Capture cards from $400 - $2,000

• Pinnacle Liquid Edition Pro $1,000
• Matrox RT.X100 $1,099
• Canopus DVStorm $1,699

Stepping up to the workhorse level buys you lots of additional video processing capability. One area to look for is the color correction capabilities available in this level of card. Onboard color correction at the capture level can help you fix that indoor footage shot at an outdoor white balance settings and, ultimately, save you time.

Perhaps the primary feature of these cards is the integrated package you purchase, which likely won't just consist of basic hardware. Instead, you'll find most cards in this class bundled with a nice suite of add-on applications. Sometimes, you'll find that the complete hardware/software package doesn't cost much more that just the software by itself.

Pinnacle Liquid Edition, for example, comes with not just the capture hardware, but also with Commotion Pro for motion graphics effects, TitleDecoPro for upgraded titling and Impression Pro for burning DVDs.

Another product with a long-standing reputation is the Matrox product line. The RTX.100 has both NTSC & PAL capabilities and at just $1,099 has both Analog and DV inputs and outputs with some realtime 3D effects capabilities and a full suite of Adobe editing software. The board also has a great breakout box, making it easy to connect (and disconnect) your camcorder to your computer without crawling around under your desk and wrestling with cables in the dark.

The hallmark of the capture cards in this class is dedicated hardware rendering, purpose built to streamline the entire video editing process. You get lightning fast video processing, along with advanced input/output functions such as the ability to digitize not just analog and more resolutions of digital video streams, but high-resolution audio as well. Often, as with the Canopus DVStorm, you can get onboard MPEG-2 rendering, which means that you can either capture in DVD-ready MPEG format or convert your edited source video to MPEG in real time.

Capture Cards $2,000 and up

• Canopus DVREXRTPRO $4,499
• DPS Velocity DPSV3D-4500 $4,995

Okay, clearly if you're considering a purchase of capture cards costing more than $2,000, you're either a wealthy hobbyist or you're planning on using your video editing system for some real money-making work. And when your career is video, time is money.

Moving into the top tier of thoroughbreds means that you can expect the fastest possible video throughput. State of the art capabilities should also be present for everything from color correction to handling lots and lots of tracks of video and audio all with real-time previews and live video output. Additional capabilities include quick hardware encodes to MPEG for DVD mastering.

At the top of the heap, you should also look for the raw horsepower to allow you to send virtually any stream of video through your system, from simple DV to uncompressed HD. Check the inputs and outputs on these cards and look for SDI and component inputs and outputs as well as uncompressed capture and processing. If you don't need this sort of interface (or don't know what we're talking about), you don't need one of these cards.

Whether your needs are modest capture card ride for pleasure or if you're looking for the video equivalent of a Triple Crown winner, one thing is certain: The race is on.

Bill Davis writes, shoots, edits, and does voiceover work for a variety of corporate and industrial clients.