I've been trying out a few video cpature and editing softwares recently and was wondering if anyone on the board does this and what they use.

I am capturing video from a Sony MiniDV camcorder using Firewire for input. I was using MGI VideoWave but now the audio is all screwed up while capturing. It worked fine once and now it's really jumpy and unusable.
I've changed nothing in any set-up between the two attempts to captured data. Any ideas what to look for?

I've been able to capture with WindowsXP built in Movie Maker, but it sucks for editing. I like some of VideoWaves features, esp the (alleged) ability to make short DVD format movies and burn to CD. Haven't tried it yet, anyone ever do this?

I'm open to all suggestions short of switching to a Mac for editing, a friend does that and that's the only advice I get from him.

Hi Dave,

You don't mention what your set up is but I assume it is a 1394 Pyro card or similar (OHCI type )
Stick with the PC, there are many sucessful Video editors using such a set up.

I use the PYRO card with the bundled software ( media studio pro V 6.0 ) which is all an amateur will ever require as it is a very comprehensive software.

Have a look at these foruims and post your questions there. You will find them a helpful bunch ( like this one )

http://pub9.ezboard.com/bpyro1394

http://www.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/select_forum.cgi?forum=ulead_mediastudio_pro

The first one has a lot of useful FAQ's

If you can get a Bundled PYRO card with software cheap ( I got mine for about 70 GBP in UK ) that might be your best bet, as you can always run firenet, a networking software and make use of your other card if you get a second PC.

As for XP, don't know current situation with drivers but forums will tell you.

Good luck

Al

The only experience I personally have is with Adobe Premiere and analog capturing from a bit ago.

From what I have seen of some of the free software on the Mac side, it might be worth looking into though. (I know, I know, you said no Mac, I just ask that you consider it with none of the hype or bashing). I've seen some impressive quick captures at a local store, though I don't have the equipment at home to try it. Look around for a cheap DV compatible iMac. I picked up a 500mHz 30gb 128 ram one with firewire ports for $600, and that included iMovie software. And if you have an Apple store near you, take your camera in and play around with it. They should be more then happy to assist you. (And you could play on a new iMac, buy a DVD-R, and just do all your capture work there )

Dave,

I had used previous versions of MGI Videowave and Ulead VideoStudio with little joy on a Win2K box...thought I might wind up buying a Mac -- I was using it mostly to capture from analog sources through my ATI AIW Radeon.

Recently, I upgraded the Win2K machine to a dual 866 with 512 MB of RAM and made the leap to Videowave 5. It isn't perfect (I get some sound crackling *during* capture), but the results have been pretty good. I'm capturing mostly direct from a panasonic DV camera into a generic (Kouwell??) 1394 card. I don't have any solid sense of what your problem might be...I'd start looking at service packs, video/sound driver revs, that sort of thing. Also, there are a few patches out for Videowave, but be careful*

I have not yet tried VCD creation, but am on the verge of doing so. I have created some 150-200MB travelogues from recent DV footage with no hiccups.

Can I assume you are running version 5?

MGI doesn't seem to have tech support per se (or you have to buy per-incident support or something), but they have what seems to be a fairly active "bitch-and-moan" BBS. I've seen some comparisons there as well to other Windows packages. It's my sense that there is no single leader in Windows editing software.

Have you thought about buying a Mac??

(I couldn't resist! Happily, VW5 seems to be working well enough for me on Win2K right now that I have avoided that question...)

*some posts on the MGI BBS about VW5 patches scared me away from applying any of the current patches.

Jim

I am running a P4 1.5Ghz with 512M RAM and the Firewire input goes through the Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum card/drive thingy. I'd consider a Mac if I hadn't already built this machine.

It just occurred to me that I may need service packs and driver updates. I was using the VideoWave 5.0 eval, and it's got 8 days left, so I was nearly ready to purchase once I got CDs and DVDs written, but then then capture problem showed up.

I removed some (all) service packs that I thought were causing problems with Word 2002 being so freakin' slow to open a file, it does a "Requesting virus scan" that sits for literally 10 minutes on a one page file. It started this after I got a few service packs. I installed VideoWave after the service packs were loaded. Maybe they're right with that little warning about things not working right if I removed it. It didn't fix the stupid Word problem either. I shoulda went with 98 again...

Maybe I do need the Mac afterall.

I use Vegas Video, it's easy to use, nice quality allows you to capture to virtually any format (mpeg, avi, rm, mov). Only drawback is it's REALLY pricey

I shoulda went with 98 again...

Ack. I wasn't keying into the fact that you are running XP. I doubt that I will ever have any in-depth knowledge about XP, but is there any possibility that there's a conflict b/w VW5 and XP's built-in vid cap capability??

WRT 98, it seems like if a downgrade is in order, your prospects might be better on Win2K.

Ah, and seeing the post about Vegas Video, I do have to add that my selection criteria were limited to packages that cost about $200-$250 less than VV's $400+ price! My limited skills don't justify spending more. If I really wanted to spend serious money on this, it wouldn't be on packages to run under Windows.

(Edit: toubleshooting idea: See if you can borrow a generic PCI 1394 card. Bypass the Audigy and see if it makes a difference.)

Jim

I couldn't justify it either, but our media dept could! We had a few extra liscenses. But I'm running that on XP and it works well.