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#1 2009-10-31 4:19 am
- mufngruf
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- Registered: 2009-10-30
- Posts: 6
which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
Forgive the lo-tech ability but here's my question..
Like many folks I've got a roomful of old family video tapes that I would like to get into a workable format. I bought an Eye TV box which allows me to plug my VCR into it and then to a USB connection.
I have an 800mgz iBook with 384MB of ram and a G3 400 DV SE that has 1GB of ram.
I have the luxury of not having to use the machine for something else while it's capturing the video, which I can then copy to my recently acquired snow leopard imac 20" for conversion from eyetv to avi format and editing.
So, which - in theory at least, would make a better capture - Ram or Processor power?
As always, thanks for any help.
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#2 2009-10-31 9:58 am
- avkills
- demyelinated brain matter
- Registered: 2001-05-09
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Re: which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
Ummm....use the 20" iMac. If editing is the main goal; you would be much better off using a Firewire bridge which will capture your VHS tapes to the native DV format to edit in iMovie or whatever. The only bridge you should look at is the Canopus line.
-mark
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#3 2009-10-31 10:16 am
- mufngruf
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Re: which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear.. the 20" iMac is the one I work on all day... that's why I have to decide between the other two.
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#4 2009-10-31 10:22 am
- mufngruf
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- Registered: 2009-10-30
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Re: which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
The Canopus line appears to be either way beyond my budget or a windows application (Capture..). Editing is really only a by-product. I can edit AFTER it's captured using standard software that I already own. My question is to find out which is more necessary to the capturing process - Ram or processing?
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#5 2009-10-31 10:44 am
- dv
- Negusa Negest
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- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18083
Re: which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
Canopus ADVC-110. They're only $250... worth it, too. We have one at work.
After the capture process, RAM and CPU are both really, really important. So is HD speed.
So both of those computers will kinda be awful. Still, given the choice, and not knowing which software you have loaded on which, I'd probably rather use the iBook. Do you have an external Firewire HD to capture to? Neither of those computers shipped with anything resembling a large HD: we're doing old VHS to DVD conversions at work now, and the first tape I transferred was a 2 hour assembly... it was like 40 GBs.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#6 2009-10-31 11:12 am
- mufngruf
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- Registered: 2009-10-30
- Posts: 6
Re: which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
Sorry, but $250 for this task is "way beyond my budget". The Eye TV unit, set on "high quality" usees about 1GB per hour, but isn't very good qualty... hence my question.
How about one of the new USB capture devices which claim to do the job.... perhaps the direct input through USB will deliver better quality than having to run through the Eye TV unit first... d'ya think?
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#7 2009-10-31 11:13 am
- mufngruf
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Re: which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
Because, ONCE IT'S CAPTURED, that's when it gets transferred to the big fast iMac. It's getting the best capture that's the issue.
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#8 2009-10-31 12:39 pm
- avkills
- demyelinated brain matter
- Registered: 2001-05-09
- Posts: 7094
Re: which is more important when recording eyetv video - ram or mgz?
If you have an external FW drive, then the iMac DV "should" be able to capture through a firewire bridge just fine. The problem with the EyeTV devices is that they don't capture to an edit friendly format.
If you have iMovie then the Canopus device is your best bet for getting a good clean capture.
-mark
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