[NeoMac]

Does a camcorder with Analog->DV 'pass-thru" (like Sony camcorders have) achieve the same Analog->DV conversion quality as a dedicated DV converter (like Formac Studio)?

I want to know, do I need to buy a DV converter to convert old family videos on VHS or will dubbing to a digital camcorder achieve similar quality conversions?

What is the quality difference? Is it worth the $400 cost of a DV converter?

I own neither device, btw. I want to know if both devices are necessary or if I can get away with just using the DV camcorder for conversions.

Tnx.

[natovich]

Quality is the same.

The converter is more conviniate and you can prmanantly hook it
to your mac and watch your editing on a monitor or TV.

It is a budget matter only.

If you chose a DV camera make sure it does the conversion not all of them
do !! Look for AV > DV (Off/On) in the menue.

Danny Natovich.null

Yep...

quality's the same...

Note: not all dv camcorders will let you do the complete "pass-through" Analog->DV without copying onto a DV tape first.

I was in a similar situation as you... I wanted a converter primarily, and after realizing it cost $400, I ended up buying a full digi-cam with converting capability. (Sony PC9)

Of note - I've come to the conclusion that you are going to want to convert your VHS into MiniDV tapes anyway... for archiving. You can't archive onto your computer - as it takes up too much space (13gigs/hour). If you burn to DVD, you can't easily pull that footage back into an editable form. You can, but you have to convert MPEG2 -> DV - which will cause quality loss. So, if u want the possiblity of editing/reorganizing your video in the future, you need it in tape form to reimport it. Better from DV (less likely to degrade over time) than VHS.

arn

[NeoMac]

Thank you for your answers. Although I think the Formac Studio converter is super-cool, I would rather not spend the $400 on it if at all possible.

Arn, you are right, I don't want to keep all the DV footage on my hard drive, but I don't want to save the DV to tape either. I plan to simply burn the DV as data onto a DVD-R, not as iDVD ; although I'll make iDVDs too. In other words, two copies: one in iDVD and one as data DVD.

I imagine that should work.

[supernature]

Just an FYI, for those who don't know. Anyone who has a digital8 camcorder can easily put in their old Sony consumer 8 tapes and capture via DV. I think they actually work as a converter also. But of course, no batch capture is available since there is no timecode on that particular format.

Originally posted by NeoMac:
<STRONG>Does a camcorder with Analog-&gt;DV 'pass-thru" (like Sony camcorders have) achieve the same Analog-&gt;DV conversion quality as a dedicated DV converter (like Formac Studio)?

I want to know, do I need to buy a DV converter to convert old family videos on VHS or will dubbing to a digital camcorder achieve similar quality conversions?

What is the quality difference? Is it worth the $400 cost of a DV converter?

I own neither device, btw. I want to know if both devices are necessary or if I can get away with just using the DV camcorder for conversions.

Tnx. </STRONG>

Canopus Corp. just came out with what appears to be a killer multimedia DV converter for $299.00. It is shipping now. I ordered one last week. Go to www.justedit.com and look up the ADVC-100.

[NeoMac]

Thanks for the additional replies.

The Canopus converter report on MacCentral started me down this path of inquiry.

It is the cheapest converter I have seen, but I have never heard of the company before, which makes me skeptical of the product. Can anyone vouch for them?
Otherwise, I'll either choose to buy the Sony DCR-TRV17 camcorder with 'pass-thru' conversion capability or the Formac Studio, depending on how things measure up.

Tnx.

Originally posted by NeoMac:
<STRONG>Thanks for the additional replies.

The Canopus converter report on MacCentral started me down this path of inquiry.

It is the cheapest converter I have seen, but I have never heard of the company before, which makes me skeptical of the product. Can anyone vouch for them?
Otherwise, I'll either choose to buy the Sony DCR-TRV17 camcorder with 'pass-thru' conversion capability or the Formac Studio, depending on how things measure up.

Tnx.</STRONG>

I was going to buy a DV Camera with pass thru ability. But I cannot at this time justify the price. I have a ton of old video in VHS form. As long as I am able to input it, edit it and export it back out to VHS, I myself will be happy. Mabey even burn a videoCD? MPEG1. That would be great if I can do it without it being messed up. I read that Toast 5 gives you the ability to do that. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I was going to buy the Formac Studio PRO but after I spoke with Canopus I decided to go with them. At least they sounded very knowledgeable on the phone.
I also read a couple of posts saying that after a while the video and audio can become unsynced. Canopus kinda guaranteed me that it would not happed with their converter.
I guess because this converter was just released there are no reviews yet. I do like the price though. They also gave me a educational discount. It paid for the shipping!
Hopefully after I learn exactly what I am doing I will repost here and let everyone know what I learned.
Good Luck with your DV camcorder...........

[supernature]

I read a while ago that possibly some new digital cable/satellite converter boxes may have a firewire port. That would be interesting. Would impact the consumer video market and create a bridge between consumer electronics and the computer.

[I Have Questions]

Canopus is a good company w/ good products. Haven't seen this one yet, but they make great RT cards, etc.

If you only have a handful of tapes to convert - family vacations, Christmases, etc. - then just get a good DV cam w/ pass-through capabilites and you'll be fine.

Originally posted by NeoMac:
<STRONG>Thanks for the additional replies.

The Canopus converter report on MacCentral started me down this path of inquiry.

It is the cheapest converter I have seen, but I have never heard of the company before, which makes me skeptical of the product. Can anyone vouch for them?
Otherwise, I'll either choose to buy the Sony DCR-TRV17 camcorder with 'pass-thru' conversion capability or the Formac Studio, depending on how things measure up.

Tnx.</STRONG>

I received the canopus DV converter a couple of day's ago. I have only had time to play with it for a couple of hours but I am very satisfied. I did input analog VHS footage directly into iMovie. Did about a 15 minute clip so far and it looks great when played back or even when saved to a DV movie on the desktop. No audio/video sync problems whatsoever. I have not had time to output it back to VHS but I am sure it will look the same. The only thing I do not have is a TV tuner. But for a savings of $115.00 I just hook it up to the back of a VCR and crystal clear TV on the moniter.

[zigzag]

Hope this response isn't too late. The quality is the same, so if you can afford it, I would get a Sony or Canon mini-DV camcorder. Might as well have a nice camera rather than just a converter.

The Sonys have the pass-through feature, which is nice, but with the Canons you can just record the analog to DV tape, then download the DV tape to your Mac when you're ready to edit. It's one extra step but no big deal. I store all of my video on DV tape anyway - it's cheap and reliable and there's no loss.

I've been using the Dazzle Hollywood bridge with great results converting analog vieo into DV. It can also convert back to analog for rrecording to tape, and also will allow the use of a tv while editing on your computer for better picture quality, size, etc. I've captured hours of video at a time to my TiBook w/o any problems. You can find it for about $225-250 online (buy.com).

[Jay Bee]

Originally posted by NeoMac:
<STRONG>Thanks for the additional replies.

The Canopus converter report on MacCentral started me down this path of inquiry.

It is the cheapest converter I have seen, but I have never heard of the company before, which makes me skeptical of the product. Can anyone vouch for them?
Otherwise, I'll either choose to buy the Sony DCR-TRV17 camcorder with 'pass-thru' conversion capability or the Formac Studio, depending on how things measure up.

Tnx.</STRONG>

Hello Neo Mac,
Here is a review of the canopus DV converter: www.simplydv.co.uk/advc100.html

[NeoMac]

Hey, thanks for the link to the Canopus review!

[AEdwards]

Originally posted by NeoMac:
<STRONG>Arn, you are right, I don't want to keep all the DV footage on my hard drive, but I don't want to save the DV to tape either. I plan to simply burn the DV as data onto a DVD-R, not as iDVD ; although I'll make iDVDs too. In other words, two copies: one in iDVD and one as data DVD.</STRONG>

Be aware, however, that you will only be able to save around 20 minutes or so of uncompressed DV to a 4.7GB DVD-R. Right now three DVD-Rs cost way more than one DV tape. Who knows what the future holds, though.

-Alan

[NeoMac]

I recently discovered that uncompressed DV footage takes up increadible amounts of space on a hard drive. 16 seconds is about 50+ MB! He's right, it's better just to save it to DV tape. There is no loss in quality, since even on the tape, the information is stored digitally (1s and 0s). I guess it is the equivelant to DAT storage systems.

[kidtexas]

Just to throw in my 2 cents. Got the sony convertor about 6 months ago for $300 new (used is less) and it seems to be doing a bang up job. If you got the extra cash, just get a camera, but if you only have a limited amount budgeted, its a nice device.

Other things to consider:
-if you have a camcorder with LANC, the sony converor (the one with 2 in the model number) will let you control your camcorder from you computer, which is handy while capturing video
-lets you route digital video out to VHS (or any other analog device with RCA or SVHS plugs)
-lets you use a regular TV as an editing monitor while editing in FCP or iMovie (you must turn on the firewire pass through or some similar option)
-I also use it as a 16bit, 48khz sound input on my G4 - some programs recognize it as a sound input (sound studio)

Good luck!

I've been using the Dazzle Hollywood bridge with great results converting analog vieo into DV. It can also convert back to analog for rrecording to tape, and also will allow the use of a tv while editing on your computer for better picture quality, size, etc. I've captured hours of video at a time to my TiBook w/o any problems. You can find it for about $225-250 online (buy.com).

I had the incredible good fortune to stumble across one for £125 at my local Dixons! (Normal selling price here in the UK - £250!)

Just goes to show it's worth shopping around!

Cheers!

Inkfinger

[nforcer]

Originally posted by &lt;cruzer&gt;:
<STRONG>I've been using the Dazzle Hollywood bridge with great results converting analog vieo into DV. It can also convert back to analog for rrecording to tape, and also will allow the use of a tv while editing on your computer for better picture quality, size, etc. I've captured hours of video at a time to my TiBook w/o any problems. You can find it for about $225-250 online (buy.com).</STRONG>

Yep. I have the same system and it works great. In my opinion, dv cams are still a pretty expensive investment if you're only a hobbiest. With the cost of camcorders falling, and quality increasing, you can pick yourself up a nice camera and converter like the Hollywood bridge for cheap (or if you have a camera, just get the converter and save some money).

[Jansar]

Originally posted by supernature:
<STRONG>Just an FYI, for those who don't know. Anyone who has a digital8 camcorder can easily put in their old Sony consumer 8 tapes and capture via DV.</STRONG>

Yes, you can. I own a Sony Handycam TRV530. My dad use to record onto Hi8 tapes, and since the camcorder plays both analog and digital, recording the movi to your computer (using iMovie) is a cinch.

since it is so easy to do stuff like that, I'm sure there are tons of devices around that could satisfy your needs. BTW, my dad has films of him in the 1950s recorded onto the oldest camera (in fact, there was no sound at the time), and now we have it on DVD.