capturing video from a dv cam , what hardware will i need help plz

[voodoochili]

I currently have an analog camera and want to capture to HD then light editing and save it to dvd. I was looking at buying a pci addin card to capture, but what will happen when I eventually upgrade to a true digital format, I thought I needed to use a firewire. currently my computer doesnt have one but will be building a new box soonn, this stuff is soo confusing . anyhelp is appreciated

 

[Megatomic]

I use a Leadtek TV2000 XP Deluxe to capture from analog sources right now. If I had a DV cam I'd use my onboard firewire port (as you state) to do so. You don't need a new PC to get a firewire port, you can buy a PCI firewire card for little $ and be all set.

What are your current machine's specs? If it is underpowered an upgrade might be in order to ensure that you can capture and not drop frames. Not to mention it may speed up your encoding times.

 

[voodoochili]

well currently I have a p4 1.4 with 512 memory. I just got a new HDD 200gig and a dvd burner. I'm slowing getting the parts together to build a new box. Ive not decided weather to go p4 3.0c or athlon 64 3000+ i want a stable machine to edit and game. whats your take ?

 

[voodoochili]

btw hows the quality of your capture card and what s/w do you use to edit / toss in some transitions etc ? im new at this whole capture thing

 

[Megatomic]

From the looks of your CPU platform you'll be wanting a new system. For longetivity's sake, I'd recommend the A64 line. It offers excellent performance, much of the time faster than the competitor. When WinXP 64 comes out it'll only get better.

My capture card does really well for I expect it to do right now, I have no complaints at all, especially since it only cost $45 when I got it. Once I capture a track, I use Ulead VideoStudio 7 SE to edit it. It's not professional quality but until my side biz takes off more it is fine for me.