Easycap Snapshot Usb 2.0 Video Capture With Audio + Dvd/Vcd Maker From Video Source

Croydo

at 10:37 pm

I purchased this for transfer from VHS to DVD.

My VHS machine has only a SCART output, so I used a scart to rca adaptor and a triple RCA cable (male to male) to go into the female rca inputs of the unit. I haven’t tried the S-VHS input. I then used a 10m usb extension cable (female to male) to go to the pc, which is a pentium 4 3.2GHz running XP pro SP3.

There are instructions on the box to install the drivers first (before plugging in the device), so I followed these and although the actual prompts were nothing like those described on the box, I was able to follow the instructions to confirm that the drivers had installed.

I then installed the Arcsoft Showbiz DVD 2 software and when I ran it in capture mode, it found the device, but said no video. I found the scart adaptor was switched to input rather than output and when fixed there was video and sound from the preview screen.

My first recording had no sound, but I found you had to select sound recording by ticking a check box. When I did this and set up the options there was sound on the recording. The problem is that if you come out of the capture software and go back to do another recording, the box has unchecked itself and you get no recorded sound even though you hear it while the recording is being made. This applies if you come out of the Arcsoft altogether or just switch to edit mode and then back, so it is easy to miss checking the box each time. If you can remember this, the recording is good quality, vision and sound, with the 352 by 576 lines mode being entirely adequate for putting VHS on DVD.

Pressing the big button on the device captures a single frame as a still picture file.

The editing mode is rather limited and if you try to use some of the slider controls, the pc goes off and thinks very hard for several minutes. You can import files to the software for inclusion in the editing, but it doesn’t know anything about 16:9, which is rather a limitation thse days.

The transfer to DVD and setting up the DVD menus part of the software is quite easy and gives a good result.

I have also used the EzCAP device with Ulead Videostudio 11plus and that works okay in many respects, but that software is not without its own issues – it doesn’t have the sound problem though.

To summarise: I can’t fault the EzCAP device, I think all the problems come from the software, although for less than £20 total it is very cheap.

Rating: 4 / 5

Terry Knight

at 11:37 pm

Bought one of these so that I could capture the output from a bird box camera on my laptop. I’m a novice when it comes to all this video processing stuff, so I was relieved and delighted when the device installed without any problem on my Vista laptop and within a short time I was watching the activity inside the bird box. All set for Spring now, when the baby birds appear and I can capture their development in video clips.

Very good service from ClimaxDigital (shame about the name!).
Rating: 5 / 5

N. Gray

at 3:52 am

I was looking for a simple unit which would allow me convert some old VHS tapes to DVD. Works great with full VHS resolution with interlacing. The only real problem that I encoundered was that my VHS machine outputs only a composite signal rather than S-Video through SCART – but as this unit has both, it was just a case of getting the right cable.

I use my own open source software for video editing – particularly useful if you have old tapes which have Macrovision signal problems. The software enclosed will not encode if it thinks that the tape has Macrovision protection, intended to prevent piracy. You may also encounter problems with dropped frames if your PC cannot convert the video or write to disc fast enough, but these can be overcome.

All in all, a great budget unit.
Rating: 5 / 5