Analog Video Convertors?

[Fender2112]

When I get my new system in the near furture, I also plan to get a video convertor such as the Formac Sudio DV or Dazzle DV Bridge.

Any suggestions or opinions?

[hugemullens]

Try the cannopus ADVC100, i've had great luck with it I've heard good things about the formac, the dazzle seems to have mixed reviews. Not much help but thought i would chime in.

[Fender2112]

Thanks for chiming in. The Canopus sounds good and I found some good pricing on ebay.

[Fender2112]

Anyone fimiliar with this device, Datavideo DAC-100? It seems simular to the Canopus ADVC100 but is quite a bit cheaper. I was wondering what the differences might be.

[patrick0brien]

-Fender2112

Many pros I know use the Sony DVMC-DA2 converter.

It's middle of-the-road price wise, but very high quality - and tiny.

[mymemory]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-Fender2112

Many pros I know use the Sony DVMC-DA2 converter.

It's middle of-the-road price wise, but very high quality - and tiny.

I have the Sony too but it has Macrovision protection, I mean, you can not record from DVDs, with the other ones you can.

The good thing is that you can find it on eBay for $200 or less.

Canopus is the best choice in the market.

The Hollywood Bridge have some complications when recording, it is not reliable I heard, plus, it fall on one side when the cables are pluged.

I took the Sony because it looks nicer than the Canopus DVC 100 and for some reason it was $200 more but I got it for the same price of the Canopus.

[iShater]

A lot of times if you have a miniDV camera it will allow you to bridge without buying any of these devices.

[bousozoku]

I've heard bad things about the Hollywood DV Bridge--mostly lack of sturdiness.

I was really interested in the Formac Studio TVR, so I could record TV in DV format, as well as convert some of my old analog stuff.

[Fender2112]

Another idea I read was to use a stand alone DVR unit. This way I could make copies of my old videos to DVD for later editting , as well as have the advantage of DVR.

Any thoughts on this?

Whatever option I choose will cost $200 to $400. I want to make sure I get the most appropiate device.

Keep the suggestions coming. I know others will also benefit from this discussion.

Side Note: Is the Apple Superdrive DVR-R or DVR+R? or both?

[Macpoops]

Don't get the Dazzle. The formac is so much better quality. The Dazzle is crap. It feels cheap. It can be a real pain in the ass just to set up. It's real inconsistent. The formac is a much better choice but in my experiance for some reason it doesn't record sound in iMovie. Works like a dream in FCP though

[mymemory]

Not every digital camera can capture trhu, most of them require you to record everything firste and the it will reproduce via firewire. I'm a VJ and I expriment a lot with those stuff. But I'm sure new video cameras can do that and that would be a very good option.

[mislabeledstar]

I have a Dazzle and it's a wothless piece of ****. I usually wind up using my Canon GL1 as a bridge........ Dazzle is a huge waste of money.

[hugemullens]

Originally posted by Fender2112

Side Note: Is the Apple Superdrive DVR-R or DVR+R? or both?

Apple's superdrive is the Pioneer A05. It uses DVD-R and thats it.

[solvs]

If you're getting a Mac with PCI slots, you can get the Televio (http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=6202-TLVO). Video capture and DVR.

[Fender2112]

Originally posted by solvs
If you're getting a Mac with PCI slots, you can get the Televio (http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=6202-TLVO). Video capture and DVR.

I have an ATI Exclaim VR 128 card w/ Exclaim TV Tuner that does the same thing. The downside 1) No output for recording back to VHS 2) uses software compression which can take a long time to compress a clip. 3) My new system will probabely be an iMac, which doesn't have PCI slots.

On the plus side, I think we can rule out the the Dazzle. I am leaning toward the Canopus or the Datavideo. Both of these companies specialize in video editting. From what I can tell the Canopus uses a hardware codec (chip) for coverting to DV. I'm not sure about the Datavideo or the Formac. The Formac has favorable reviews as does the Canopus, but the Formac is a bit more expensive.

[Fender2112]

Originally posted by hugemullens
Apple's superdrive is the Pioneer A05. It uses DVD-R and thats it.

Thanks. This will be helpful if I decide to go with a stand alone DVR as I noticed they come in both flavors (-R and +R).