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Guide to Buying a Capture Card/Device


MCPO Mayh3m

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Guide to Buying a Capture Card:

 

3 main things you need to look for when buying a capture card:

  1. Price
  2. Quality
  3. Ease of Use

Be sure to do your own research on the capture cards, this is just to give you a jump start.

 

Listed below are a couple different capture cards ranging with different prices and quality, I will rate the product on a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, and I will list prices, descriptions, personal input (if any), a picture of the device, and a video of the quality of the device.

 

NOTE: The product description and a link will be provided as reference and citation.

 

HD Capture Cards:

 

Hauppauge HD PVR: $179.99-$199.99 RT 4.5/5

hauppauge_B0018LX0DY-01.jpg

 

Amazon.com Link

 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

 

The Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder is the world's first high-definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i. With the HD-PVR, you can schedule and automatically record your favorite shows in high definition directly from cable TV and satellite set top boxes. As an added feature, the HD-PVR also includes S-Video inputs so you can convert all your old home video tapes into Blu-ray DVD recordings.

 

PERSONAL TAKE:

 

The Hauppauge HD PVR, a popular device used for Capturing video, is one of the highest rated devices on the market today. From What I have seen the HD PVR has amazing quality, is easy to use, and performs very well.

You can get the normal version (as seen above) or the gaming edition, however either will work with your gaming device.

 

I recommend using Sony Vegas as a video editor, since you can capture and edit easily using this program, as well as save in HD.

 

VIDEO: http://youtu.be/0ciogmbhMLU?hd=1

 

 

BLACKMAGIC Intensity Shuttle: $199.99 RT: 4.3/5

intensityshuttle.jpg

 

Amazon.com Link

 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

Intensity Shuttle USB 3.0, the world’s first 10 bit HD/SD editing solution for USB 3.0 computers! Simply plug in Intensity Shuttle and get access to incredible quality 10 bit HDMI, analog component, composite and s-video capture and playback. Intensity Shuttle’s innovative design is compact and portable, plus you can plug inline with your cables because input connections are on one side, and output connections on the other! Intensity Shuttle powers from the USB 3.0 connection so you don’t need cumbersome power supplies. Intensity Shuttle comes ready with advanced video technology such as HDMI 1.3 and 1080p electronics, so it will grow as faster high performance USB 3.0 computers are released in the future!

 

PERSONAL TAKE:

I have been a fan of BlackMagic's software & Hardware for a while, I was actually unaware they had this device until now. I have seen and heard great things about blackmagic and I do recommend this as it offers great quality, better than Hauppauge from what I have seen for the same price.

NOTE: One thing to be aware of is that Blackmagic devices usually require strong computers to run on, so take that to mind if you are interested in purchasing.

 

VIDEO:

 

 

 

 

 

~TO BE CONTINUED!

 

 

Feel free to PM me a review yourself of a different capture card, please use the format I have been listing above.

Please no duplicate reviews.

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SD Capture Cards:

 

Pinnacle Systems Dazzle DVD Recorder Pro: Price(Guesstimate) $50.00-$70.00, RT 3.5/15

 

515dFFywgjL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

 

PRODUCT INFO:

With Dazzle DVD Recorder Plus, anyone can produce great-looking movies to share with family and friends. No prior video-editing experience is required. Simply transfer videos to the PC. Quickly and easily create stunning movies by combining video clips with still photos, complete with hi-fi audio. Pick from an extensive library of music backgrounds, transitions, and effects for amazing results. Share your masterpiece directly on the Web with our one-click upload to YouTube or transfer your video to your Apple iPod or Sony PSP. iPod video transfer has never been so easy thanks to the Dazzle DVD Recorder Plus.

 

PERSONAL TAKE:

Being an owner of a variant of this product, I have to say, the ease of use is very nice, however the editing software required to use this product (included in the package) will freeze up on you, and is not the greatest. The quality can be adjusted, but don't expect to get AMAZING SD quality, it gives you decent-good quality video depending on the settings you use. Pinnacle Studios(editing software), like stated above, is glitchy however it does have a save feature that allows you to restore your previous project in case of a crash... however this only works about half the time. It is an easy to use software but lacks multi-layer support. Be cautious. This software is good for pretty much ONLY (my opinion) capturing videos and Trimming them. The capture device itself is good, but just be aware that the device is not compatible with any other editing studios or programs that have the capability to capture from a device.

NOTE: If you use Sony Vegas, you can not use this device to capture your videos. You MUST use the software provided.

 

Video:

 

 

Mygica EZgrabber2 USB 2.0 Video Capture Device: Price $16.38 RT: 3/5

 

41fQSQeS4vL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

 

Product Info:

Capture videos to your handheld devices or submit to YouTube with clicks! With MyGica's EZgrabber2, you can capture all the video clips from your video source devices such as VHS/VCR/DVD/DV camcorder before they disappear by using bundled software. with the "push to start push to stop" button will help you to record the selected clips easily which you are watch the movies playing on your video device, when you find clips which you want to capture, just push the button of the EZgrabber2, it will be automatically recorded to hard disk, when the clips go to unwanted record part, just push the button once more, the file will automatically stop and automatically give a name by software. You just repeat pushing the button; you will get all the clips you want. Also you can convert any video files and customize your favorite video files. Then you can edit the captured video files, adding titles, music, and a lot of transitions. As easy as drink a cup of coffee, you can burn all the edited contents into DVD/VCD/SVCD, or send them to your handheld devices, like iPod, PSP and other mobile phones, or just submit them to YouTube, share with others.

 

Personal Take:

Although I have never used it, I have heard mixed reviews on this device. From the appearance of this device it looks fragile and that you would have to be careful while you use it. If I were able to use this personally I would be ble to give a better review on it. But just be cautious when buying.

 

Video: N/A (for the time being)

 

CHECK BACK FOR MORE.

 

Feel free to PM me a review yourself of a different capture card, please use the format I have been listing above.

Please no duplicate reviews.

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  • 1 month later...

I use Hauppauge HDVPR. It's fairly cheap, quality is great and easy to use (Lots of wires, though).

 

Heads up for anyone who buys it, though; do NOT replace the power supply without making sure the Volts/Hz is correspondent to the original one. This will fry the device, leaving it utterly destroyed.

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  • 1 month later...

Heads up for anyone who buys it, though; do NOT replace the power supply without making sure the Volts/Hz is correspondent to the original one. This will fry the device, leaving it utterly destroyed.

That pretty much goes for anything xD

 

 

What about the Roxio game capture?

Roxio isn't a very well known capture product yet. I'd also be interested to see a review. Anybody have one?
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  • 4 months later...

What is the best one to get for under $80? Decent quality, and for someone with zero video editing experience?

 

I dont know about the price, but i do know that the capturing device you choose has nothing to do with your video editing experience. Because when you capture a file, it's a raw file pretty much. You'll still need a program like Windows Movie Maker or Sony Vegas to make some small changes to it and to render it into a file type that you can actually work with.

 

 

I already have a Hauppauge HD PVR in my room, but this post is great :D

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What is the best one to get for under $80? Decent quality, and for someone with zero video editing experience?

 

Roxio HD game capture runs right around $80. IT is a High Def recorder that I have been debating whether or not to get. Also, if you do not want a High Def recorder then check out the Dazzle series, but just keep in mind my post above.

 

Let's say one of my friends got a capture card and we wanted to put a video on YouTube. How would we do that and would it require video-editing experience?

 

If you wanted to clean the clip up and trim it down it would require editing. However YouTube now offers a pretty basic editor themselves that I am sure you could use. What you would need to do is capture the clip, save it as a WMV or other good video file, and then upload it.

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From my experience the hauppage is the best.

 

I originally got the Dazzle Plus and let me tell ya. That thing is a peice of crap. It does not even cime with all of the materials needed to capture. I had to buy about 40 dollars worth of splitters and cables. It is easily able to cost over 100 bucks and it took me hours to set up. Then you can not even get HD on it.

 

The Blackmagic is a very good capture card but like said above you need to have a fast computer. My computer was not that great so I avoided it.

 

The Hauppage is amazing. The software is very easy to use and it sets up for HD in 10 minutes or less.

 

A good piece of advice for all of you is if you are recording save your file in AVCHD if possible. This will make it so you can put that file directly onto your video editing program. If you are looking to upload straight to youtube then do MP4.

 

If you have any questions about cables and set up for any of these devices please message me. I have pretty good experience with cables from working with my video broadcasting group at my school.

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