Taking it Digital: Video Capture Devices (page 3)
Not Created Equally
There is a vast range of capture cards and digitizers available. Deciding on the right one takes some analysis. The first thing to do is figure out the type of inputs and outputs you need (analog, digital or both). Then look at the system requirements it takes to run them. Our buyer's guides list the minimum, so you might want to have a beefier system to get optimum performance from the card you purchase.
Whether or not you need audio capture is important to consider, as well as whether you need editing software and how extensive that software should be. You can check out our March 2001 issue for the latest editing software buyer's guide. In general, you can use our grids to compare the facts and then look in past issues or on our Web site (www.videomaker.com) to see if we reviewed them. The most important thing is to start editing!
