It doesn’t get any more complicated than putting the right plug into the right socket.

Computers can’t understand the analog waves that make up old VHS tapes and pre-DV camcorder videos. These curvy patterns contradict the binary world of “off” or “on,” so you need to digitize those sources before your Mac can “see” the picture. Pinnacle’s Video Capture for Mac is a fin-shaped box that handles this job—and little else. Plug in an analog video source, and the unit translates it into a 640-x-480-pixel MPEG-4 file your Mac can recognize. It works, but armchair archivists will immediately wish it had a few more features beyond its single trick.

A permanently connected USB cable attaches the box to your computer. From there, plug in either composite or S-Video cables and stereo RCA audio, common on analog video hardware. The capture software basically offers “record” and “stop” options at that point. We easily digitized some old VHS tapes without trouble, and the software automatically loaded the results into iTunes.

And that’s it; forget about even simple extras. The software doesn’t display the audio level while it’s capturing video, even though it displays this visual cue during setup. You can’t trim the end or beginning of a recording with the included software; you’ll have to use QuickTime Pro, iMovie, or another editor for that basic task. If you want to edit the recording in iMovie, the software imports the MPEG-4 format, but we’d rather be able to record in other formats too. (MPEG-4 is great for final playback, but has disadvantages for editing, including a higher compression rate than other formats.)

 

Pinnacle Video Capture for Mac is a simple-to-use device that records clean video from analog sources. So you can watch the video on an iPod or Apple TV, but it lacks even the most obvious extras.

COMPANY: Pinnacle
CONTACT: www.pinnaclesys.com
PRICE: $99.99
REQUIREMENTS: 500MHz or faster; Mac OS 10.4 or later; G4, G5, or Intel processor; USB port; analog video source and cables
Real-time MPEG-4 capture over USB 2.0. 29.97-frame-per-second footage looks fluid and sharp. Easy interface gets straight to digitizing. Universal binary.
Can’t make simple edits to recordings. Can’t capture or export other formats.