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(1) from [log in to unmask] We use a breakout box from AJA, model IO LA, that works pretty well. I would think it works probably the same as your Canopus box (i.e. just select it as a source in Quicktime and record). You can set the record preference to encode in a smaller format, rather than the native DV stream, which will indeed be unnecessarily large. If you're doing this in iMovie you can export the project in a compressed format (anything using mpeg4 H.264 will still give you good quality with a better resulting file size). I can't speak to the actual quality of how the video looks. What specifically looks bad about it? I know depending on the codec you record in you can get some pretty horrible interlacing going on (giving you choppy lines through the screen). If that's the case I'd play around with recording and export options till you find the sweet spot. --John Beals GVSU Language Resource Center ++++++++++ (2) from [log in to unmask] Hi Mike, We've been doing a lot of this for film classes over the last two years. For VHS tapes we use a JVC vhs/mini-dv deck that connects to the mac via firewire. For DVDs we use handbrake. We import the clips into iMovie HD (we're avoiding the new iMovie that cam e with iLife '08). We usually import the entire movie as in general for film classes 20 clips or so per film are needed. Then we have the instructor come in on their own and use iMovie to simple not the start and stop times for the clips as well as giving them a name. Once we have the list, we cut the clips, usually add a fade in and fade out, then we save them as full quality dv files, which are quite large. (5 mins=1GB) We use Compressor which is part of Fincal Cut Pro studio to compress them into several formats, however with Quicktime Pro you could output to these formats directly without having to use the FCP package, and skip the export to DV step. The advantage of Compressor is that we can cut all of the clips and export them and then batch encode them to several formats. For the web we either use "Movie to Quicktime Movie" and choose the h.264 codec which produces a great picture at a small size, or we use the Adobe Flash Video Encoder and stream them through our university's flash server. For PowerPoint presentations we generally export as MPEG. Although not full screen it seems to be the most compatible with both Mac and PC formats. Quicktime files seem to have some trouble on the Windows version of PowerPoint if the files are created on the Mac. They work, however the professor usually needs to relink the movie files whenever they switch platforms. As of late we have been using compressor to output to MPEG-2/AC3 DVD files and using DVD Studio Pro (part of FCP 2) to create a DVD of the clips. DVD Studio Pro has a bit of a learning curve. The first few DVDs we made took a long time to make, but now that we've made almost 100 clip dvds I can amke one in about 30 minutes once I have all the source material compressed. Shawn --- Shawn M Provencal, Systems Administrator College of Arts & Sciences CAS Language Center Boston University 685 Commonwealth Avenue Room 540 Boston, MA 02215 (617) 353 2640 http://www.bu.edu/geddes/ +++++++++++ (3) from [log in to unmask] We've used a Canopus ADVC 300, and gotten acceptable quality from it. It has been annoying in other ways, such as capriciously shutting down, after apparently deciding that video that we are inputting or outputting is copy-protected. This is with video that we produce, with no copy protection of any kind. Most often, I use one of our mini-DV camcorders to do the analog to digital conversion. We have Sony, Canon, and Panasonic comsumer-level camcorders which will accept composite analog video input from a VHS VCR or Laserdisc player, and send a digital video signal (DV25) to the computer via FireWire. I capture the video signal via iMovie usually. Sometimes via Final Cut Pro. With either the Canopus or the camcorder, the resulting video looks just about as good as the original VHS. With clean VHS footage, there is little degrade of the general appearance, although careful viewing will reveal some digital artifacts. I'm not sure what would be causing the problems that Mike reports. When I convert a VHS tape, I get the file sizes that I would expect from a similar amount of material shot on a mini-DV digital camcorder. This could reasonably be described as huge, requiring roughly 212 MB per minute and a bit more than 13 GB per hour of video. That's huge, but it's normal for the consumer/prosumer digital video standard: DV25-encoded video. Converting to MPEG-2, as used for DVDs, will cut the file size to about one third at maximum quality level. For file size and portability reasons, I produce a fair number of DVDs for classroom use. If I want smaller file sizes for QuickTime movies, I usually convert the video to MPEG-4 using the h.264 codec. The latter option gives good quality when played from the local computer, as expected. More surprisingly, it retains most of its quality when uploaded to YouTube, which our students and faculty sometimes desire. Derek +++++++++++++ (4) from [log in to unmask] Mike- we aren't using Macs, but we've had great success using a standard PC with a video card from Osprey (about $300) that allows us to accept line level inputs from a dvd/vhs/or whatever other peripheral you have. I'm not sure what sort of resolution you are looking to achieve, but we've found it to be more than sufficient for webstreaming. Cheers, Steven ********************************************************** Steven Doellefeld, Ph.D. Assistant Director Institute for Teaching, Learning & Academic Leadership University at Albany +++++++++ (5) from [log in to unmask] Hi Mike, I have been using a Canopus DV/VHS capture card to capture from VHS. It is fine if the source quality is good, but it is certainly impossible to get better quality than the source. After the clips are captured, they should be compressed to MPEG2 for standard DVD, or MP4 (in various formats and frame sizes). Their quality should be similar to or the same as those on the VHS tapes. You are right that it is tough to get very good quality from VHS which does not have enough information. In addition, to display your video very well on a multimedia projector, you will need higher resolutions than the SD DVD because ours DVD videos cannot be as good as Hollywood's. I read an ad online that a Chinese video broadcast company can get VHS source to get on a very good DVD, but I don't know what they use. They do not want to tell me. I know that there are other famous video capture cards that I have no hands-on experiences. If you happen to find it out, please let me know. Thanks. Joe *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************