8 Capture Considerations: What to Look for in a Digitizer or Capture Card for Video (page 3)

A number of capture cards do more than just get video onto your computer. Cards like the Pinnacle Pro-ONE RTDV ($1,000) have special hardware that can assist your computer when dealing with challenging video processing tasks. Although computers are getting faster and faster, resulting in shorter and shorter waits for video renders, there is still room for hardware acceleration cards. These cards will bring real-time DV out performance to mid-range computers that formerly felt sluggish. The hardware acceleration features are only coordinated to work with a very limited number of software applications (e.g. Adobe Premiere), so you are out of luck if one of these apps is not your editor of choice.

Laptops are less than ideal editing platforms, but sometimes you just have to hit the road with your video. When you do, look for a device like the OrangeCombo USB 2.0/FireWire card ($119) from Orange Micro. Another nice advantage of adding two FireWire and two USB ports to your computer is that you can then also hook up a roomy external hard disk drive for video storage.

We've already alluded to software a couple of times, but it bears repeating. There obviously isn't much reason to capture video to your computer if you aren't going to edit it or burn it to DVD. Clearly you will need to make sure that the software that you want to work with can edit the video that you capture, but that usually is only an issue if you are working with a unique and special card (check the manufacturer's Web site to make sure or give them a call).

All but the least expensive capture cards come with some sort of editing software. Often, this software is enough for your first few projects, but you may find you want more features and capabilities later on. Professional software is not cheap, however, so look for video cards with attractive bundles. One example is the Matrox RT.X10 ($599), which comes with Adobe Premiere 6.5 ($549 by itself from Adobe). And we haven't even mentioned the other software in the box, including (but not limited to) an MPEG-2 encoder from Ligos, Pixelan effects, Sonic DVDit! SE and Sonic Desktop Smart Sounds. Matrox's software bundle is hardly unique, so before you dismiss a new video card as too expensive, make sure you consider the total package.

The Internet mega-stores will probably have the best prices on the Net, but if you are just starting out and are concerned that you don't know precisely what you need, we'd recommend you find a company that specializes in video products. Give them a call, tell them what you already have and tell them what you want to do. The time and trouble you save will be more than worth any extra money you spend. And, more often than not, the video-centric stores we've seen have better sale prices than the big boys anyhow.

Capture cards are the heart of any video-editing computer, so when you are shopping for an editing machine, you should start by considering what capture card you want. After you decide on the card you can then find a video vendor that can integrate the card into a full system. Some cards are very specialized (e.g. NewTek T[3]) and may require certified hardware, so a turnkey vendor may sometimes be the only way to guarantee compatibility.

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