We're thinking about upgrading our video capture card--we've been using the Pinnacle Studio 11 capture card and program, along with Premiere Pro and After Effects (CS3). We really like Pinnacle for the ease of editing, DVD authoring, etc, while we do the more powerful editing in Premiere/After Effects.

Those out there that understand the capabilities of capture cards better, is there a big difference between final image quality if we capture from the Pinnacle card or if we upgrade to a fancy real-time capture card? We're not yet doing HiDef, we're working on an XL2 and GL2, mostly doing weddings.

Any information would be appreciated--either confirming that we're doing just fine or arguing for a particular card or another.

Thanks!

If you are using standard def DV, all you need is a FireWire card which you are probably using. You would use exactly the same card with any editing software. Indeed, you would use it when you go to HDV, too.