Video Edit

[druidelder]

Okay, I'm planning on setting up my music production station to do some video production.

I was looking at the 8500 AIW, but there don't seem to be any around (at good prices anyway). They seem to be about $150. There is a 128MB model going for $165, but that is the card only (no remote, no cables, etc...). The full 128MB seems to cost about $230. If I were going to spend that much I'd save up and get a 9700 AIW.

I saw a Gigabyte 9200 128MB w/ VIVO on newegg for $85. That seems like a good deal to me (128MB, dx9 compatibility, though not compliance).

Another possibilty is a friend of mine has a 8500 64MB AIW that he is not using because it will not work with his mobo for some reason, but the card is fine. If I bought a decent vid card (say a ti4200 or so), he would be willing to trade me.

I also considered a card/capture device combo. However, capture devices seem to start at about ~$50 and a 9200 128MB card starts at $64. This would be more than the 9200 VIVO but about the same as an 8500 AIW, and it would come with software. So I'm totally up in the air about it.

Another option would be a Sapphire 9200 64MB VIVO for ~$65.

What would I be missing out by going with a VIVO card as opposed to an AIW? Would the card/capture device be a better bet?

Any thoughts or suggestions of other cards/combos will be appreciated.

This system will not really be used for games unless I have a lan party here. I have a different system for that. This is just for music/video production. Is the 128MB or the dx9 support even worth the extra in this case?

System specs: 2x PIII 1.0, 1.5GB PC133

[Rav]

You may want to look at one of the 9000 series AIW cards instead. From my understanding, they moved to an updated Rage Theater chip and also updated the TV tuner. The VIVO cards only have video in and out, whereas the AIW has audio-in and a TV tuner in addition to composite and s-video in and out. I wouldnt go to an add-on card since you will be limited to PCI speeds. I'm looking at the 9000 AIW for my PVR/HTPC, its ~$175 at newegg.

-Rav

[lazerin]

You will probably be better off in getting a seperate capture device/card such as a Pinnacle system. Even a cheap Pinnacle will suffice for extremely good quality captures.

[druidelder]

I didn't really look at the capture cards so much as the USB and Firewire external peripheral kind. As for just the video, I could bring the sound into my sound card (but I'm unsure of how this kind of setup would work with video software, as I haven't used any in a while). The tv part is not really a big deal, I could just get a digital box for the cable and use the svideo out, but I probably won't watch tv on that machine anyway.

The Rage Theater chip is sort of back-dated actually. The 8500DV used a digital tuner, but they decided to go back to the chip they were using in the 7500 AIW. I can't find anything that specifically says it's better (it could be just easier for them to use). If anybody has a good link on this subject....

I was looking at the 8500 because it's faster, but I might consider the 9000.

BTW: If I were to use the sound card for audio capture (which I might do anyway), it would currently be a TBSC. I'm working on the money for a Delta 1010, but that's some time off yet.

[Illah]

If you want to do any good video editing you'll want a real capture card, not some AIW consumer stuff. Any video card with VIVO is bound to do some so-so capturing, AIW would be a step up but not by alot.

The low end is TV-tuner cards with decent capture support. If you're capturing from VHS then something in this range will be fine. VHS isn't that great, so quality issues won't show. Just use a decent VCR, or SVCR if you can afford it, and a nice cable (SVCR can use SVHS tapes and have S-Video connectors rather than RCA). If you captured from a high-end format with one of these cards you'd notice the difference, but not really with VHS.

If you're working with DV then firewire is the only way to go. Pure digital copy, no generation loss from or to the tape.

Since you're looking at AIW cards, I don't think you'll be working any more high end than that :) Also, above this level there's a huge price jump. Low end pro-sumer DV cards are like $600+, many into the $2000 range.

If you got a modern machine odds are you have a firewire port already, so just get a decent $50-200 capture card for VHS capture (if you need it). For the video card a $20 GF2 would work, it has no affect on video editing. Spend the extra cash on CPU and hard drives.

I reccomend taking in sound through the sound card. If all goes well syncing should be done automatically (it does with my card), but if you do have to sync seperate video and audio tracks I reccomend you use a clapper during the shoot to mark each scene.

--Illah

[druidelder]

Thanks for the info Illah.