The_Other_One
VIP Member
I have much more to add, but I've been meaning to do this. If you guys like, I'll continue. If not, I'll drop it as I really don't have time to do this
Capture Hardware:
There are many different types of capture cards for computers. Hopefully, I can clarify most every kind and the advantages of each...
Internal PCI - These are typically the best choice for quality and features. Many of these have options for tuners and onboard compression. The PCI bus is also much faster than USB, which creates much smoother videos. A typical PCI capture card would range around $40 to $60 for basic features, then upwards of around $1000 for prosumer cards.
External USB - Probably one of the worst choices for capturing. Though the quality can be good, it usally isn't as good as most internal cards due to the limitations of USB(yes, even USB 2.0) This is just too hard on most computers and usally results in dropped frames or just worse looking video. However, if you unsure about opening up your case, this is by far the easiest to install as you only need to plug it into the USB port. Some are even powered by USB and don't even need external power supplies.
Firewire - The best of the best. This is pure digital video with audio streaming into your machine though one cable. You can also control your camera, if you use a miniDV or Digital8 camcorder. Though this is probably the best quality, it can be very expensive. A DV/firewire/iLink card can cost between $20-$40. Then you need either a Digital Camcorder(usally a good $500) or an analog to digital converter($200) However, the quality is perfect with this with no loss due to compression. You also have the capability to output the captured/edited video if you keep it in DV format. More about compression later.
VIVO - Some graphics cards, such as the ATI All in Wonder series and the NVIDIA 7800 series has video input and output. Quality usually is not quite at par with other internal capture cards, but this is a fine alternative if you need basic capture capabilities. Prices depend on the actual capabilities of the card, it's age, etc...
Examples
Here's a clear example of a PCI capture card with onboard MPEGI/II compression. This one is rather obvious as the main processor/encoder is labled, but some will have heatsync's one them. However, if the processor does enough work to require a heatsync, most likely it'll be a real-time encoder.
Something else to notice is the lack of audio output. This card will capture and encode audio without the need of some external sound card(IE you're
normal sound-card)
The tuner area of this card is quite obvious. Some newer cards do not require this little tuner box, but they also tend to be much lower quality. But, for the most part, if you do wish to have the ability to tune using your computer, look for that little metal box. Oh yes, and the FM radio tuner is also housed there.
Audio:
This is probably the hardest part for most people to grasp. Many capture card DO NOT have audio capturing capabilities! A good 80% or so MUST use your soundcard to capture the audio. If you look, they have an audio input and output on the back and come with a small jumper cable that connects from the audio output to your soundcard's line in. Other internal cards use the same connection as the CD audio cable would and connect to your soundcard in this manner.
I'll get into more detail later, pictures would greatly clarify this...
Compression:
This is what fools most people when it comes to getting a good capture card and a cheap one. The majority of cards out there do not contain any form of onboard compression. What this means is you either must capture uncompressed (the filesize adds up VERY fast) or any compression is done by your CPU. Amazingly, even an Athlon 64 struggles and drops frames, especially with high quality captures. However, if you have onboard compression, just like a video card, this takes the strain off your main processor giving you much smoother video.
If you do not wish to capture video, just watch it, most cards without onboard compression would do fine, but I strongly suggest investing a few more dollars for one with the extra compression.
How can you tell what it has? Well, marketing ploys tend to hide the actual capabilities of the cards. If one says it can capture in MPEG1, MPEG2, and MPEG4, that usually means it's NOT realtime/onboard compression. If it's got only MPEG1 and MPEG2, this is typically onboard. If the card is internal, you can tell by the chips on the board. Some will have a heatsync on the processor and a buffer. Many cards with onboard compression can also capture right to DVD quality/format and the file will be ready to burn as soon as you finish capturing with no recompression or changing formats.
(picture coming later)
Firewire is a completely different format. Though it has no onboard compression, the format is much easier on the computer. The only problem with this compression, though, is that it takes time to recompress if you wish to use the video on say a DVD. However, the overall quality is better than compressed video, and the final output, ven if recompressed and burnt to a DVD, would probably look better than video directly captured/compressed/edited in other formats.
Types of Compression:
There are TONS of different compression methods out there, codecs, files, etc. I'm just going to touch on the main ones here...
AVI - The format that tends to confuse most people and give the most problems... Unlike other formats, there are hundreds of different codecs, or compressors, that may be used when making videos in this format. Probably the most common is DIVX, a very high compressino MPEG4 format. If a particular capture card only captures uncompressed video, the output will be AVI.
DV AVI - Basically just another form of AVI. This is the format captured when using DV/Firewire/iLink. There are no other codecs or anything with this particular format.
MPEG - There are two main formats, MPEG I and MPEG II. MPEG I is an older, less compressed format. Typically this is not used much anymore unless you plan to make VCDs(more on these later) MPEG II is the format used on DVDs.
Software:
Burning:
Capture Hardware:
There are many different types of capture cards for computers. Hopefully, I can clarify most every kind and the advantages of each...
Internal PCI - These are typically the best choice for quality and features. Many of these have options for tuners and onboard compression. The PCI bus is also much faster than USB, which creates much smoother videos. A typical PCI capture card would range around $40 to $60 for basic features, then upwards of around $1000 for prosumer cards.
External USB - Probably one of the worst choices for capturing. Though the quality can be good, it usally isn't as good as most internal cards due to the limitations of USB(yes, even USB 2.0) This is just too hard on most computers and usally results in dropped frames or just worse looking video. However, if you unsure about opening up your case, this is by far the easiest to install as you only need to plug it into the USB port. Some are even powered by USB and don't even need external power supplies.
Firewire - The best of the best. This is pure digital video with audio streaming into your machine though one cable. You can also control your camera, if you use a miniDV or Digital8 camcorder. Though this is probably the best quality, it can be very expensive. A DV/firewire/iLink card can cost between $20-$40. Then you need either a Digital Camcorder(usally a good $500) or an analog to digital converter($200) However, the quality is perfect with this with no loss due to compression. You also have the capability to output the captured/edited video if you keep it in DV format. More about compression later.
VIVO - Some graphics cards, such as the ATI All in Wonder series and the NVIDIA 7800 series has video input and output. Quality usually is not quite at par with other internal capture cards, but this is a fine alternative if you need basic capture capabilities. Prices depend on the actual capabilities of the card, it's age, etc...
Examples
Here's a clear example of a PCI capture card with onboard MPEGI/II compression. This one is rather obvious as the main processor/encoder is labled, but some will have heatsync's one them. However, if the processor does enough work to require a heatsync, most likely it'll be a real-time encoder.
Something else to notice is the lack of audio output. This card will capture and encode audio without the need of some external sound card(IE you're
normal sound-card)
The tuner area of this card is quite obvious. Some newer cards do not require this little tuner box, but they also tend to be much lower quality. But, for the most part, if you do wish to have the ability to tune using your computer, look for that little metal box. Oh yes, and the FM radio tuner is also housed there.
Audio:
This is probably the hardest part for most people to grasp. Many capture card DO NOT have audio capturing capabilities! A good 80% or so MUST use your soundcard to capture the audio. If you look, they have an audio input and output on the back and come with a small jumper cable that connects from the audio output to your soundcard's line in. Other internal cards use the same connection as the CD audio cable would and connect to your soundcard in this manner.
I'll get into more detail later, pictures would greatly clarify this...
Compression:
This is what fools most people when it comes to getting a good capture card and a cheap one. The majority of cards out there do not contain any form of onboard compression. What this means is you either must capture uncompressed (the filesize adds up VERY fast) or any compression is done by your CPU. Amazingly, even an Athlon 64 struggles and drops frames, especially with high quality captures. However, if you have onboard compression, just like a video card, this takes the strain off your main processor giving you much smoother video.
If you do not wish to capture video, just watch it, most cards without onboard compression would do fine, but I strongly suggest investing a few more dollars for one with the extra compression.
How can you tell what it has? Well, marketing ploys tend to hide the actual capabilities of the cards. If one says it can capture in MPEG1, MPEG2, and MPEG4, that usually means it's NOT realtime/onboard compression. If it's got only MPEG1 and MPEG2, this is typically onboard. If the card is internal, you can tell by the chips on the board. Some will have a heatsync on the processor and a buffer. Many cards with onboard compression can also capture right to DVD quality/format and the file will be ready to burn as soon as you finish capturing with no recompression or changing formats.
(picture coming later)
Firewire is a completely different format. Though it has no onboard compression, the format is much easier on the computer. The only problem with this compression, though, is that it takes time to recompress if you wish to use the video on say a DVD. However, the overall quality is better than compressed video, and the final output, ven if recompressed and burnt to a DVD, would probably look better than video directly captured/compressed/edited in other formats.
Types of Compression:
There are TONS of different compression methods out there, codecs, files, etc. I'm just going to touch on the main ones here...
AVI - The format that tends to confuse most people and give the most problems... Unlike other formats, there are hundreds of different codecs, or compressors, that may be used when making videos in this format. Probably the most common is DIVX, a very high compressino MPEG4 format. If a particular capture card only captures uncompressed video, the output will be AVI.
DV AVI - Basically just another form of AVI. This is the format captured when using DV/Firewire/iLink. There are no other codecs or anything with this particular format.
MPEG - There are two main formats, MPEG I and MPEG II. MPEG I is an older, less compressed format. Typically this is not used much anymore unless you plan to make VCDs(more on these later) MPEG II is the format used on DVDs.
Software:
Burning:
