Getting into affordable video editing.
Written: Jun 14 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy installation, VERY stable, fast rendering, DV in/DV out, and direct overlay.
Cons: Seamless capture doesn't work quite right sometimes.
The Bottom Line: I've used several DV capture cards, this is by far the best. Unparalled stability and user friendliness.
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| rootk's Full Review: Canopus DV Raptor |
Background
I bought this card to go in my new Dell 4100 866 MHz system. Installation of the card was quick and simple. No boot up problems or errors were encountered.
What's included
The Raptor Kit comes with the DV Raptor IEEE1394 firewire card, a set of S-video cables, a set of audio cables, and a composite video cable. Most importantly it comes with the full version of Adobe Premiere 5.1a (gotta go to Adobe's site to get patch c which fixes a lot of problems with release a)
Also is Canopus's own video editing software, but it's no where near as powerful or flexible as Premiere. Plus, this setup allows you to capture video directly in Premiere.
However, it is important to note that, even though video can be captured directly in Premiere, you still must use the "import" function to actually be able to use your clip in your project. This is no big deal, it's what you have to do if you use Raptor Video to capture video as well.
Batch Capturing
The thing I like most about this software/hardware combo is it allows me to batch capture footage. What you do is set up a list based on the timecode on tape and the software will control you cam and automatically capture only the footage you specify. If want to capture an entire tape, you just make your list based on the 2GB limit and go from there. This way while it is capturing, you can go buy the groceries, wash dishes, or whatever. Files are captured as Windows media files (avi's).
Seamless Capturing
This option will just record the tape all the way through onto your hard drive. The computer "knows" how long each segment should be at the 2GB limit, and sets up the timecode appropriately.
I have had audio problems when using this capture method... there is a "pffsst" sound between clips. It's really strange and I'm not sure why it does that. Yet.
Oddly enough some footage captures perfectly this way. Other times, the aforementioned noise occurs and no-one knows why.
Codec Speed
As I mentioned above, I use Premiere for doing all the editing. The rendering time using the Canopus codec seems to be a good bit quicker than the MotoDV Codec which I use to use. Time is money, so this is important. A lot of time is spent rendering and exporting files. The quicker your system is, the better off you'll be. I have other experience with Digital Origin's MotoDV Studio and Intro DV and I think the DVRaptor is superior.
Other
Another added bonus is, the Canopus bundle came with some extra nifty transition effects which can be used as plug-ins in Premiere.
Another nice thing is that it has this cool direct overlay feature. It uses a series of S-video analog connections on the card itself to preview full motion-large screen previews on your computer monitor with no slowdown whatsoever. The S-Video connection runs from your camcorder (in addition to the IEEE 1394 cable) and the card uses your cam codec to support this function. It works great.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a good high quality firewire card, I would definitely recommend the Canopus DV Raptor. Be sure to check the Canopus website, because they list all the tested and compatible equipment that will work with their cards.
NOTE
I noticed someone else said you had to have the camera connected in order to edit. THIS IS NOT TRUE. You can do it either way. To edit without the camera attached or on, you have to go to the Adobe Premiere plugins directory and remove the "pmdvraptor.prm" file.. place it on your desktop. DO NOT DELETE IT! This is what controls the editing mode in Premiere (ie DVRaptor or Windows Media). Once the file is placed on the desktop, you will be able to work in Windows Media Mode within Premiere. When you get ready to export your file back to tape, you'll have to place the file back in the plugins directory and switch to edit modes to DVRaptor and re-render everything. It's a bit of a hassle but I've been doing it for almost 6 months now and it works fine
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rootk
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Member: Java Boo Boo
Location: Decatur, Alabama
Reviews written: 83
Trusted by: 23 members
About Me:
These opinions have been supplied by me!
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