#Best/inexpensive V card
11 messages in this thread
My 13 yr old IBM buddy needs to know what is a good…inexpensive
video card (& I would guess what else for an editing suite) for IBM.
His Jr. High is mandated to have such by Sept. & of course since he
knows more than the teachers (TRUE!), he came to me to ask for help
here.
I have a lot of magazines on DTV, but as an Amiga user, am not familar
with IBM stuff.
I thank you all in advance.
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC
Gracia:
>My 13 yr old IBM buddy needs to know what is a good…inexpensive video card
(& I would guess what else for an editing suite) for IBM. <
First, are they looking for a complete nonlinear system (digitize video to hard
disk, then edit it on the computer), or just a computer-based linear editing
system? Secondly, is his Jr. High School looking to output to tape, or are they
looking to pretty much leave it on the computer (like for presentations)?
If the latter, there are several good cards/software bundles out there
for well under $1,000–like the Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro (which
I use). OTOH, if they're looking to output to tape, the cost goes up
considerable–unless they're willing to accept sub-VHS quality (not
THAT sub, from what I hear online here, but…). In that case, you
might suggest to him he look at Fast's Movie Machine and Miro's
DC-1…
Any other opinions would be EXTREMELY welcome,
Best,
Tim Liebe
Thanks…don't know what their story is, but I find out & get back. Maybe some
more people will chime in <G>.
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC
Gracia:
Quoting Brian Santee:
>If the card you are looking for is for editing. Fast Video machine is an all
in one card for the PC or MAC.<
I can also recommend it highly (at least, the Lite version) since I'm currently
reviewing it. REAL tasty machine–a bit steep ($2,500 list), but worth it IMHO.
Best,
Tim
Timothy,
2,500 is steep, but if it has a "educational' discount might fit into
school budget…they were looking at a Toaster which would be much
more expensive since they are a PC school & would have to get an
Amiga…unless Tim Jenison gets the PC version out sooooooon. Thanks
again for info. Too many toys to choose <G>.
Gracia, on AutoPilot from Cooleemee, NC
Gracia:
>2,500 is steep, but if it has a "educational' discount might fit into school
budget..<
Oh, I know it's ain't cheap, but it runs on most 486 PCs and *is* pretty much a
soup-to-nuts solution. You might check w/Fast regarding an educational
discount–their phone number's (415) 345-3400.
>They were looking at a Toaster which would be much more expensive since they
are a PC school & would have to get an Amiga.<
That *could* be a problem, couldn't it <g>? Also, unless I've misheard, the
Toaster for Windows is pretty much like the Toaster for Amiga–doesn't come
w/TBCs or frame buffers, nor does it have an edit controller–so it might end
up costing more in the long run.
> Thanks again for info. Too many toys to choose <G>.<
You're welcome–and ain't that ALWAYS the case? 😉
Best,
Tim
I was wondering if you knew anything about products called
"Videobridge" and "TapeIt", both are internal cards for the PC and
are made by a Co. called New Media Graphics. They seem to fit the
bill in a lot of ways. When I called the # listed for them in the
March Videomaker, their answering service said they would fax my #
over to them and they would call me back. Of course I really didn't
expect that to happen, but I am curious to know more about their
products. They listed the retail on the Videobridge as $699 and the
TapeIt as $499.
Mike:
>I was wondering if you knew anything about products called "Videobridge" and
"TapeIt", both are internal cards for the PC and are made by a Co. called New
Media Graphics. <
Not a thing–sorry. If somebody else knows about these cards, OTOH, I'd love to
hear more myself…
Best,
Tim
I tried the Creative TV Coder and I am pleased with the way it converts
a PC signal to either composite or Y/C. I did not get any shimmering or
jitteryness. The reds bled a little, but red is always a problem NTSC color and
possibly some tweaking and preplanning could avoid this. For a PC to TV decoder
in the under $200 class, I thought it acheived excellent results. It is an
internal 8 bit card that does not need a big slot. It works with a display up
to 640×480 and 256 colors. Maybe that is too big a limitation for some, but
most of the time I run Windows in that mode anyway, so it works out good for
me.
Regards,
Mike
Mike:
>I tried the Creative TV Coder and I am pleased with the way it converts a PC
signal to either composite or Y/C. I did not get any shimmering or jitteryness.
The reds bled a little, but red is always a problem NTSC color and possibly
some tweaking and preplanning could avoid this. For a PC to TV decoder in the
under $200 class, I thought it acheived excellent results.<
Really? I'll have to look into that…
Best,
Tim
If the card you are looking for is for editing. Fast Video machine is an all in
one card for the PC or MAC. It is a time base corrector, edit controller,
character generator, will do A/B rolls, special effects, animation controller,
etc. It works with a wide variety of decks all the way from consumer to
professional and is also upgradable to a hybrid non-linear (digital) editor. If
you would like some more info on this e-mail me with your address and I'll see
that it gets sent out to you.
Brian Santee
If you have any questions feel free to ask. It is probably the best bang for
the buck you can get. They also offer 20% off to educational facilities.