The purpose of a video capture card is to transfer video footages into your computer for editing.
EDITING
Editing using a computer is relatively simple. Anyone with an interest and passion in videography will have no problems in picking up the basics within 2-3 days.
It's extremely powerful too. Almost all video editing packages allow you to do the following:
- Remove unwanted parts from the video
- Add titles
- Add music and sound effects
- Add your own narration
- Add computer generated graphics and animation
- Add special effects e.g. old-movie effects
- Combine video from various video footages
Not only that, with the proper hardware, you can transfer your finished video into DVD or VCD, or save it on a server so anyone around the world with a fast internet connection can watch your movie.
ANALOG & DIGITAL VIDEO
Video capture cards have to deal with two main types of video signals - analog and digital video.
Analog video would include your old wedding videos, video tapes shot using a non-digital camera, old VHS tapes recorded on your VCR, etc.
Digital video for the consumer refers to the video cameras you would have bought since 2001. You will see the familiar DV logo on the side of the camera. The tape format would be generally miniDV - it's about the size of a matchbox. There will also be some in the Digital8 or D8 format for Sony cameras. The D8 format, however, is not popular.
CAPTURE CARDS
Most capture cards are bundled together with video editing software so that the owner can capture AND edit out of the box.
Digital video requires a Firewire connection on the capture card to digitally (lossless) transfer the video footages into the hard disk. Better cards are versatile and will have the following connections on the card:
- Composite video input
- S-Video inputComponent video
- Balanced audio inputs
- Break-out box for convenience and extra input sources
- Dual Firewire IEEE 1394 In/Out connectors
STARTING OUT
To get into the "game", I would suggest that you invest in a better card. This will save you the frustration and cost of having to upgrade later. Your video quality will also be better as the components used, and their design, are generally better than the cheaper consumer cards.
Read reviews of the various video capture cards available in the market by doing a search in Google or Yahoo. Join newsgroups and forums on video editing.
Invest in a couple of good video editing magazines. You can get tons of tips and tricks there, and get you up to speed much faster than having to learn everything yourself.
HARDWARE
To edit video, you would need the following as a MINIMUM:
- 1 GHz Pentium computer
- 500MB RAM (1-2GB will even be better)
- A system hard disk (Drive C:) of 40GB
- A video/data hard disk of 100GB
- Sound card
- CD or DVD Burner
- 17 inch monitor
- A good motherboard with at least 5 free PCI slots
Today, Macs are ready to do video editing out of the box - though options are a little restricted in software and hardware.
IN CONCLUSION
Editing your video is almost a necessity if you want others to enjoy what you have shot. It's tremendously enjoyable and satisfying to create your own videos. I know because my business started out with my video editing hobby.
Be prepared to spend long, but enjoyable hours in front of your computer. At the same time, there will be frustrations when your hardware or software crashes - but those problems are also present in professional equipment.
Hang in there, and have a great time making your first block-buster.
