#MPEG
Another M-JPEG card you might want to consider is the Miro DC1TV. From what
I've heard of the FAST, the quality of the picture is the same, but if you
don't care about the video switching and the TV tuner on the FAST, you can save
a few hundred $$'s with the Miro. The Miro will also play NTSC output from any
Video for Windows player, including directly from Premeire or just plain ole
Media Player. However, it _won't_ accelerate playback to the computer's
monitor. Which isn't really a big deal, since I have a little 13" television
hooked directly to the Miro for previews. Which in turn is nice because you can
run Windows in 256 colors for speed considerations, and still get full color
previews on the television (the Miro couldn't care less what resolution/color
depth your
windows desktop is).
I just picked up the Miro bundled with Premeire 1.1 (you'll want to spend the
extra $129 for an upgrade to 4.0) and Crystal Flying Fonts Pro (kinda useless
once you have Imagine, but hey – it's free) for $599. I haven't tried
outputting any animations with it – this is the first capture card I ever had
so I've been digitizing clips of everything from Aladdin to True Lies. Once the
thril of that wears off, it's back to work! <g>
One thing you should know about both the Miro and the FAST M-JPEG cards is
that the actual resolution of the images is only 320×240 (correct me if I'm
wrong on this account about the FAST), which is then interpolated into 640×480
for playback to videotape. This resolution approximates a VHS videotape, and
can actually be a little better, depending on how fast your hard drvie is and
what the source material is.
How's that for long winded?
Adam