your PC. You will need to look at this on a camera to camera basis.

2) If you do a lot of video editing & capture a lot of analog footage you may be better going for a stand alone converter. I don't use one myself but the Canopus ADVC-100 is well respected.

[MarkE19]

Another option if you do want to get a new camcorder would be to get a Sony Digital 8 camcorder. Some of these will play old Hi8/8mm analogue tapes (but not VHS-C). Check the model carefully as not all of them will play your old tapes.

Mark.

vonhosen

1 using the canopus advc100, how do you get the digi video out to your pc, when i look at the flow diag from the link you sugested
it goes to a firewire connection, would i be right in saying you can buy red, white, and yellow(composite cables) to firwire? or am i missing something?.
2 have you used the advc yourself, to capture from analouge?
what was the quality like? as there seem to so many of these devices on the market! any advice is greatly appreciated.

Tez

MarkE19
When you say they will play 8mm tapes does this mean you can also extract the footage as digital straight to a pc? from the digi camcorder!
Tez

P.S. Guys i think i may have been posting my replies incorrectly,
whoops!!!

[MarkE19]

Originally posted by tez
MarkE19
When you say they will play 8mm tapes does this mean you can also extract the footage as digital straight to a pc? from the digi camcorder!

The D8 camcorder plays back the analogue footage and outputs it via the analogue and DV ports. You can therefore capture direct to the PC via a standard firewire card on your PC.

using the canopus advc100, how do you get the digi video out to your pc, when i look at the flow diag from the link you sugested it goes to a firewire connection, would i be right in saying you can buy red, white, and yellow(composite cables) to firwire? or am i missing something?.

The ADVC100 is the converter. You plug your VCR etc into the unit via composite & audio and connect the ADVC100 to the PC via a firewire lead (firewire port required on the PC).

Mark.

[vonhosen]

Originally posted by tez
vonhosen

1 using the canopus advc100, how do you get the digi video out to your pc, when i look at the flow diag from the link you sugested
it goes to a firewire connection, would i be right in saying you can buy red, white, and yellow(composite cables) to firwire? or am i missing something?.
2 have you used the advc yourself, to capture from analouge?
what was the quality like? as there seem to so many of these devices on the market! any advice is greatly appreciated.

Tez

Mark has answered question 1 above

Re question 2 I haven't used one myself as I deal only in "DV" not analogue. That said I do visit a number of other forums (for my video editing & dvd authoring packages) & a lot of people there use the device & swear by them. I own some Canopus software that is very good & their hardware has a pretty good reputation. the only problem I have heard of with them is pointed out on the link. Don't use a Firewire card that has a Texas Instruments chipset with them.

VANHOSEN
1. Am i capturing in the correct format dv.avi? ive borrowed a digi camcorder to test quality.
2. What is the best format to convert your dv.avi footage to?, mpeg1 which is vcd or mpeg2 svcd, i can only write to cd.
cheers

[MarkE19]

AVI is the native format of DV footage when captured to a PC. This is therefore the best quality option as it is not a lossy format.

CD format - it all depends on your DVD player as most DVD's will not play SVCD. Check the specs of your player, if it will play SVCD then go for this as the quality will be better, but as with all things it's quality OR capacity. VCD will give around an hour, but SVCD will give around 20 minutes per disk.

Mark.