A to D All-in-Wonder???
 

Hi all,

As a "newbie" trying to config a PC for non-professional NLE, I have a question regarding video cards.

Does the ATI All-in-Wonder replace an item like the Canopus ADVC100? If so, does it do so competitively? Is there a sacrifice in performance and quality? Would I be better off getting a video card w/o the A to D functionality and geting an external box like the ADVC100?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mike

Stick with the ADVC100 and firewire. This will let you capture standard DV-AVI files which you can then edit and convert to whatever format you wish.

I am looking at the ATI 9800 Pro. I do NOT want to get an external box. Can I use the ATI for firewire video capture, or should I get a separate firewire card?

I've never had any luck with the ATI products working with my system. I ended up with an ADVC-100 for capturing my analog to digital a year ago, now I'm using it for preview output to a tv from my VEGAS 4 NLE. Stick with it, or spend a lot more money experimenting.

<< Stick with the ADVC100 and firewire. This will let you capture standard DV-AVI files which you can then edit and convert to whatever format you wish.

I've never had any luck with the ATI products working with my system. I ended up with an ADVC-100 for capturing my analog to digital a year ago, now I'm using it for preview output to a tv from my VEGAS 4 NLE. Stick with it, or spend a lot more money experimenting. >>


If ATI is not a good choice, whether the All-in-Wonder or not, what would be a good choice for a video card, and do I need a video input if I have a Hi8 camcorder and a VCR without S video out? Would the ADVC100 be able to accept these as inputs?

Thanks for the replies.

Mike

The Canopus ADVC IIRC will accept S-video (from your hi8 cam) as well as composite and convert that to DV, which is NLE-friendly (basically all NLEs will work with DV footage).

It depends on your NLE but any basic video card will do. Some NLEs (edition, probably Avid) utilize the 3d card for certain real-time filters and effects (3-D transitions, resizing, motion, etc.).

A card that supports dual monitors would be very nice. Dual monitors give you so much extra room to work with.

ADVC uses Firewire, rca, yuv, s-video, in and out. Firewire to your computer.

Don't need another converter. Nothing else in the chain of events to hose things up.

While I have never had any luck with ATI products, doesn't mean that their new graphics cards aren't any good. If you read their support and forums you will see a lot of driver swapping going on. I have noticed that all of the big name manufacturers are installing the new ATI cards. Check out their forums, if that's really the way you would like to go, and see what people are dealing with.

I have been shopping for a new system, and I keep saying to myself "I can just pull that card out and install my Nvidia."

Also, the ADVC-100 handles analog, or digital into your computer and digital from the computer back to analog. This is how I was operating for the last couple of years.

Harry and Glenn,

Thanks for the advice. We (my wife and I) plan on using Adobe Premier 6.0 to start with,and perhaps for a long time if we like it. We have not used anything but an older Dazzle unit before, and that did not go very well. So, if I config'd a PC with a video card with 128mb of ram, it should work fine?

Glenn, what is the ADVC IIRC??? I looked on Canopus' website, and did not find it listed.

Also, on Adobe's website, they have listed supported third party video capture cards, and the Canopus ADVC100 is not listed. Many Canopus products are listed, but the ADVC100 is not. Am I mixing things up here? I thought if we bought the ADVC100, we would not need a video capture card.

Thanks for your help.

Mike

The ADVC-100 is a stand alone unit. You simply run a firewire cable to your firewire card on the computer, then hook up whatever inputs to the ADVC that you need. Your computer will recognize it as being a camera, if I remember correctly. No configuration necessary. No other capture crud to deal with. You should be able to capture directly with Premiere.

The reason I ended up with the ADVC was because of "DAZZLE", and to a lesser extent "ATI". Try out the Canopus forums, you will find them a very friendly group.

MIke
"IIRC" is shorthand for "If I read correctly"

Go with the Canopus. It's a serious choice. I've been using mine with my avid for over a year, rock solid. Dazzle is a joke compared to it. Never a dropped frame.

Thanks for all the replies. You've all been very helpful.

i have the ati all in wonder 8500dv, a precursor of aiw9xxx models. there are minor differences between my model and the newer model. i have to say these family of cards were made for multimedia playback ONLY. editing on it is a huge pain in the arse and isn't worth it. the newer aiw models do NOT have firewire on them. if you want to primarily edit i DO NOT recommend the ATI aiw cards for doing so. get what everyone else recommends here.

ati's drivers have improved dramatically (catalyst 3.7) and are fairly stable. if you have dual processor i'd recommend getting nvidia. their drives support smp graphics.

in fact for myself i've been looking at better solutions to capture my hi8 since my own aiw does it so horribly.

As far as I know Premiere does not take advantage of a good video card. I believe just about any video card will be fine. The minimum system requirements for Premiere *PRO* are:

1,024x768 32-bit color video display adapter (1,280x1,024 or dual monitors recommended)

It seems that any video card will do. A card that supports dual monitors would be nice. Of course you'd need the second monitor.