S-video

[Crewe]

I'm not that familiar with Macbook Pro, and from what I've seen, you can buy and adapter to output S-Video.
However, I cannot find any information regarding an adapter to allow input to a MBP via S-Video.
Does anyone know if this is something that is available?
Thanks!

 

[old-wiz]

The video port on the MBP is output only.
You can buy USB tuner type adapters that might work; see the Elgato EyeTv website.

 

[m85476585]

The Elgato EyeTV Hybrid works very well.

 

[Crewe]

The Elgato EyeTV Hybrid works very well.

That apparently should allow the macbook pro to capture the video feed via S-video cable.
Ill look into it.
Thanks very much for the info.

 

[Crewe]

I was browsing for info on the Elgato Eye TV hybrid, I ran across this Elgato Video Capture device. The comment I highlight below addressed my concern;
This is the link to the page, comments below the article...
http://www.macworld.com/article/140497/2009/05/videocapture.html

By Fri May 08 08:18:04 PDT 2009
Reply to this comment
Re: Elgato Video Capture records analog video to MPEG-4, H.264
[quote name='flybynight']
Why would you get this when they make the EyeTV that can do this an so much more for the same price?


The EyeTV encodes to MPEG 2 which is a larger file size and can't be edited other than cutting and trimming. If you want to make a video DVD you want MPEG 2 but if you want to play it on a computer, AppleTV, iPhone and so on you want H.264.

Can anyone verify that this product can capture S-Video to mpeg 2 format?
If so, that is exactly what I am after. Running S-Video from DVX100b to MBP.

 

[SDAVE]

That's a bad review and that person has no idea wha the/she is talking about.

MPEG2 is actually easier to edit than H.264...by far. The upside to H.264 is that it's a newer codec and much more efficient, so with lower bitrates you get the same quality.

Downside to H.264: Harder to edit
Upside: Eats less space.

If I were you, I'd get this instead. Much more stable.

 

[m85476585]

The editing in the EyeTV software is limited to cutting and trimming. You can export it in a variety of formats to edit in other programs. For my home videos which were originally on VHS, I think exporting to .DV then editing and burning to DVD will be best. There is still one lossy encoding in the .DV to DVD step, bu at least it's not 2 or more reencodings.

You can export to H.264 if you want, but it takes some time, and every time you reencode you loose some quality since most codecs (except .DV) are lossy

 

[SDAVE]

DV is a lossy codec, but you're better off capturing to it since it's way easier to edit, especially with iMovie.

I would definitely recommend against going with any other solution besides the one I posted. Analog video is already pretty bad in quality from the get go, so going to DV, you won't lose much. There is a much more expensive version of the converter I posted, it has more control over color/etc during capture, so you may want to look into that too if you really need to get the best quality possible from your analog footage.

 

[m85476585]

I didn't realize DV was lossy. Would going from MPEG2 to DV is lossless since DV has a much higher bitrate, or is that not the case?

 

[SDAVE]

If you mean capturing DV (from lets say a DV camera) then all you're doing is copying the data over in real time.

But the codec itself is lossy. If you are capturing analog, you're just capturing analog and digitizing it to a lossy codec. Unlike capturing DV, you're compressing the analog signal.

MPEG2 can have a much higher bitrate than DV. MPEG2 is a long gop codec, harder to edit. DV is not. Each frame is a frame on its own. Both are old tech.

I recommended going with the capture device I linked because DV is very easy to edit and tools like iMovie (which most Apple users have by default) handle it very well. You can also backup to a mini DV tape for archiving. In this case you don't lose quality since you're going from DV to DV.

If you go from lets say your captured DV files (via analog connection) to DVD (Which uses MPEG2) you will lose quality, but its not noticable.

If you edit MPEG2 then go to MPEG2, you will lose more quality because usually consumer MPEG2 products use very low bitrates.

So my recommendation for the DV product still stands. It's universal and the device is portable for converting your old videos to DVD after capturing. Editing it in iMovie to clean it up a bit is also another nice one.

Hope this helps

 

[m85476585]

I've already captured the videos with my EyeTV, and I don't want to buy another device or spend the time to capture all the videos again. Now I just need to edit them and put them on DVD.

I agree that something that goes straight to DV would be better for someone starting from scratch.

 

[Crewe]

If you mean capturing DV (from lets say a DV camera) then all you're doing is copying the data over in real time.

But the codec itself is lossy. If you are capturing analog, you're just capturing analog and digitizing it to a lossy codec. Unlike capturing DV, you're compressing the analog signal.

MPEG2 can have a much higher bitrate than DV. MPEG2 is a long gop codec, harder to edit. DV is not. Each frame is a frame on its own. Both are old tech.

I recommended going with the capture device I linked because DV is very easy to edit and tools like iMovie (which most Apple users have by default) handle it very well. You can also backup to a mini DV tape for archiving. In this case you don't lose quality since you're going from DV to DV.

If you go from lets say your captured DV files (via analog connection) to DVD (Which uses MPEG2) you will lose quality, but its not noticable.

If you edit MPEG2 then go to MPEG2, you will lose more quality because usually consumer MPEG2 products use very low bitrates.

So my recommendation for the DV product still stands. It's universal and the device is portable for converting your old videos to DVD after capturing. Editing it in iMovie to clean it up a bit is also another nice one.

Hope this helps

I appreciate the link and agree with your input.
Just so Im understanding correctly, the Canopus would capture S-Video (from Panasonic DVX 100B) in MPEG-2 format into a MBP?
Thanks!