Do I need a capture card ??

E

eofeapr

Well-known member
Although I am working things out pretty good the question arises;

what will a capture card do for me ?
and
how will a card improve my present workflow considering the gear I already am vested in now.


For consistancy the specs to my present rig:

Tyan Tiger
2x single core 2.6 ghz AMD Opteron
2 gig ecc ram (soon to b doubled)
PNY Quadro fx 3000 256 gpu
2 sata raptor 10,000 rpm drives
2 eide WD 7200 rpm drives

Software:
XP PRO 32 bit
Premiere Pro 2.0

DV Gear:
Panny DVX100bp minidv w firewire (but u already knew that)
 
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Nope, don't need one at all, just a firewire to hook your camera to. Capture cards I believe like Matrox stuff allows you to work in mpeg format in real time and have real time effects without rendering. You don't need to spend the money on that though to me.
 
It really depends on what your projects are, and what you want to do with them. A "capture card" in the most generic sense is simply a way to turn analog video signals into a digital format that can be edited by your NLE of choice. So, if you're needing to use footage off of VHS, Hi8, or BetacamSP, then you'll need a capture card that gives you composite, S-video, and/or component capabilities. Higher end capture cards would instead or additionally have SD-SDI or HD-SDI inputs for capturing (not digitizing--the video signal is already digital) footage from decks that have those outputs.

Most/many capture cards will also give you a way to monitor output on an analog monitor, such as a production CRT, or send signal to an analog deck, like a Betacam deck. If you've got the space and need for this extra hardware, a capture card is pretty much essential. Manufacturers of this type of hardware are AJA or Blackmagic Designs. Check Google for more information on particular models.

That said, based on your gear listing, it looks like you're working in DV--which pretty much revolutionized desktop video and did away with the need for all the additional hardware. A DV camcorder and a FireWire cable is now all you need to get footage into your editing system. And since many producers now output to DVD or the web, there's virtually no need for decks and recorders and the like.

There's another option for Premiere Pro, and that's the Matrox RT.X2 card (it handles HD and HDV flavors, but there's also an RT.X2 SD that is, as the name suggests, SD only). It not only gives you analog IO, but also lets you monitor pixel-for-pixel HD on a computer LCD. Beyond that, it accelerates and even makes realtime quite a few effects and features within Premiere Pro. At present, it's the only hardware available for Premiere Pro that gives that kind of functionality. Pretty cool.

That said, I have one, and I'm not sure I can really recommend it. It's gotten a lot better with the recent driver release and the ability to use CS3, but it's still a little quirky. And frankly, for my workflow, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It's nice being able to monitor component out to a production monitor, but most of the accelerated things are cheesy effects I have no use for. It does give you output for After Effects and Encore, if you're into that sort of thing. It works for the most part, but you just need to have good application for it.

Hope that helps!
 
thank you takeshi,, it is as I assumed, as per your response

thank you cbrougham, RT.x2 is the item that got me thinking, but your candid and informative review is just what I needed.

Am goona stick with what works for now and consider options if and when I should ever need to convert analog footage.


You guys are great !! thanks again
joe
 
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