CompuServe Thread

> I would simply like to edit home videos into more aesthetically pleasing > memorys. That's what I want to do too. Basically there are three choices that I see now, and they're not necessarily mutually exclusive. First, to keep the cost down go with Miro's DC1 video capture card, also bundled with Premiere. At $600 it's less than ///FAST MMPro with M-JPEG. And MMPro does not work well with Premiere from what others have said. These capture boards are ISA and not full screen … that is they capture 320×240 at 30 fps. The output is interpolated to full screen at 640×480 at 60 fps. A lot of compressed data moving over a slow ISA bus. The output is VHS quality from what others say. Two, about to hit the market are the new crop of PCI video capture cards that will do full screen. Output is said to be S-VHS quality. And on the PCI bus they can move the data. The cost will likely be a bit more at $1000-2000 range as a guess. Of course they'll be significantly better. Since both options really require PCI hardware, then the question is do you have this hardware? And about 4GB hard drive appears to be the cost of admission. Either way it makes sense to wait and she what happens with the PCI cards, maybe late Spring, unless you really want to be up with computer nonlinear editing now and will be happy with VHS quality. Three is to use a basic linear tape editing setup on your PC. The entry level is represented by VideoDirector combined with a genlock card and some titling software (this is what I've done with GVP's Personal Suite Plus and PrimeTime – composed of VideoDirector 1.5, Curtain Call, PrimeTime and Magni's genlock ET4000 video card at $499). At a higher plane is ///FAST Video Machine Line at $2,500 with FutureVideo staking out the middle ground. The results either way will be S-VHS quality if you start with good source tapes. This makes sense if you really want to get going now but want better than VHS quality. And for completeness there's a fourth real option … that's a total stand alone solution offered by Videonics (their products listed in parens). This can also be accomplished with products by Sony, Panasonic, Sima and others. Basically they all consist of a hardware edit controller (Edit Suite $600), and titler (TM2000 $500) and mixer-effects generator (MX-1 $900). You can add a color correction device to this also (Video Enhancer $400). And you can mix this with DTV setup, both NLE and linear. Typically a Video Enhancer and MX-1 are used with a software edit controller and character generator. Then you can add NLE in when the dust settles on the PCI cards … and after you've gotten that PCI machine with 4GB and as much memory as your pocketbook can stand! <g> In all fairness I don't think there's a one 'best' route among the four. It all depends on what you want to do and are will to spend in time, energy and money. Hope this helps some. -jts

Brandon, You are right! This is why we have put together our FREE booklet "The Desk Top Video Handbook". It is loaded with info, a glossary, product specs and prices. For a free copy send me your s-mail address.