Seasoned member but new
9 messages in this thread
I hope to be of help!
Alberto
For the most part you are right, but DTV for the home user is not totally out
of reach. For example, I just purchased a gig HD for less than $500.00, a
capture card is well below $500 and a piece of software such as MediaStudio for
video editing is $199, so for around $1000 you have all you need (that is if
you have a computer already)
-Dave
David:
>so for around $1000 you have all you need (that is if you have a computer
already)<
Um…maybe for multimedia, but not for DTV, I'd think. Most of the below-$500
capture cards you're discussing only input video to your computer–they don't
output it back to tape. For that you also need, at minimum, some sort of
encoder/genlock (and a lot of commercially-available DOS or Mac computers don't
come standard with video cards that transfer VGA – NTSC). Also, I've found that
the under-$500 capture cards only capture, at best, 30 fps in 240 x 180 mode or
15 fps in 320 x 240 mode, which is okay for limited effects sequences (or
multimedia presentations) but not for general nonlinear editing that has to go
back out to tape.
I know that Cardinal has been mentioning a capture/encoder card (the SnapPlus!,
I think) for a while now that supposed to be able to do all this for around
$1,000, but I haven't seen one yet. (Has anyone used the SnapPlus!, BTW? I'd
like to know if it lives up to Cardinal's hype…)
OTOH, StudioMagic has designed a pass-through card that *does* give you
titling, genlock & simple graphics output to video–but only in A/X editing,
not A/B–for around $500. It's used more as a computer version of, say, a
Panasonic AVE-3, but it's got a lot of neat things on it and might be worth
checking out.
Let me know what you think,
Tim Liebe
Okay, I guess there are varying levels of DTV. For some people doing
presentations or maybe even CD ROM titles a card such as the ISVR would be
fine. But if you need to step up a level then something like the Targa 2000 is
nice.
-Dave
Dave:
>But if you need to step up a level then something like the Targa 2000 is
nice.<
No argument there–that's why I asked in my post what the intention was. The
point was, however, that most DOS computers didn't come w/a Targa card
standard–so you have to factor that into your equations as well…
Tim
I think you should check out these two cards: Fast Movie Machine Pro and miro
DC1 TV. Both can capture in 30fps 320×240 (NTSC) and output to tape directly
from its output port. miro's board is ideal for video to tape job because it
includes S-Video in/out part and with a dynamic Q implementation for better
video quality. However its playback capability is less than Fast's offering.
Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro is also a good card at this price range to be
considered.
–Vincent Chen
OTOH, StudioMagic has designed a pass-through card that *does* give you
titling, genlock & simple graphics output to video–but only in A/X editing,
not A/B–for around $500. It's used more as a computer version of, say, a
Panasonic AVE-3, but it's got a lot of neat things on it and might be worth
checking out. <<<<<<<<
YET – Beware one big drawback with Studio Magic, it is not MCI driver hardware
… and on a PC this is a critical flaw. Also, the documentation I saw with the
product was very skimpy and tended to suggest experimentation whenever answers
were lacking. I returned the product to the store without installing the board.
Dave:
>YET – Beware one big drawback with Studio Magic, it is not MCI driver hardware
… and on a PC this is a critical flaw.<
Good point! The folks at StudioMagic don't seem to have thought a lot of this
through–which is the impression I got when I called them regarding their beta
version (which I reviewed). OTOH, if you're not intending to use it as more
than a titler/genlock with a few digital effects thrown in, and can accept the
quality compromises, the price *is* right…
>Also, the documentation I saw with the product was very skimpy and tended to
suggest experimentation whenever answers were lacking.<
LOL! *Very* true–their manual's more like "Zen and Art of Video
Postproduction" than a practical guide. Again, I think they got so high on the
concept of their product they didn't think it through…
Tim
David,
you got an idea with the replies that followed yours.
When people talk about DTV, I always relate to something that is intended for
delivery on a standard TV-set through traditional formats like videotape. For
that, you need a 24-bit colour 640×480 video frame 30 times a second, divided
into 2 fields each for interlaced-video, and in rock-solid sync with sound at
least above 22KHz. At present, that is still very expensive technology from a
computer.
However, when you want to do a few clips the size of a credit card at half the
frame rate, then most recent computers with a few cards and some cool software
will do it. But then this is multimedia to me. This may sound a contradiction
to the spirit of this forum, but if we are talking TV we mean the format we all
know, be it interactive TV, digital TV, cable TV, pay TV, or Desktop TV.
Television still means television, I think. On the other hand, I always
disagree whenever the term 'Multimedia' is referred to something that has
little or nothing to do with computers. Multimedia was born on computers. I
am sure one day we will all do our TV side of life through a computer, but
that's yet to come. I am sorry to cool off the enthusiasm, but at present DTV
at home is either very expensive or mere advertizing hype.
Having said that, I'd love to have my own little system at home!
Alberto