Hi all, this is my first time posting. I need some advice from you wise, learned folks... I am just getting into film (well, technically -video- at this stage) and I want to transfer my video onto my computer. I am working on a PC with a Pentium III 1gig, 60 gigs hardrive space, and about 512megs of RAM. I have Adobe Premiere, and a Sony Hi8 TRV-16. I do not, however, have any kind of video capture device -- nor do I know what to get.

I was, at first, considering Dazzle Digital Video Creator 150 -- but after some research, it seems this might not be a quality product, and I can't justify spending $150-200 on a piece of crap.

I have a budget of around $400. What hardware do I need to transfer video? Are there any upgrades I should be considering that are within my price range?

Any advice would be great. Thanks.

~S.A.

http://www.canopus.com/US/products/advc-100/pm_advc-100.asp

I've always wanted one of these, but never realy had the need. But ti gets great reviews and should solve your problems. Retail price is $299.00 which is kinda steep but like i said i hear its worth it

"DV converter specialized for NLE
Convert your S-VHS, Hi8 and 8mm analog tapes to DV in one simple step using the ADVC-100. The converted DV streams are transferred to your PC or Mac via IEEE 1394 (i.Link, FireWire) and stored on your hard drive where they can be manipulated using your favorite photo or video editing applications. This device is ideal for all OHCI and DV-only capture cards for Macintosh or PC."

"Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm happy to say I have no grasp of it whatsoever." -Baron Munchausen

they also make a Card based transfer unit thats supposed to be ok. its cheaper. I think its advc-50. You can find both of these units for less $ at online retailers than at that website.

"Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm happy to say I have no grasp of it whatsoever."

If you go to Best Buy, you can find a firewire card for 40 bucks. It has 3 firewire ports, and comes with no software - but that shouldn't matter, because Premier will capture your movie. All you need is a firewire cable, which generally runs for about 40 bucks. That's really all you need. My friend had a Dazzle, but he said it's almost worthless - he went out and got the 40 dollar firewire card, and sold the Dazzle on Ebay

I've got the same card, and I think it works wonders.

Don't listen to me if your camera isn't IEEE 1394 capable

Sony TRV950

I found the specs of your camera here: http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/851-sony-dcr-trv16-dv-digital-camcorder.html

So the best way to transfer the video to your PC is by using a firewire card.

You can find them here: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=firewire

A few notes to a new Video transferee, Premiere is demanding. Your system has enough RAM, my biggest concern would be your Processor Speed and HD size/speed. You want a HD as large as possible as you will find that uncompressed video eats up a lot of HD space quickly. Also you would want a 7,200 RPM HD they are quick enough to handle the transfer of data from the camera to the PC.

One of the problems I ran into when I first started using Premiere was jittery video in/out. It was because the PC I was using was my everyday computer with a bunch of background software slowing it down. I am currently building a new system that will be a dual boot Windows 2000 & Windows XP. Windows 2000 will only be used for my video editing while XP will be my everyday system.

Tech-D

Thanks for the advice, fellas. Unfortunately, my camera isn't a digital, so firewire seems to be out of the question. But, I do have a good idea about what I'm going to get -- or, at the least, I have an idea about what is worth getting and what's not.

~S.A.

Also have a look at the ADS Pyro A/V Link:

http://www.adstech.com/products/API_550/intro/api550intro.asp?pid=API-550

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

S.A.

DV makes life so much easier. I would check on E-Bay for a low priced DV Cam. Use the $400 you have and purchase that and a firewire card. You'll be happy.

Here's a link on E-Bay for a currently low priced cam: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2945970823&category=20333

Tech-D