Help with Canopus AVDC 100/110

I am interested in purchasing a Canopus ADVC 100 or 110. Which one should I get? I have read in the forums that the 110 cannot be used with a laptop? What about an firewire card that would be inserted into a laptop? (SONY VAIO PCG K-25 2.8 GHz)

The second issue I need help with is a detailed step by step discussion of software and processing required to obtain the appropriate output onto DVD.
Thanks.

 

Get which ever one you can Afford....The ADVC-110 is probably a slightly better device because it is a Newer Model but both should work equally well....

The problem with useing a Laptop with one of these devices is that generally for DV Capture you Have to use a second Hard drive for your Captured Files because the Drive with your OS and Programs installed on will not be Fast enough to Capture the DV AVI files in Real time without dropping Frames and LapTop hard Drives are Generally a little Slower than PC Hard Drives and LapTop Hard Drives Capacity are limited and you will need a LOT of Drive Space for the Captured Files, about 15gb per Hour of Video so for a 2 Hour Movie you will need at least 30gb just for the Captured File.....I suppose you could get an external USB 2.0 Hard Drive??

Also if your Laptop doesn"t have a firewire port then i do not know if it is even Possible to add a Firewire port to it...If not then you are going to have to either get a different Capture device or use a PC ,which would actually be the best bet in my Opinion because laptops are "Not" Ideal for video capture because of the Hard drive Limitations.....


There are many different Methods and even more Different Programs that can be used to Create a DVD from your Captured Files ...Also what software you use will depend on how much money you want to spend and what quality you would Like to Achieve and if you want to actually spend the Time to learn how to use the Software and learn the Methods so you can achieve the Best Possible Quality...

Also if you are going to be doing any editing and what type of editing and or effects you want to use...So there are Many different Factors that will determine what software you will use and what Method you will use to Put the Captured files on to DVD.....

Useing the Most Basic Method you can get away with useing something like "WinDV" or "DVIO" (Both freeware) to Capture the Video from your VCR to your Second Hard Drive in DV AVI Format....

Then use a Standalone Mpeg encoder Like "Tmpgenc Pluss" (30 Day Free Trial) to encode the Captured DV AVI file to Mpeg-2/DVD and then use a DVD authoring program Like "DVDLab Pro" or something even easier to use but very Limited like "Tmpgenc DVD Author" (Both have 30 day Free Trial versions) to add your Menu"s and Chapters and to author the Mpeg-2 file to DVD.....

That would be one of the More Basic Methods of Creating a DVD while Still achieveing pretty Good Quality....You could do this without haveing to learn much about what you are doing but the software you would have to use would not produce the best results, so there can be quite a Steep learning curve if you want to create a DVD with the Best Possible Quality and with Nice looking Interactive Menu"s and other features....

Cheers

 

Thanks for your comments, Minion.

I am interested in learning about the process of making the DVD's. I would like high quality output. I have an external drive with the laptop and have a 6 pin firewire card.

Wat software should be used to make high end recordings? Please tell me the sequence as you have noted previously. How does the of Procoder Express help?

 

The Capture software you use with the ADVC-100/110 doesn"t matter For Quality as long as it captures to the ADVC"s Native DV AVI format, so a program Like WinDV or DVIO would work well or you can use a Capture/Editing Program Like Vegas Video 6 or Adobe premier pro which can capture and edit your Captured Files and encode them to Mpeg-2/DVD for you all in the same Program but these Programs are Fairly expensive and Fairly complex to use....

There are basicly 3 steps you have to go through to Go from VHS to DVD....
These are :

First you Capture the Video to your Hard Drive in DV AVI format useing one of the Mentioned programs....

Then you encode the Captured DV AVI file to Mpeg-2/DVD Format useing a High Quality encoder Like "Tmpgenc Pluss" or "Canopus Procoder" or "CinemaCraft Encoder SP" ect....

Then you author the Mpeg-2/DVD file to DVD useing a DVD authoring program Like "MediaChance DVDLab Pro" were you can add your Menu"s and Chapters and finally author the Movie to DVD....


Cheers

 

Minion,
Thanks fro your comments.

I have downloaded the programs you have recommended.(Tmpgenc and DVDLab Pro)

Is all of the processing to AVI basically the same in terms of quality by all programs? (ex WINDV)

Is there any major difference between Tmpgenc and Procoder (one is free and one is not)?

What is the best menu creation that you would recommend? Mediachance DVDLab Pro or something else.

I ask all this not to be repetitive but to continue reading and learning

 

Yes Both TMPGenc Pluss and Canopus procoder will produce simular quality video and Tmpgenc isn"t free, well it is for 30 days but after that you have to buy the full version if you want to use the Mpeg-2 encodeing capibilities but at least it is A Lot cheaper then Procoder but there is a Less expensive "Procoder Express" that is also good to use....

Yes DVDLab has good Menu Creation features you can also use Video Clips as Menu"s and any Picture you have on your PC can also be used for a Menu, you should be happy With the Menu" DVDLab Creates....

cheers

 

The menu creation and creativity in this process is the strong point of Dvd Lab. Once you get past the learning curve you'll see.

 

Of the most popular standalone encoders (not Ulead, Sonic mydvd stuff), tmpgenc is probably the most popular. Although it's dreadfully slow, it's output can be superb with the right settings.
Canopus Procoder Express is only $59, and is extremely good at 2 things the other encoders may have trouble with. NTSC<->PAL conversions, and encoding DV-AVI video.
Mainconcept is extremely fast, and a single pass encode is roughly the same quality is a tmpgenc 2 pass, in less than half the time.
CCE is a high quality encoder, reasonably fast, but it's interface (to be blunt) sucks.

For DV-AVI I capture using WinDV, encode in Canopus.
For downloaded avi's, I filter in virtualdub, and frameserve to mainconcept.
Everything is authored in DVDLab Pro.

 

RebootJim...How did you get Frameserveing from Virtual-Dub to MainConcept to Work properly?? Every Time I try It the .vdr File Loads no problem but after it is encoded these is no Video in the File , I either Get a Bright Green screen or a Black screen..

I have Tried Disableing some of the Import Modules to see if that would help but it didn"t seem to work...I can get AVISynth file to work but not Virtual-Dub .vdr Frameserver Files....

So if there is any trick Please let me Know.....Cheers

 

No trick. Mainconcept 1.4 just won't take .vdr properly. It loads, but greenscreen etc. I have been bugging them for over a year on this, and still no idea if the next version will take .vdr properly or not.
Just use avisynth, even if you do nothing with it but as an intermediate from .vdr to .avs with the 1 line "AviSource("D:\Pathname\vdub.vdr")"
I have a bunch of these 1 line avs in various folders (based on the source). That way, vdub will default to that folder when saving the .vdr, and it's easier to find it with MC.
I still wish MC would also recognize .avs as a source, instead of having to hit "all files" to load the damn thing.
I sure wish Canopus would take .avs as a source...

 

I"m a Bit Confused here....In your Earlier Post you said that you Like to frameserve from Virtual-Dub to Mainconcept But now you are Saying that you don"t Frameserve to MainConcept??? Sorry But I must be Missing something here?

Or are you saying that you use AVISynth to frameserve the VDR file to Mainconcept?? that I understand but I would think that useing the AVISynth filters would be Just as good or better but Frameserve much faster....

You can frameserve to Procoder useing AVISynth because I do it Quite Often but not useing V-dub.....

Cheers

 

Heh, sorry for the confusion.
Yes I frameserve from vdub to mainconcept via avisynth.
Sometimes I use vdub filters, sometimes I use avisynth.
Depends on what filter I want, and how much slower vdub would be when applying it, instead of avisynth.

I can't frameserve to Procoder, because I have a very old version from 2001, and Canopus just want's too much money for an upgrade.
One of these days, I may just splurge on Procoder Express though...

 

On your recommendation, I bought Procoder Express. I will buy the ADVC-110 next week.

I had one more question. I have a bunch of videos and analog tapes for which the conversion process you have described. How about for digital camcorders? Is the process similar and how does the Canopus fit into this?

 

For Digital Camcorders the Process is the Same accept you can Plug the Camcorder directly into the PC"s firewire port bypassing the ADVC-110 all together....The whole Process is the same accept you don"t need to use the ADVC-100 when useing a digital Camcorder...

Cheers

 

I am assuming that means I skip the first step all together. I start with the second step with Procoder Express, Tmpgenc?

 

No... You still have to capture the Video from the Camcorder ,You just don"t need the ADVC-110 to do that...after you have Captured the Video you can go on to Step 2...


Cheers

 

I've been posing these questions in the "newbie" section but not getting any answers, so I'll ask here. I just ordered a Canopus ADVC-300 (originally the '110, but changed to the '300 after reading some posts on the "VHS Tapes to DVD" thread) for part two of a project that I haven't even gotten the software for part one.

My short term and long term projects are to:

1. Via cutting and joining, take 2:20 of professionally transferred VHS to DVD .vob files into 2:00 to fit one normal DVD-R.

2. Learn how to do the tranfers from VHS to DVD myself, and try out filters to improve the video.

For the cut and join editing, to avoid re-encoding, the TMPEGEnc MPEG Editor seems to be the best choice. (Since I found that Nero's Recode does just that -- recode -- and lowers the quality.) (Is that better than the Womble product, or at least fitting with the other TMPGEnc software?)

For the DVD authoring, it seems that Mediachance's DVD-lab 1.3 is well liked.

And for serious MPEG-2 encoding, I should get TMPGEnc 3.0 XPress?
Or, go for the Canopus ProCoder Express?

That would let me convert the existing DVD content from two DVDs into one DVD, right? (I have the Nero 6 Ultra package for CD writing already.)

(The VHS tapes are from someone else's video camera, so copy protection is not an issue.)

 

What would be the approximate file sizes that I can expect on conversion?
1 hour VHS tape to DVD quality = how many gigabytes?

 

Rdgb28: If you are going to get a Mpeg editor Like "Tmpgenc Mpeg editor" then I suggest that you get either "Womble Mpeg2VCR" or "Womble Mpeg video Wizard" because they are better than the Tmpgenc Mpeg editor..

Both the Womble editors support Editing Mpeg-2/Vob files with AC3 audio and have effects and Transitions that you can use which Tmpgenc Mpeg editor doesn"t do..Plus both editors But especially the "Mpeg Video Wizard" has lots of Great features....

As for weather you should get "Tmpgenc Pluss/Express" or "Canopus Procoder Express" would depend on a few things..Canopus procoder Express probably Produces better quality but Tmpgenc has many more features and filters than Canopus Procoder Express...

You will also Probably need a DV AVI editing and Capture Program for Captureing from your "Canopus ADVC-300" and editing the Captured Files...
There is a Good and Fairly Cheap DV Capture and editing Program made by Canopus Called "Canopus Lets Edit v2.0" which has good effects and transitions and is fairly easy to use and it will also let you import DVD"s into the Program to edit or to add portions of to your Video project...It also has a built in Mpeg-2/DVD encoder and DVD authoring...

I believe the program sells for about $100 which is pretty good compared to other editors that aren"t as good...

Another one that is also Fairly cheap and easy to learn is "Adobe Premier Essentials v1.0" which is a Cut down and streamlined version of "Adobe Premier Pro 1.5" but at about 20% the Price...It also is a Good editor and will Capture Video from your Canopus ADVC-300 and let you edit the Captured DV AVI files with Effects and Transitions..

It also has built in DVD authoring and Built in Mpeg encodeing...

You can check out 'Adobe Premier Elements v1.0" here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/main.html

And you Can check out "Canopus Lets Edit v2.0" here:

http://www.canopus.us/US/products/Lets_EDIT2/pm_lets_EDIT2.asp


I have Both of these Programs and Most other editing programs..
I work as a Video editor so I get a lot of Free or extremely Discounted software from work all the Time so I have had an oppertunity to try Pretty much every Good Video Editing/Encodeing/DVD authoring/Video Capture Program on the Market and those that I Liked I kept and those I didn"t I gave away or Sold to someone else so if you have any Questions about software or any other Video related subject then Please ask away, You can even PM me if you want....

Cheers

 

For my immediate project I need to combine three .vob files from two DVDs and cut out some sections to then have on one DVD. So, after using a Womble product to do that, I'd still need an authoring program to make the DVD structured files again, right?

Would Premier Elements do the authoring with *no* re-coding?
And/or should I also get DVD-lab for the authoring?

(I am familiar with the Adobe interface from their Photoshop Elements program, and dabbling with GoLive.)