Is a video capture card necessary.

[amigomo]

Hi,

I have a Sony Digital 8 Handycam DCRTRV355E and would like to record my tapes on to the pc, edit them and make DVD's which can be played back on televsion.

The camera has a S-Video, 1 x Audio/Video RCA Connector, FireWire and USB Port.

I have previously used only video editing software and connected the camera via firewire to my notebook and in this way managed to make a DVD. I was not very impressed at the quality but then again this was many years ago with a P4 3.2ghz notebook and software which probably didnt have half as many features as video editing software available in today's market.

I'm building up a fairly good computer (i5 3570k, 16g ram, 2gb 256bit graphics, ssd drive, z77x ud3h mobo) and would like to know if a video capture card is necessary and if there would be a significant increase in performance and video quality opposed to using USB 2.0 or if USB 2.0 with my new spec will be just fine. I would be transferring the video to the pc via S-Video if i got the video capture card.

I would like to make good quality and presentable home video's.

There are two variations of video capture device available
1. PCI Card
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=124&products_id=20817

2. Externa USB 2.0 device which has cables that connect to the camera
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=124&products_id=41064

If i should get an addtional device for capturing video, please advise which of the two items above I should look at getting.

Thanks

 

[amigomo]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, please let me know where it should be if its not in the right place on the forum, thx

 

[neon neophyte]

capture card isnt required and would actually be lower quality than directly downloading the video files. if you can do it through usb then that will give you perfect quality, thought it will transfer quite slow. i think that camera has a memory stick slot too. if you can't transfer over usb, you could always get a memory card reader to match your camera.

 

[amigomo]

thanks, it does have a memory slot but all my videos are already recorded on cassette. I plan on selling the camera and upgrading to something newer once im done creating the dvd's

 

[neon neophyte]

cassette? ohhh, i thought it was digital.

ya you might need a capture card or something similar

 

[amigomo]

it has both memory stick and casette. Though at the time memory sticks were very very expensive ~ $90 for 128m sony memory stick duo. This was back in 2004. ok so given that the medium on which the video is stored i.e cassette being transferred via usb, i presume you suggest me getting a card instead of using USB 2.0

 

[neon neophyte]

transferring a cassette through usb blows my mind. the camera must have a built in video capture device to transfer and encode a cassette into a digital file. if so, use that, i would think. unless it's not any good... then maybe you could do better with your own. i really dont know

 

[amigomo]

beats me lol. The set up was having a cassette in the camera. Leave it on camera mode, connect to pc using firewire then control the camera via the pinnacle/ulead software.

 

[amigomo]

this is the camera

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/sdh-digital-8/dcr-trv355e#tab

 

[abbadon_34]

I had a similar camcorder. To clarify the uninitiated, the "cassette" is Digital Video , ala a server's magnetic tape backup, not an analog tape like VHS or Beta. At this point you should look to transfer all you tapes to you computer and get a newer camcorder as the quality and technology has improved quite a bit. As long your new computer has firewire/1394 connector (some have don't anymore) you'll be fine.

Those capture cards are for older analog transfers, like VHS

 

[amigomo]

Thanks. Ok I won't be getting the video capture card then. My new pc won't have a firewire connection. Does firewire work better than usb 2.0 for video transfer/audio quality? If so, I should look at getting a firewire pci card else I'd just use usb 2.0?

 

[abbadon_34]

I'm not sure about your model, but my DV cam only transfered video via firewire aka 1394. the usb was for web cam and the SD for pictures. Truely a confusing situation. Double check your camcorder. Also double check you new board, as it might a 1394 header on board just not connected to the back panel, and the appropriate connector is maybe $10 (i have 3 sitting around, alot of the high end boards had both back panel and internal 1394, just like USB)

 

[amigomo]

Best answer selected by amigomo.

 

[Bobgare]

Did you even try to use it with videocap http://www.videocapx.com software? For me its really great way to make a good work.