Cheap DV > Analog > DV converter

[StopMoWorks]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MovieStuff:
Yes, that is what I was referring to above about using a miniDV cam with analog inputs as a codec. I've done that and it seems to work very well. I guess the trick for manufacturers is to keep the price of a convertor down below the price of a miniDV camcorder, which might be hard to do since the miniDVcams have a higher demand, thereby reducing the overall costs.
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I may be going off the topic of Super8 here......my plan/intention is to use Super8 as source material for my animation test projects and do special fx and all post & output in digital media, however, as a tangent thing, some people have been casually asking me if I could transfer their analog VHS tapes to VCD's (playable on consumer DVD players). Since some of their tapes are not of professional broadcast quality I was just kind of looking at a home-brew/poor man's way to transfer analog to digital (I have access to nice Canon GL1....only on loan). Sooooo, a miniDV camcorder could serve as analog-to-digital convertor? My computer is only set up for firewire (of course, I got USB too)

Looking into a dedicated unit,I found this video convertor from ADS at the low price of about $200!:
http://www.cwol.com/usb/ads-usb-instant-dvd.htm

There are a lot of specs including some frame capture info but I am getting confused as there are different resolutions for different formats. If I do final digital output to VCD which is 352 x 240 NTSC I wonder how that compares to the Canon GL's 525 resolution or will that resolution be also reduced to 352 x 240(for VCD's)? Take a look at their MPEG-2 capture specs for DVD....it's 704 x 480 NTSC! Can anybody out here make a judgement as to the quality of this ADS convertor unit....they sure give a lot more specs than the Dazzle unit which I hear does not have a good reputation (which this site also sells).
http://www.cwol.com/dazzle/dazzle-dv-bridge.htm

On the back of the ADS unit, there seems to be all sorts of connection options, (including USB!) but, it looks like we would have to use the Video Studio application software to use the USB interface? (I would prefer to use my Premiere setup for editing/post work). I am unclear about this unit. Does it look like it only captures in full resolution (MPEG-2), but you can output to other resolutions/formats? Does MPEG-2 require more hard disk space (compared to MPEG-1)?

Again, the ADS unit seems to be very cost-effective, and I just wondered to myself, if this would produce reasonable results for analog-to-digital transfers.

Lionel

P.S. This site is a dealership/distributor for ADS & other products. Seems to be one of the lowest prices around (they are in Texas). Months ago, I purchase from them ,Premiere6 bundle with Ads Pyro PlatDV capture card....fast delivery....really good bargain price! ADS stuff worked great for me and everything compatible with my PC setup.




[This message has been edited by StopMoWorks (edited January 03, 2002).]

[Cranium]

Shame Dazzle didn't include native SVCD capture (480X480)
That's a great way to go for now, until everybody's got a DVD burner...

For stop motion, couldn't it be more cost effective to just get a reasonably high quality still camera with a TWAIN driver, and use a stop-mo software directly? I'm not trying to kill super8, but it seems like these days there's not a huge price/quality advantage for animation (especially if you get some onion-skinning software.)



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Mikel Z

[StopMoWorks]

In my case, it is not what is more cost effective (although we all want to cut costs!)...it is the look & feel that I want to achieve. The few that are still persuing stop motion animation, the trend is now, to capture animation directly to digital (digital still or digital camcorder). With Super8, I would obviously get the "film look", naturally ( via film chemical process) and one does not have to go through all sorts of post work to try and simulate "film" (if it were shot digital video). I read somewhere, a perfect description of digital-video vs. film.....video has a "now-ness/live quality" and film has a "then-ness/distance feel". However, to save on film, I might have to combine/composite some Super8 animated scenes with digital-video backgrounds......that is going to be a challenge...to give digital-video shots a Super8 look.....all this just experiments. I do not know if anyone here has heard of Ray Harryhausen....he is sort of the godfather of stop motion.....I want that kind of retro-look of those early color films (like 7th Voyage of Sinbad).

Anyway, so I guess, no one has comments about my original message/post regarding the the ADS analogue-to-digital convertor? I am just left hanging here???

Lionel




[This message has been edited by StopMoWorks (edited January 03, 2002).]

[Cranium]

Here's another analog-DV-Analog device review... http://www.simplydv.co.uk/advc100.html

OK... My bad... I didn't notice the mention of the Canopus above. It's been too long of a Monday already.


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Mikel Z

[This message has been edited by Cranium (edited January 07, 2002).]

[StopMoWorks]

Thanks for reminder....I revisited that Canopus convertor review. Looks really good....$299.

Here is another site that does a quick side by side comparison of Canopus with other convertors.....this gives one a slightly better picture of some of the specs/features.
http://dv411.com/advc100.html

I suppose the ADS convertor is too new on the market and I hate to be one of the first "guinea pigs" to try it.....but the low price is soooooo inviting....$199.

Lionel

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