by Kai Stromler » Mon Jan 17, 2005 5:03 pm
At this point you should probably also ask yourself if you really need a capture device. You've already got a DVD drive in your system, which in this day and age substantially obviates the problem of getting footage. If you've got videos planned in the immediate future that require sourcing from VHS or LD, then and only then should you explore the capture card market.
Changing to DVD-based rather than capture-based editing will probably mean some changes to your process, and probably learning some technical stuff, but it's not an insurmountable wall, and it pays a lot of dividends in terms of ease and quality of production. I'm doing this kind of changeover right now, and while it has not been headache free, it's definitely a plus not to have to worry about tuning settings for proper color balance, etc. Most of the difficult stuff is already set out in the guides, and it isn't too obscured by stuff that people who already have a process already know or already have their own ways of handling.
I haven't really ditched my DVC II, either; there's some titles out there that just aren't available on DVD and probably never will be. The card's just not in my new system yet, because there's no call for it.
hth,
--K
(who had previously believed himself to be the last operating editor without DVD capability)