External Capture Devices

QuickVideo Transport
QuickVideo Transport by Alaris (www.alaris.com) is a kit that comes with an external device that connects to your parallel port. The device can capture full-motion video from any incoming video source, like a camcorder, VCR, or digital video camera. It comes with Asymetrix's Digital Video Producer, videoconferencing software, and Alaris' Videogram for creating self-playing movies that you can send to other users. Videograms can be shrunk so that you can cram 1MB of video into every minute.

QuickVideo Transport is a good, easy, and inexpensive way to capture video, but is not meant for professionals-it can capture a full motion 320 240 movie at 30 fps. A higher-end option called QuickVideo Pro uses an ISA video card and can capture full-screen video (640 480) at 30 fps. Both versions come with basic editing tools, so you may need to add a more powerful editor like one of those mentioned elsewhere in this chapter.

Dazzle and Snazzi
Dazzle and Snazzi by LA Vision (www.la-vision.com) are two video capture kits that are trying to tap into the new consumer-oriented video audience. Both kits come bundled with plenty of good software specifically tailored to newcomers. Both work the same, but Snazzi comes with an internal PCI capture board that is capable of video/audio input and output and has a few more programs included. Dazzle is the more entry-level version that only has input capability and connects to your parallel port.

Both support composite (RCA) and S-Video inputs so you can capture audio or video from any device, like a DVD, VCR, laserdisc, camcorder, or DAT machine. Snazzi uses the MPEG-1 format, which compresses video up to 200 times. Snazzi comes with MetaCreations' Kai's Power Goo SE (to manipulate still images), Gryphon Morph (morph), Adobe PhotoDeluxe (professional photo editor), Ulead MediaStudio 2.5 (professional video editor), Cinax iFilmEdit Video Editor (home editor), InterActual Screen Saver (creates video screensavers), Stefra Video Control (for sending photo or video email), VDOPhone (videoconferencing), Astound Studio M (multimedia presentations), and CeQuadrat WinOnCD (to press and create CDs). Dazzle comes with slightly fewer programs.

Dazzle and Snazzi are available for Windows95. Dazzle costs $299 and Snazzi lists for $399. With their broad range of software, they make good purchases for beginners and intermediate users.

AVerMedia MPEG Wizard
MPEG Wizard by AVerMedia (www.avermedia.com) is an external solution that comes with its own MPEG-1 encoder. It connects to your parallel port and captures 352 240 video at 30 fps. It comes with a software suite including the Net Toob Stream multimedia player, i-FilmEdit for editing movies, and Kai's Power Goo for morphing and manipulating still images. AVerMedia's MPEG Wizard is available for Windows 3.1 and 95 and costs $300. AVer also makes a higher-priced kit called EZCapture, which uses a PCI video capture card.

Python
Like the rest, Python from Videonics (www.videonics.com) is an external system that connects to your parallel port. It has an MPEG-1 encoder that converts video in real time. It is available for Windows95 for $350, and it bundles Astound multimedia presentation software and Kai's Power Goo for morphing video stills.

Buz Multimedia Producer
By the time you read this, Iomega Corp. (www.iomega.com) will have released its Buz Multimedia Producer ($200). It consists of a video capture card, Ultra SCSI controller and an easy-to-use software suite including MGI Software's VideoWave SE Plus.
 

Video Capture Cards

Broadway PC Video Maker
Broadway by Data Translation, Inc. (www.b-way.com) is a video card that performs MPEG-1 video capture and has video output. It is also well suited to encoding streaming file formats. It comes with Ulead's MediaStudio VE video editing software, VDOLive On-Demand encoder, and Progressive Networks' RealVideo encoder. Broadway is a plug-and-play, half-size PCI card that costs $995 and is available for Windows95 and NT.

Osprey Video Cards
MultiMedia Access Corporation (www.mmac.com) makes a wide range of video capture cards under the Osprey name. They are available for UNIX and Windows platforms. Among their products are:

Osprey-100. A low-cost, full-motion PCI video capture card for Windows95 and NT. The Osprey-150 is a similar product available for the Sun Ultra 30 workstation.

Osprey-1000. A higher-priced PCI video/audio board, which is also available as the Osprey-1500 for UNIX Sun Ultra-30 platforms and as the Osprey-1100 for Sun Solaris workstations.

Bravado 1000
Truevision's (www.truevision.com) Bravado 1000 video capture card is a PCI-based card for Windows95 that costs $1,095 and includes a copy of Adobe Premiere 4.2, a nonlinear video editing software. It can capture 30 fps at 640 480 resolution and supports a wide range of compression ratios, from 5:1 to 100:1. Unfortunately, the Bravado doesn't have integrated sound, so you'll need an ISA card if you want audio.

WinTV
WinTV by Hauppauge (www.hauppauge.com) makes it possible to view TV on your computer. It has a 125-channel tuner. It is for Windows95 and NT and is compatible with Intel's Intercast technology.

Videum Capture Card
Winnov (www.winnov.com) makes popular capture cards and videoconferencing cameras that can be used on desktop Windows computers and laptops. Videum is one line it sells for low-end use.

ComputerEyes 1024
ComputerEyes by Digitial Vision, Inc. (www.digvis.com), makes a wide variety of capture cards for Windows and Macs.

All-in-Wonder 3D
The All-in-Wonder by ATI Technologies (www.atitech.ca) is a multifunction card for Windows95. It combines a 3-D card, graphics accelerator, TV tuner card, and capture card into one product. ATI also makes the Xclaim VR, a QuickTime capture card for Macs.

Smart Video Recorder III
Long a standard, Intel's Smart Video Recorder III (www.intel.com) capture card is a beginner-type card made for Windows computers.

Supra VideoKit
Diamond Multimedia (www.diamondmm.com) makes a wide variety of multimedia products, including graphics accelerators and video capture cards.

miroMotion DC20
Miro (www.miro.com) makes capture cards that are bundled with software for Macs and Windows systems. Most come with input and output plugs for recording back to tape.

VideoBlaster SE 100
Creative Labs (www.creativelabs.com), makers of the popular SoundBlaster sound cards, also makes other multimedia cards and capture cards like the VideoBlaster.

DigiSuite
Matrox (www.matrox.com) makes high-end digital editing systems for professional editors, as well as graphics cards and accelerators. DigiSuite is its capture device/video editing software solution for use on Windows NT computers.

VideoVision
VideoVision is a PCI capture card made by Radius, Inc. (www.radius.com). It is made for professional use only since it carries a price tag of almost $4,000. Radius sells other less-expensive cards as well.

STB TV PCI Television Tuner
STB (www.stb.com) makes a wide range of graphics accelerators and boards, including 3-D boards. Its TV PCI Tuner is used for watching TV on your computer.
 

Video Editing Software

Premiere 4.2
Adobe (www.adobe.com) makes the premiere video editing program, Premiere 4.2, most often used by professional video editors. It isn't so difficult that beginners can't use it, but it does have a steep learning curve.

What makes it great for the purposes of this book is that there are plug-ins available that support streaming video and audio. There are plug-ins available for ClearVideo, RealVideo, TrueStream, VDOLive, and VivoActive. By using Premiere as your encoder, you have more edit controls and can customize the video clip to exactly what you want. The encoders that comes with the respective vendors are just encoders, they don't have any video editing controls.

Another plus is that Premiere is a cross-platform program, available for Macs, Windows 3.1, Windows95, and NT. It is pricey ($600), so only truly dedicated video professionals may want to spend the money.

MediaStudio 5.0
Ulead Systems Inc. (www.ulead.com) makes this popular video editing program. Earlier versions were often bundled with capture boards so some users may already be familiar with it. In its latest version, it is much improved and it rivals even Adobe Premiere 4.2. It has many features, including titling tool, a powerful audio editor, video capture, and a paintbrush program. It even supports FireWire.

The most important feature of MediaStudio is that it is compatible with a large number of streaming formats, including RealMedia, VDOLive, NetShow, ClearVideo, Vivo, and VXtreme formats. It is available for Windows95 and NT for about $500.

Kohesion
in:sync Kohesion (www.kohesion.com) is a good, strong editor available for Windows95. Kohesion also makes a powerful Windows NT package that's used for broadcast video.

Digital Video Producer
Asymetrix (www.asymetrix.com) makes Digital Video Producer, which contains many professional features but without all those confusing windows that clutter those professional programs. Its timeline interface supports drag-and-drop use and it automatically applies transitions to overlapping video tracks. DVP is available for Windows 95/NT for about $79.

Lumiere Studio
Lumiere Studio is an easy-to-use system that doesn't scrimp on big features. You can add titles, filters, and over 60 transitions. Lumiere offers drag-and-drop functionality and comes with a large library of royalty-free, ready-to-use audio and video clips. It is available for Windows95 and NT for $79.95. Lumiere was originally made by Corel Corp, but was later sold to IMSI (www.imsisoft.com). It was not yet known if Lumiere would go through a name change. Check with IMSI for updated information.

VideoWave
MGI Software Corp.'s (www.mgisoft.com) VideoWave is an easy, inexpensive video editing program. It costs just $99 and is a good choice for budget users. It can capture video and create AVI, QuickTime, and MPEG movies. It also has special effects and overlays as well as a good number of transitions and even chromakey. It has a comprehensive video tutorial to help inexperienced users and helps you manage your multimedia library.

VideoShop 3D
Strata Inc. (www.strata3d.com), makes VideoShop, a powerful video editor. It is only available for Macintosh systems. It can capture video and output them as QuickTime movies.