Camcorder User Review Rated:

By Anonymous: You can't archive your precious analogue tapes to DVD without first converting them to DV. Colin Barrett assesses the latest unit designed to do just that, the Canopus ADVC-100
Many editing systems contain capture cards that support both analogue and digital capture. If, however, you've bought a new video-ready PC or any recent Mac, you'll probably be faced with having to somehow get your signals in via a Firewire socket. With the increasing use of recordable DVD and S-VCD in the latest desktop video editing systems, hardware manufacturers are tackling the problem of analogue to digital conversion in a big way, with an increasing range of standalone units.

Already established as a producer of some of the better capture hardware cards for PC, Canopus has now launched just such a unit designed to interface with any Firewire-equipped device, the ADVC-100 Advanced DV Converter.

Way in, way out
This new Canopus unit is perhaps the smallest of all the desktop converters. Not only that but it's possibly the cheapest, too. What it offers is the ability to convert a wide range of analogue signals to digital, and vice versa. If you have a recording on VHS, Video8 or Hi8 tape and you need to get your footage into your Firewire-equipped DTV system, you'll be able to plug your camcorder or VCR into the ADVC-100 and play in your signals. Connecting the unit to the computer is a Firewire cable - and it's this that will carry your footage as a DV-compatible datastream into the computer.

The big advantage of a standalone unit rather than a dedicated card requiring installation into a computer's spare PCI slot is that it can be used anywhere, anytime. In this respect, the Canopus ADVC-100 is perfect. What's more, it delivers good quality at very low cost.

Get connected
Setting up the device and getting connected is fast and trouble-free. Included in the package is a brief but well-written user manual describing not only how to use the unit (that's straightforward enough), but also explaining the range of settings possible. Essentially, the unit offers several sockets to which input and output sources can be connected. In short, it's possible to connect S-video, composite video (via phono sockets) and the whole range of DV-based formats - not just mini DV and Digital8 but also DV cam and DVCPRO. Furthermore, the unit can be operated with several inputs occupied all at the same time. The unit can be used with NTSC or PAL inputs, automatically sensing each upon connection of the source.

The mains powered unit auto senses the input source, and the user manual provides details of the unique input priority order for connection (S-video on the front panel first, followed by composite video (front) and finally S-video/composite at the back. Audio inputs are via twin phono connectors at the front and a 3.5mm stereo jack at the rear. Finally, Canopus wisely supplies two Firewire in/out ports - one at the front and one at the back. The former is of the small 4-pin type (similar to that found on camcorders), with the rear connection being the larger 6-pin type (as found on many capture cards). This is particularly useful as some camcorders come supplied with 4-pin to 4-pin cables, whereas many capture systems possess the 6-pin type. In addition, many computers (Macs in particular) all come supplied with 4-pin to 6-pin cables. The unit itself is supplied with a 4-pin to 6-pin cable.

In order to test the unit's ability to convert analogue Video8 footage to digital, we connected up a Sony TRV35E Video8 camcorder (composite video and mono audio output) to a Packard Bell Video Dre@m Machine via its built-in Firewire ports with the aim of capturing video using Pinnacle's Studio 7 editing program. After an initial teething problem where the unit was only switched on after starting the program (with the result that we couldn't see an output from the camcorder), we closed the program and then re-opened into a New Project. The program then displayed the tell-tale blue screen, indicating that it was seeing the source properly. Of course, unlike DV, we have no device control and can't control the cam's functions with the on-screen buttons and mouse. However, this is a small sacrifice since, once capturing, Studio 7 will create new icons for each new clip using a scene-change detector.

Having recently tested a range of similar devices, including the Dazzle DV Bridge, the Formac Studio and the DAC-1, we have to conclude that the quality of conversion by the Canopus unit is very good. Given the fact that we were converting Video8 footage, it has to be said that the images - both static and moving - were well-defined and crisp. Using the DV Bridge, recently converted footage looked decidedly soft and less well resolved in comparison. Not only that, but colour rendition appears to be better, with less bleed from saturated colours like reds and blues. As a further test, we used the unit to capture a music show off-air (looping through a VCR via SCART and triple phono connections into the ADVC-100) and we were impressed at the how well the unit's digital signal processor (DSP) circuits worked against the odds to hold on to fast-moving detail. In a similar test, the Dazzle DV Bridge produced reasonable detail that was somewhat woolly in places. The ADVC-100 did produce some moiré effects and jaggies on scenes with a lot of linear detail, but this is as much a PAL artefact as a fault with the unit. Some slight pixellation and edge-bearding was noticeable in underlit scenes, too, especially where reds were predominant.

Testing times
The unit came just as we were shooting test sequences with Sony's latest DCR-IP7 MICROMV format cam. As CU readers will know, this new format records not DV but an MPEG2 datastream to very small cassettes. It has a comprehensive set of analogue and digital inputs - which is just as well because there's no sensible way of getting a digital signal out via the cam's Firewire port. Daft though it might sound, it's true. The only practical option for most of us is to output signals via the cam's analogue socket. The IP7 comes supplied with an all-in-one multiway analogue cable, which we duly connected to the ADVC-100 in order to capture MPEG2 video into a DTV system. However, the ADVC-100 enabled us to mix MPEG2 footage (albeit as analogue) with DV in one project with minimal degradation. Mac users can take comfort in the knowledge that the unit also works well with all Firewire equipped Macs we used the Canopus to capture from Betacam-SP (BNC composite analogue output) into a 500MHz G3 Powerbook and iMovie2 without problems.

The unit facilitates output to a whole range of analogue devices as well, from a simple TV monitor to a VHS recorder and even professional-quality Betacam machines. If you're seeking to play DV sources into a video presentation mixer, the ADVC-100 will provide the interface for you. If you a need line-up signal, it even has a Colour Bar generator built in. More specific setups (eg: for DV Cam) can be obtained using a set of DIP switches, all of which are explained in the manual.

Flashy finale
The latest in an increasing line of such devices, there's no doubt that Canopus has waited to see what the competition had to offer before stepping into the limelight with a product that not only lives up to the company's reputation for high quality and reliable products but is also one of the cheapest. At just under £170, this surely has to be a must-have product for those seeking a high-quality video conversion solution.