Need Help to Turn Computer into a Video Editing System

[KhoiFather]

My rig is

AXP Tbred A 1700+ O/c to 1.7GHz. (170 x 10)
2 x 256MB Kingston Hyper X PC-3000 (FSB 170)
MSI K7N2 Delta L Mobo
MSI Geforce 4 Ti-4400 128MB
240GB (160+80) Western Digital 8MB Cache 7200 RPM
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Windows XP Pro.

Now what I want to do is, record videocassettes into my computer and burn them on a DVD. What do I need to buy to be able to hook up the VCR to the computer so I can record it to my comp. Also, what programs are good for doing this? I need it to put words in the video and put music in the background. What do you suggest I upgrade and/or buy to be able to get this work right? Let me know, thanks!

 

[grrl]

You'll need a video capture card to start. Check out http://www.dvdrhelp.com/capturecards and be prepared to do a lot of homework though. If you are looking for the best quality a dedicated capture card is the best way to go. That means the processor is on the card, it doesn't use the CPU to convert the video. A while back I was looking into doing the same thing as you and from what I read the Canopus ADVC series looked good, but was pretty pricey (about $250). Most people found they could capture full screen pretty well with them.

Most people also recommend that you get a second hard drive as well - apps on one, and the other for storing the captured video.

As for software, the opinions are as varied as they are for the capture cards. Some people loved Pinnacle for example, others hated it. There are several other titles around (many free) like TMPG, but it all depends on how fancy you want to be. Since you want to put words on the video, I suggest you do a Google and see what others have to say about the different programs.

 

[bendixG15]

I'm in the same boat..on the learning curve
Found out it can get very complicated...if you want complicated

Found good beginners article in PCWorld.com
Do a search on "Put It on DVD" and you will find a $100 recommendation
Do need lots of hd space and a 2.0 min CPU

good luck

 

[smf96822]

You can get a great buy on a used Pinnacle DC30 capture card on Ebay. You will need to use windows 2000 though as XP has limited support for this card. Originally it cost over 500 usd.

This card was not too long ago considered a professional quality card, though recently became legacy. There are still thousands of users if not 10s of thousands.

Look at the Pinnacle dc30 forum. You can plug your vcr output cables (video and sound) right into this card.

 

[KhoiFather]

Thanks for the help :beer:

 

[Pariah]

Not knowing your budget, I would highly recommend a device like the Canopus ADVC100 for about $270. It's an external box that converts any analog source to DV format which then can be transferred to the PC through firewire. It doesn't really get any easier and the DV format is a universally accepted standard that works in practically all editing and encoding software. To encode to DVD it's probably easiest to use whatever comes with the DVD writer you purchase which also eliminates any additional costs.

DV is 3.6MB/s or about 13GB/hour, so use that as an estimate for the disk space you might need. Beyond that, there are no special hardware requirements. Obviously, the faster your CPU, the shorter the encode time, but nothing in the process from capture through writing to DVD requires a CPU even as fast as 1GHz.

Avoid Pinnacle. Their hardware will create great results, but trying to get their hardware to work can be an exercise of futility, and their driver support is abysmal.

 

[KhoiFather]

Does my motherboard even have a firewire?

Edit: Nope it doesn't, my mobo didn't come with the S Bracket that has a firewire port on it. Any good firewire cards to buy?

 

[Pariah]

Any $15 firewire card will work fine.

 

[KhoiFather]

You sure?

 

[oldfart]

Yes, any firewire card will work. . Here is a device I like the looks of: Pinnacle MovieBox DV Comes with Studio 8 which is pretty nice and also easy to learn.

Newegg has it.

 

[JoPalm]

Khoi I have a similiar system as you (motherboard a bit older but proc and ram the same) and would like to video editing also. If your capturing everything from a DV camera, do you need a card like the canopus or is a firewire card just fine? I'm also using a 30GB IBM, what would you recommend in terms of size and speed for a new hard drive for video editing at a good price?
How do you transfer say an entire DV tape to a DVD (via dvd burner) without is using 13GB's (an hours worth of tape)?!

Thanks (Khoi I hope it's alright asking this in here, just didn't want to start another thread)

 

[oldfart]

With a DV camera, all you need is Firewire. No other HW is needed.

13 Gig is not bad for 1 Hr of video. Get a big HD, they are cheap! You can get an 80 - 120 Gig HD for a great price after rebate. Take a look in the Sunday papers.

 

[goblue420]

if you want to spend about a grand get the Canopus DVStorm System w/DriveBay its a great system for video editing check out canopus.com for more info on it, i think newegg sells them as well

 

[thraxes]

One thing is needed for serious editing: RAM!!! And lots of it! 512 is OK but it gets pretty tedious as soon as your project gets larger. 1GB helps immensly. A dedicated capture card is an absolute must. I am a bit out of the loop in these things. I have a generic Firewire controller for digital and a dedicated card with onboard video processor for analogue. This combo work quite well, but the DV movies are very BIG! Analogue is not so much of a problem since the card does a great job at on the fly compression.

 

[Richard98]

I tried capturing video on the PC; it's very time consuming and sometimes frustrating. I possibly didn't have the equipment needed for the job - tried a Winfast card and an AIW card.

Another option is to buy a standalone recorder to capture your video on DVD-RAM discs, then do your editing on the PC. Amazon has the Panasonic DMR-E50S for $380 and the Panasonic DMR-E80H for $540. The E80H has a hard drive, while the E50 doesn't.