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Is the Marvel the right choice?

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  • Is the Marvel the right choice?

    I'm looking for a video card that will let me record TV shows (30-60 minutes) onto my PC, edit out the ads, then send the edited version to VHS. Will the Marvel G400-TV be suitable for this?

    I have a few concerns that I hope some people can help me with.

    Firtly, does the bundled Avid Cinema program have the functionality to let me cut out the ads from a TV program easily? I can purchase Ulead MediaStudio Pro if required, so it isn't a major problem if Avid Cinema can't do it, but I'd prefer not having to spend the extra money.

    My second concern is the 2GB file limitation I've been hearing about. I read that while the Marvel can record larger files, there is an interruption of video during the file switch, which would be unacceptable for me. Is this limitation true, and if so is there a way around it? (e.g. using Ulead's video capture?)

    My final concern is rendering time. I've heard that rendering can be extremely slow (hours for a 60 minute video), but I've also read that rendering is only required when adding things like special effects and that there's no need to render when simply removing parts of a video. Is this correct?

  • #2
    IMHO the Marvel is perfect for this except for two small details. First, that you will need ~13GB/Hr for captures at best quality. Depending on your quality demands, you might get away with a factor of 2-4 less. Second is you'll need either Virtual Dub (free but didn't work on my system) or AVI_IO $25 shareware (best $25 I ever spent on software!) to get around the 2GB AVI file limit. These problems exist independent of the Marvel so anything you get will suffer them until we move to win2000 or "Millenium" (if you believe in vaporware and hype)

    Doing what you want is IMHO about the only thing the bundled AVID Cinema is good for. It is not effecient in disk space usage though. In my limited testing it looks to keep two copies of everything while working so you'll probably need a 27GB drive to do a full hour at best quality. Perhaps someone who actually uses AVID Cinema will correct me if I've mis-extrapolated from my limited trial of it.

    Rendering shouldn't be a problem, although some of AVID's copying could be mistaken for rendering.

    Best quality capture and back to tape is where the Marvel blows everything else out of the water. If only they'd write Win2000 drivers to take advantage of the new video file format that eliminates the 2G/4G win9x limitations on NTFS partitions.

    --wally.

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