Since I have the luxury of being in no hurry to convert all my Hi-8 home movies to Digital Video, so that I can edit it and then export it from my Mac to DVD or videotape, I've been leisurely wandering around the Net looking at reviews of the various analog-to-digital-video converters that are available, before I buy one. What I have discovered is that there are wide variations in the quality of the converted video. The cheaper converters such as the Pyro AV Link can produce Digital Video with bad colors, digital artifacts, and other problems.
A review in MacWorld June 2004 compares the Pyro A/V Link with the Miglia Director's Cut converter box with the following comments: ADS Technologies Pyro A/V Link, rating: 3-1/2 Mice Pros: Strong audio import, component video in. Cons: Colors and blacks looked washed out; firmware glitch prevents previewing in color; reliability problems; external power supply needed; tech support wasn't helpful. Director's Cut 2 converter, rating: 4-1/2 Mice Pros: Excellent video quality; FireWire powered; two sets of outputs; all plugs in back; rugged metal case; K & Lock support; headphone jack. Cons: No U. S. telephone tech support. Another review of this Miglia Director's Cut 2 converter are at http://reviews.macnn.com/review.php?id=41 and yet another favorable review of the Miglia at http://www.it-enquirer.com/publishing/3D/miglia.html gives further observations about cheap video converters like the Pyro: "What most people don't know is that many of these readily sold converters are not capable of providing a good quality conversion. A Dazzle and a Formac are best compared to toys: they are inexpensive but useless to the serious amateur and certainly to the semi-pro or pro. The quality of a conversion with these devices is poor in every respect: colour accuracy, artifacts, inability to maintain a decent frame speed, etc." Concerning the "Instant DVD USB for Mac" device from OWC that we've been discussing: <http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_MailList.cfm?ID=5448&Item=ADSMACAV1750>, to me it sounds similar to the Pyro or Dazzle, but I don't know for sure because I haven't been able to find an objective review of it yet (anybody know of one?). My main worry would be that its USB connection would be much slower than a FireWire link, and people have told me repeatedly that digital video work is already painfully slow. Every review I've seen so far of Miglia's Director's Cut 2 converter http://miglia.com/products/video/director2/index.html has been favorable so far, and although it costs about double the price of the Pyro or Dazzle, it looks like the results it gives might make it worth it. Tom At 5:30 PM -0600 5/11/2004, Dan K wrote: >I wrote: >> * IMO the best way to go directly from analog video to DVD (or in >>this case, back to analog/VHS) is with the "Instant DVD USB for Mac" >>device, under $180 at OWC: >><http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_MailList.cfm?ID=5448&Item=ADSMACAV1750> > >to which [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Richard Starr) replied: >>This seems like a great solution for simple archiving if the quality is as >>good >>as you say. I checked the specs on OWC's site and it says: >> >>To Capture MPEG-2 at 30 frames per second: >> >>* Power Mac G4 400/AGP or greater >>* Power Mac G4 Cube >>* Power Book G4 400 or greater >> >>It also wants a built in usb port, though I've never seen anything that >>actually >>needs a built in. >> >>The question is, will it work for DVDs on a souped up Beige with G4 and at >>least >>400 mhz? >> >>And if it does most of the heavy lifting outboard, why does it require the >>high >>horsepower for DVDs? > >Not sure, I don't have one myself so haven't done testing on other Macs. >My customer is using their's with a 1gHz DP Quicksilver. As is common in >the computer biz, I suspect the 'requirements' are an attempt by ADS to >limit the systems on which they are 'obligated' to support their product. >As you point out, there's precious few USB devices out there that a >PCI-USB card-equipped Mac cannot handle. > >The data stream being pumped through the USB port is really quite small, >on the order of ~1MB/sec or less depending on the capture options. That's >easily within the capabilities of most any Mac with a USB port, added on >or built-in. > >OP seems convinced a DV solution will work best, but my experience with 4 >different analog-to-DV digitizers wasn't encouraging. We didn't try the >ADS DV converter, perhaps it will perform better than those we tried. > >I still think a cheap analog switch box, titler and second analog VHS >deck would suffice for OP's editing needs. :-) > >Dan K > >................................. >http://macdan.n3.net/ >carracho://dankephoto.dhs.org:9700 >hotline://dankephoto.dhs.org:9500 >................................. > > >-- >G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > > Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | > -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > >G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; >Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > >Using a Mac? 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