Hello everyone. I have an Adaptec AVC-2010 PCI video capture card. It works great without Sony and Sony Vegas 6.0 works great without the Adaptec card, but I can't capture video with Sony Vegas 6.0 and this card. I get an error saying 'The device Adaptec PCI Capture Device could not be opened. Please make sure that it is turned on and is not being used by anothe application or user.' I know it is turned on because I used it with another application and I know it's not in use when I test it. If I use the internal video capture, nothing comes up on screen. I would appreciate any help I can get in this matter.

In addition to this problem, I can't use the Adaptec Card with Nerovision Express 2. I just get a blank preview screen. The card only seems to work with WinDVR and Sonic software.

I am planning on contacting Adaptec, but I figured I'd try this forum first.

Thank you very much.

I could be wrong, but I believe the AVC-2010 is not OHCI compliant. It requires drivers; that much I seem to recall from others having challenges.
Isn't that part of the "Video-O" bundle? If so, and it's like the previous bundle, it's not OHCI.
And that would be why Vegas and Nero can't access the card.

You are correct. The product is part of the "o" bundle. Would you, or someone else reading this reply, please let me a little more about the OHCI compliance? I'm relatively new to the digital video editing business.

1) What is the main advantage of being OHCI compliant (aside from not having the issue I'm having with Sony & Nero).
2) Is there a driver or firmware upgrade that will make it compliant?
3) If the answer is 'no' to #2, then what are some alternative products that are OHCI compliant? I need a device with RCA input for analog video.

Thank you very much.

Peter, it's not so much that there is an "advantage" to being OHCI compliant, but that OHCI is a standard and for whatever reason, the Adaptec card doesn't observe that standard.
OHCI stands for Open Host Controller Interface, and it's a standard like SCSI, parallel, USB, serial, etc. Virtually every NLE in the world uses OHCI compliant drivers, and the drivers are part of the Windows and Apple OS's.

http://www.vasst.com/resource.aspx?id=cdd50a62-9261-4e64-a26c-fb0ce9c1c478
A very old tutorial from 1999 can be found at the above link.

Dear Mr. Douglas,

Since you are obviously a pro at this, I'm going to pick your brain a little. If you're too busy though, I'll understand if you don't have time to help. (Anyone else besides Douglas please feel free to respond with any useful information, regardless of whether or not anyone else has responded.) I will be grateful to anyone who can help me.

I am trying to transfer some old home videos from VHS to DVD. I am capturing them using my Sonic software that came with the package and saving them as MPEG-2 files. After capturing the videos, I edit them with the Sony Vegas software. I would like to re-render these and burn them to disk with optimal quality. My research has indicated that MPEG-2 is the best format to use, but I would like your opinion regarding this.

1) I would like to know what YOU think the best format is.

2) For whatever format you recommend (especially mpeg-2), what settings should I use for optimal video quality (I-frames, bps, etc.)? I don't want the resolution to be all choppy and I want the motion of the video to be smooth and realistic (some digital videos have a bad look that I have trouble describing other than saying that it looks fake because of the frame transitions).

3) Please share any other tips that you feel would be useful.

Thank you very much.

1) I would like to know what YOU think the best format is.

2) For whatever format you recommend (especially mpeg-2), what settings should I use for optimal video quality (I-frames, bps, etc.)? I don't want the resolution to be all choppy and I want the motion of the video to be smooth and realistic (some digital videos have a bad look that I have trouble describing other than saying that it looks fake because of the frame transitions).

3) Please share any other tips that you feel would be useful.

Thank you very much.

1. AVI is what you should be editing. Capturing as MPEG is great for direct to DVD delivery, but not if you want to edit. MPEG is not a good editing format in most NLE systems for reasons I'll not go into. (It's a novel length explanation)

2. AVI is still the answer.

3. Start working with AVI vs MPEG, and your video will take a slight step up, be faster to edit, cleaner output, and faster to render.

Dear Douglas,

I have just one more question for you if you don't mind. My Adaptec device only captures video using the included software (I recently contacted their technical support and they confirmed this) and the included software only saves as mpeg. It looks like I'm going to have to get another type of capture card. Do you have any recommendations for capture cards? I can take anything with a SCSI, PCI, Firewire, or USB connection and I need something that has RCA input jacks.

Thank you again, Douglas. Your information is greatly valued!

You're welcome to more than one question...:-)
I'd look at either the ADS Bridge www.adstech.com
or the Canopus ADVC 1394 card, since you need analog capture. Both work fine with Vegas. www.canopus.com

Either the ADS or Canopus ADVC will work fine.
You *need* analog input, and digital input. That means 1394 and composite/S-vid input. That's either the Canopus or the ADS.

USB is useless for capturing video.

Dear Douglas (hey, that rhymes with 'genius'),

I am so grateful for your help and the fact that you are willing to let me ask you more than one more question. As a matter of fact, I do have another one. :-) I do plan purchasing one of those products that you suggested, but I need to know something else. The videos that I need to edit right now don't require any sophisticated editing. They simply need to but cut and spliced. If I create an mpeg file, can I just cut out scenes without loosing quality? If so, how can I do it (please let me how I can do it with Vegas if it's possible to do it there)?

Thank you again, Douglas.

At this point, Vegas will always re-render MPEG files. If you're doing cuts-only, you might look at Womble. I've only used it once, but it works like a charm. There are other mpeg splitter tools out there, but it's a good'un. Price is right, too.

Douglas - I am a very new Vegas user (one week), and unfortunately spend most of my time playing doctor (anesthesiologist), leaving little time for learning the program. I have had little editing experience and would like to ask a few basic questions. First, when I capture DV from the DXV-100A, the video file is written along with another small data file with a .sfx (?) label. Is this data file essential to the editing process ? In other words, if I import an .avi file and don't have the .sfx file, will there be a problem ? Mark

Douglas - I am a very new Vegas user (one week), and unfortunately spend most of my time playing doctor (anesthesiologist), leaving little time for learning the program. I have had little editing experience and would like to ask a few basic questions. First, when I capture DV from the DXV-100A, the video file is written along with another small data file with a .sfx (?) label. Is this data file essential to the editing process ? In other words, if I import an .avi file and don't have the .sfx file, will there be a problem ? Mark

Hmmm...can we trade? :-) My anesthesiologist is expensive. J(JK)

You can import a file without the sfk file you're seeing. Vegas will just create a new one. The data file is a proxy for seeing the audio in a graphic form. Not essential to the editing process, it's a perk of how Vegas works, and while they're deletable, Vegas will simply create a new one.

Peter,
You might already have a digitizing tool for capturing your analog video to DV if you have a miniDV camcorder. Check to see if your DV camcorder has analog in or analog in and passthrough. Passthrough would be best because you won't need to record the video on a tape. Basically, you feed the VHS to the analog in ports on the camcorder which converts the analog to DV. At the same time, you can record on the computer what the camcorder has converted by connecting the camcorder to the computer with a Firewire (DV, iLink) connection.

Douglas - any time you fell the need for sleep you will be welcome at Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, NM ! Thanks for the info - I see your group offers Vegas seminars, although I didn't see any basic ones except in Montreal. I'll keep watching for them, and we may meet in person sometime. Thanks, Mark

Hey, I've got relatives on checkerboard...I know that area. You're in a beautiful place, maybe I'll take you up on that. We'll have a basics class at NAB this year if you want to show up for that?

Douglas - You have an open-ended invitation any time you wish to visit the area. When is the NAB ? If I can't make that one I will be there for a future course. Another very basic question - I have successfully captured video to Vegas from a tape being played back in the DVX-100 using the firewire connection. On the Vegas capture screen I have been using the "capture video" butten, but I also see that there is an adjacent "capture tape" button. What is this latter button for ?

NAB-April 20-28, Las Vegas
www.nab.org

The Capture Tape button will rewind your tape, and then capture the entire tape. If you've got a whole tape to cap, this is the easiest method, IMO

Douglas - I have been here for about twelve years and you have an open-ended invitation to visit anytime. Do you know yet when the Vegas basic class will be given at the NAB ? If I can't make that, I will attend a future class. Another basic question - I have successfully captured video to Vegas via firewire from a tape being played back in the DVX-100. When capturing I have been using the "capture video" button on the Vegas capture screen. I also see an adjacent "capture tape" button. What is the latter button used for ?