Need recommendation for analog to digital converter

I would like to transfer some VHS tapes to DVD. I know that a digital camcorder can be used as a pass-through for this, but unfortunately I don't have one. Can anyone recommend a basic converter box for converting VHS into a digital signal? I don't need anything fancy - just something to connect to the VCR and with a Firewire connection so I can import into iMovie or iDVD.
Video transfer services in this area are outrageously expensive.
Thanks,
Doug Rheinheimer
IMac 1.83 Ghz Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

While that's a great price, these are my trusted guys; along with B&H Photo in NYC.
Bought my new camera from onecall.com this week. Sweet digicam. Of course Dell Home has it cheaper today But I like those guys at Onecall.
G4 DP 1.25 GHz 2GB RAM 4 Drives 770GB Mac OS X (10.4.6) 2 SuperDrives (SL 8X & DL 16X)

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Recommendations on Analog to Digital Converter

First I want to say that many people recommend the "pass-through" feature of many MiniDV cameras. Mine does not have that feature. :-( I am using ADS Tech CapWiz Xpress DX2. It is a fine hardware/software program with the record to hard drive feature. But, it records in MPEG-2, which caused me to have those "red frames" show up in my video. I am using Premiere Pro to edit my video. I do have the option of saving the file as MPEG-1 and MPEG-4 (Divx). But, I'm not sure if I will have the same problem saving in one of those other file types. If that is not a good solution. What other Analog to Digital converters do you recommend for me. I don't want to buy another digital camera. But, a device that I can place between my VCR and laptop that does the job would be great. I prefer a device that can import and save files as the same type that Premiere saves to after "capturing" footage from a digital device. Anything from "Pinnacle" won't work. It won't install on my laptop for some reason.
I am using Windows XP sp2, Duo Core processor, 2GB RAM, Production Premium CS3.

Go to canopus.com as they have what you need ADVC 100, ADVC 50. Try ebay too. Nice converter long lasting, very easy to use. Stays outside the computer so no software to install, and works with every program and platform

Recommendations for Analog to Digital conversion

I am seeking the help of all the Pros out there. I am moving my extensive analog music collection (LP/Cassette) to the digital world. Are there any recommendations for creating a CD-quality sound/volume level. I am currently using the standards (click/pop/hiss reduction, compressor and/or hard limiting). I am recording at 44.1/16 Bit and saving files in mp3 PRO-320 kbps for sake of storage. I welcome any assistance in regard to Plug-ins, equalization or other suggestions.
Thank you in advance
Paddy 41
Pentium 4/3.2 GHz, 2.0 MB Ram, Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro, Windows XP PRO SP3, Adobe Audition 3.0, Sony PS-LX250H Turntable, Denon DRM-600 Cassette.

>I am recording at 44.1/16 Bit and saving files in mp3 PRO-320 kbps for sake of storage. I welcome any assistance in regard to Plug-ins, equalization or other suggestions.
You shouldn't save files as MP3s until all the processing you want to do has been done - this is a lossy format, and every time you open a file saved like this it gets re-decoded, and then re-encoded when you do a save. And the quality degeneration is progressive. And unfortunately, recording your files as 16-bit is also not going to be quite the thing to do if you are going to do any sort of amplitude processing at all, either, especially if you are recording at a lower-than-optimum amplitude, which is usually the case. 44.1k is fine, though!
So, to get over the potential problems, the thing to do is to digitise your files as 44.1k 32-bit floating point, and until all processing is done, store them as Windows PCM wav files in this format, because that is uncompressed, which is what you need.
If you want to reduce noise on cassette recordings, it's worth using a fairly high FFT setting, even though it takes longer to do the processing. Since most of the noise is not LF, this tends to work better, although there is also a case for doing the NR twice, once with a lower FFT setting and once with a higher one, but not trying to take out too much in one go.
As for click reduction - well, you have to experiment. But letting the software determine all of the levels tends to give you a pretty good starting point. Another trick that's sometimes worth it is to transform your files temporarily to M-S stereo instead of L-R, and treat each channel separately - you generally get different levels of clicks in each, usually more in the S signal, whilst the M cancels out quite a few. And in general, the less clicks you can get away with processing, the better.
Hard limiting? Never used it on a conversion like that at all, and wouldn't even consider it - transients are already likely to be distorted, and hard limiting them further seems like a
very strange thing to do...
Other tools that are useful, especially on cassettes are iZotope's Ozone (some of which is already in Audition) and HarBal. You can restore usually distorted frequency responses with the latter, and get a good average value automatically and easily. And judicious use of Ozone's enhancer can make them seem a lot less like the results came from a cassette...
One of the useful things you can do with Ozone is to selectively widen parts of the spectrum. Since most records of music tend (for reasons of tracking) to have had the bass forced to be virtually mono, with subsequent similar consequences for other instruments with substantial LF content, it's worth expanding just about everything under about 250Hz, possibly by more than you might think.
Generally, 'normal' EQ doesn't have a lot of use when processing vinyl, if it's relatively recent. And that generally means anything from the 60's onwards. If you think things are seriously wrong, the chances are that it's your monitors and environment that are misleading you. Just bear in mind that when this stuff was produced, it was all monitored in a professional environment - more so than it might be today, even.
No doubt there will be a few other responses - I don't think that the foregoing is anything like complete, but is at least a start.

Do I even need an analog to digital converter for old VHS?

I'm just trying the most cost effective way to transfer all of my old VHS & HI-8 material to a digital format for better preservation. Since, why I do not know, PE doesnt allow for analog capture, I need a converter like Dazzle to get my analog source to digital. Or do I?? Can I not just use Windows Movie Maker to capture then import into PE? Doesnt my capture card do convert?? I have my VCR hooked up via S-video to the card. Is the card not the same thing as an external converter? I just want to know the best way so I dont waste my time only to have to go back and redo everything. Thanx yall

Thanx y'all. Thats where I'm a bit confused. You mentioned "quality DV-AVI". I'm under the assumption that when I capture an analog signal that I set at 720x480 is a "quality DV-AVI". After I have captured and rendered to an .avi file I then import that into PE. Is that what you are meaning? Or is that an inferior quality video file? The capture card I have is a Legacy capture card that came with Pinnacle Studio ver 9. Pinnacle is a great intro level editor, but it sucks because it's slow, unstable and captures out of sync audio which I have to go in and manually sync. I shouldnt have to do that. I'll spend $100-$200 if thats what I have to do to get the results I want. I'm not looking for HD quality here. I simply want to capture all my old analog media, edit it, and burn to DVD and keep on my HD to preserve it all. I want it to be the same quality as it appears on its original medium.I also want to continue to edit and burn stuff using my Mini DV camera as well. I just want an editor thats above intro level, but not as complex as Premieire Pro. I feel that PE will do the job well. My capture card has S-video, firewire & composite inputs. Is my card not what I'm needing?? Or, do I need an analog to digital converter to get the analog material into a raw digital format thats the same quality as the original?
To help in my endeavors i recently upgraded and built anew PC so that I would have no problems, seeing that video editing does tax a computers resources. My new build is a Quad core 4 gb of RAM system. So my computer power should not be an issue for home editing and what not.

Analog to Digital Converter-- What's A Good Product For My System?

What would be a good analog to digital converter for Final Cut Express HD 3.5 on a Mac OSX 10.4 system? I've used a Canopus on a MacPro with Final Cut Pro before and liked it, but wasn't sure what would be a good product for my macbook. I've looked at the Canopus advc-110 and 55 but am not clear on the difference and if it would work with what I have.

The ADVC-55 is capture only. It includes composite & s-video inputs and stereo audio inputs. Firewire output.
The ADVC-110 is bidirectional (meaning you can both capture and output through it - this is a very good way to monitor your video during production as you can see the actual quality on a monitor/TV rather than just your computer screen, which has limited capability to show you the actual video quality.) It includes composite & s-video inputs and outputs; stereo audio inputs & outputs; Firewire input & output.
The ADVC-300 is also bidirectional and includes composite, s-video and component video i/o (D1 connector) inputs & outputs; stereo audio inputs & outputs; Firewire input & output; and software that enables you to tweak its video settings. Helpful in cleaning up particularly bad analog videos.
I've used these things for years and they all work great. I do not believe there is any difference in the internal conversion hardware ... The primary differences are support for one-way vs. bidirectional conversion; input/output connectors; and the software that comes with the ADVC-300.
If you have basically clean analog video, any of these units will be fine. You can use any analog source (VHS deck, camcorder, DVD player, etc.) and would typically use iMovie or Final Cut Express to capture your video on a Mac.

Premiere Pro 1.5: Best analog to digital converter for BNC?

Recently I've been looking for an external analog to digital converter (that connects via firewire)that will work with Premiere Pro 1.5 for capturing uncompressed digital video from any source, whether it be BNC composite from a U-Matic to S-VHS via S-Video (either DIN or Y/C BNC) to Betacam SP BNC Component. It would also be nice if it could import digital sources (i.e. DVCPRO 50/Digital Betacam) as well by SDI.
I've looked at a few by AJA or Blackmagic, but I'm not sure if they would work with Premiere Pro 1.5 on Windows XP SP3.
Does anyone know of a good converter?

I have NO IDEA if it will work with everything you list, but do some reading at http://www.grassvalley.com/products/converters

Which is the best Analog to Digital Converter

Hey everyone,
Im new to this movie making digital world. I have been using imovie for a while and looking to upgrade to FCP. Before I spend the money, just a few questions hoping someone would know the answers.
1: Can I use idvd to burn my movies with FCP?
2: Im need an analog to digital converter, but not sure which one to get. I have VHS, Hi8, mini DV, etc... Which converter is best with mac, specifically with FCP?
3: Does FCP work well with an external harddrive?
Thanks...

1. Yes
2. Canopus and DataVideo are popular but some camcorders have a built in A-D converter. Note that Mini-DV works without needing a converter. Just plug in your camera with FireWire.
3. Yes

How to store the output of a analog to digital converter into an 2D array

Hi
I am doing my M.Tech Thesis in Image reconstruction and I am using labview for simulation and I want to know how to store the output of a analog to digital converter into an 2D labview array.

nitinkajay wrote:
I want to know how to store the output of a analog to digital converter into an 2D labview array.
How exactly are you performing 'Analog to Digital'???
Grabbing image using camera OR performing data acquisition using DAQ card OR some other way????
I am not allergic to Kudos, in fact I love Kudos.
Make your LabVIEW experience more CONVENIENT.

Analog to Digital Converter boxes

Does anyone think Apple will ever fix iMovie to restore usage of many analog to digital converter boxes that were broken by iMovie 5?
I have a SONY DVMC-DA1 firewire unit and wish I could use it again in iMovie. Does anyone know what the exact component is that they left out or changed that would cause this problem? I'm just trying to understand.

The ADVC-55 is capture only. It includes composite & s-video inputs and stereo audio inputs. Firewire output.
The ADVC-110 is bidirectional (meaning you can both capture and output through it - this is a very good way to monitor your video during production as you can see the actual quality on a monitor/TV rather than just your computer screen, which has limited capability to show you the actual video quality.) It includes composite & s-video inputs and outputs; stereo audio inputs & outputs; Firewire input & output.
The ADVC-300 is also bidirectional and includes composite, s-video and component video i/o (D1 connector) inputs & outputs; stereo audio inputs & outputs; Firewire input & output; and software that enables you to tweak its video settings. Helpful in cleaning up particularly bad analog videos.
I've used these things for years and they all work great. I do not believe there is any difference in the internal conversion hardware ... The primary differences are support for one-way vs. bidirectional conversion; input/output connectors; and the software that comes with the ADVC-300.
If you have basically clean analog video, any of these units will be fine. You can use any analog source (VHS deck, camcorder, DVD player, etc.) and would typically use iMovie or Final Cut Express to capture your video on a Mac.

Analog to digital converter advice

Anyone have any thoughts or tips on using this analog to digital converter with a VCR and CS6? Has anyone used one of these before?
http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc55
Thanks.

http://www.biopac.com/Manuals/dv%20converter%20advc-55%20user%20manual.pdf
Page 13 has the guide for the dip switches.
You can also test if you get a better result by applying set up or otherwise in switch 2.
BTW - how old are the VHS tapes and what do they look like before digitising them?
Are they PALor NTSC originally?
(The box wont do a great job of converting them either so stick to what they are ).

I need recommendations for an emac 1.42 and ibook 1.33 compatible external superdrive ?

I need recommendations for an emac 1.42 and ibook 1.33, OS 10.3 - 10.5 compatible external superdrive ?

If you need the drive to be able to boot those Macs, you'll need FireWire connectivity. If you ned to use a system optical disk to upgrade or re-install the OS. or repair your hard drive, you must boot from the optical drive. If either computer's built-in optical drive has failed, or does not support reading DVDs, you'l need to boot from an external sooner or later.
If all you need is a burner, then USB opticals are cheaper and should work fine.
This firm tests all their stuff for Mac compatibility:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Price%7c0&Ne=5000&N =6866&Ntt=external+optical

USB for analog to digital video input?

I have a USB-based Analog-to-Digital video converter that I used when I had my PC, for transferring old family video tapes to digital to burn DVDs.
Can I use this with my Mac with iMovie 08), or will the Mac only accept digital video via a Firewire input?
- Mike

Mike Rivera wrote:
... Can I use this with my Mac with iMovie 08), or will the Mac only accept digital video via a Firewire input?
no, you can not use that device, because usb-devices need specific 'drivers', which in most cases are of no avail for Mac ..
but...
many harddrive-camcorders are connected via usb, and DO work with Mac..
if a device has both (miniDV camcorders), the video is only imported via firewire, the usb-connection is only in use for stills, those devices allow to record ...

Analog to Digital converter w/ macrovision ripper

I need to know what the best converter is for FCP. Also, I am a teacher and at times use short video clips for teaching purposes (under the provisions allowed by copyright laws), is there hardware that will capture from a DVD player (macrovision protected DVD) straight to FCP?
Brian
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

You'd be better off using software to rip the DVD to your hard drive, then convert the pieces you want to Quicktime for editing in FCP. This way, you don't have to worry about Macrovision, and you avoid more quality degradation from playing it thru an analog converter.
MacTheRipper is the best for ripping and MPEG Streamclip is great for converting the DVD files into Quicktime.
Now, stand back because everybody will be blasting me for telling you how to do this

Recommendations for compact Camcorder / Digital Camera combo?

Now that I'm 2 years into fatherhood, I'm finding that I have specific digital habits for which I'm hoping to get some recommendations for a product. Basically, I use a decent Sony camcorder to shoot DV, which I edit in iMovie into little videos. I also have a few digital cameras (point-and-shoot and SLR) to take a big range of still photographs. But I'm getting tired of carrying them all around with me.
What I'm hoping to get is a new product that's small, has good video capture, and still takes good still photos. And most importantly, I need it to work seamlessly with iMovie and iPhoto. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm really just looking for something that I can put in my pocket and shoot video or stills of my son when he does something cute!
Thanks!

You might want to check out Sony's latest Cyber-shot Digital Camera, the DSC-W300.
It's a point and shoot with video in HD. If you have a nice HDTV, you'll be able to playback the footage easily. I don't know the size of the file for importing into iMovie but your memories will look great.

Need recommendation for external DVD burner drive!

I'm one of the officers for a film club at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Recently, I discovered that we had, in our offices, a fully-functional, if not somewhat dated, iMac G4. After getting the neccessary OS X upgrades (it's now running the latest version, 10.4.8), I need to upgrade the CD drive, which is currently just a CD burner drive. It can't even play DVDs, much less burn them, both things we need to have working if we want people in our organization to be able to use this computer.
Since I don't want to physically remove the drive and replace it with an internal DVD burner drive, I'd like a recommendation for a good external one. I noticed that there's only one option on the Apple Store, the LaCie d2 DVD+/-RW Drive, and that doesn't look like it's been getting very good reviews. Does anyone have any other options I could choose from?
iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Good point Keith.
I have no experience of this model but this one from OWC (a company who get very good press on these boards) promises iDVD 5 and 6 support. It's somewhat cheaper than the Lacie in the Apple store but doesn't have Lightscribe.
mrtotes

Need recommendation for analog to digital converter

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