Step
2: Convert analog VHS video to digital video
If the video footage had been created using a
miniDV camcorder, the IEEE1394 output of the camcorder would
have been connected to the IEEE1394 input of the PC. The
camcorder would have been placed in Play mode, and the transfer
of the already digital video signal to the computer would have
been done under the control of video capture software. Because
the ABC News footage is on analog VHS tape, the procedure here
requires a device that will convert the analog signal to
digital.
The
device I used and recommend is the ADVC-100 Advanced
DV Converter from
Canopus, which costs $270. The ADVC-100 converts VHS
and sVHS analog video to miniDV using its own custom hardware
Codec chip instead of using software and the processing power of
the PC. The output of the ADVC-100 is already miniDV video,
which gets connected to the IEEE1394 port of the PC. The only
significant difference between the output of the ADVC-100 and
that of a miniDV camcorder is that the capture software cannot
start and stop the playing of the VCR; you’ll have to manually
start and stop your captures. Therefore, I started capture
slightly before the point that would become the start of my
video clip and ended capture slightly after the point that would
become the end of my clip. Then I used the editing software to
trim the clip, as described below.
When using a VCR connected to the ADVC-100, you
will not need a TV to look at the playing tape, because the
capture software will display it in a window on the computer
monitor screen.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
