New User - Need Help Buying

[coach13]

I'm a collegiate basketball coach and I'm looking to possibly buy the ADVC110 to help me review and edit analog footage (especially VHS) to help with film breakdown. I'm working with a limited budget, so I need to make sure this converter will do everything I need it to or I can't justify the purchase. Can anyone clarify/answer these questions for me?

• What kind of software will I need to go with the converter? Will iMovie or Windows MovieMaker work?
• Can I capture from VHS and DVD to convert to digital?
• Can I use the converter to convert back from digital to analog, i.e. go from my laptop to a television for viewing the clips I create?

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

[GrassValley_CP]

Ask and you shall receive...

• Due to the OHCI nature of the ADVC-110 (and any of the ADVC units, for that matter), it will work with any NLE, as long as that program accepts digital video (DV) via firewire. Since firewire-based DV is the de facto standard for digital video transmission, every NLE should accept that input. So, it will work with iMovie, MovieMaker, Ulead Videostudio, Adobe Premiere Elements, EDIUS Neo, etc. etc.
• Yes! That's what it's designed for, provided there is no copy protection on your source material
• Yes! That's also what it was designed for--the ADVC-110 is a bi-directional ananlog/digital converter. This is the most under-advertised feature of the bi-directional ADVC units, and certainly the most useful if you want to see what your finished project will look like in the real world.

[coach13]

Thanks! That helps quite a bit :)

[kbosward]

Note that if you are capturing from DVD, you will get better quality if your editing program can import the video directly off your DVD. Unfortunately iMovie and Windows Movie Maker cannot do this. Someone has posted an article How to Import a DVD into iMovie ‘08 although there appears to be mixed success. I haven't yet tried it myself.

Ken.