Elgato Video Capture – USB 2.0 Capture Card Device, Easy to Use, Convert Analog to Digital, with VHS VCR TV to DVD Adapter, for Mac, Windows or iPad

I have an old 8 mm Sony camera that used FireWire for uploading the video to a computer. It worked great on windows XP. But when Windows 7 released it was glitchy, and I’ve never been able to get it to work on windows 10. It also has a component video audio out port. That is a small 2 1/2 mm plug that adapts to the yellow red white component video connections. It is an amazing old camera but technology moved away from fire wire. I sent the camera to a high-end camera shop that cleaned and tested it. I read a number of Internet blogs on how to make fire wire work with windows 10. I download countless drivers, tried numerous configurations, and it would not upload video. I finally gave up on the FireWire cable, and purchase the Pinnacle Dazzle component video capture device. Years ago I had pinnacle studio 14 and loved the program so I had high hopes this would work, but it did not. Driver issues and all kinds of glitchy gave me countless hours of troubleshooting to no avail . I was really frustrated! I was really getting worried since I have about 50 tapes spanning 35 years I need to digitize and preserve. Nearly 100 hours of memories. After watching an excellent YouTube video about this Elgato device I took one more chance and purchased it . It’s the best $90 I’ve ever spent. I hooked up the device to the component video on my camcorder, went to their website and download the Software for the capture device. I double clicked the software, and there’s four simple steps. 1. name the video click next. 2. Push play on the camera to make sure the video is coming through on the screen. once you see the video click next.3. Confirm you have sound. You can hear the sound when it comes through and there’s a 2 bar scale at the bottom of the page for the right and the left channel of sound. Once you have sound push the red button that says record.4. Wait for the entire video to play which most tapes can run up to two hours and once the video is finished click stop recording. No joke it’s that simple! They had some nice features like muting the sound so if you want to upload the video while you’re doing other work you’re not distracted by the sound. If you know your video on the cam corder is only a 60 minute tape you can automatically stop recording the video at 60 minutes so you can leave your computer and not have to worry about being there to stop it. There’s another simple area that will allow you to adjust the contrast brightness and other settings of the video to try to improve it. I played with this for a little while but found the default setting is the best for my videos. Depending on your computer it takes a short while to render for finalize the video and store it on your hard drive or which ever device you are saving it to. I have a New computer with the Intel I9 processor and and Nvidia 3070 graphics card and a 2 hour video takes about three minutes to process which is incredible! Each hour of 8mm video takes about 1 GB of memory. In the past two weeks I’ve uploaded nearly 25 of these two hour videos directly onto my NAS! I highly recommend anybody with a component video VHS or 8 mm camcorder or anything with the yellow red white cable that wants to save their memories to buy this device! Spend the $90 for this particular one since Elgato’s capture software is the secret sauce! There are hundreds of these devices for sale that look pretty much the same and there only $15. Don’t get fooled by a cheap price! If pinnacle studio can’t get the dazzle device correct I can’t imagine a $15 cheap knock off will get the software correct. Thank you El Gato! You have a very reliable very easy and excellent product! My children in their 30s and my grandchildren are enjoying watching all of these videos through my Apple TV!

I just bought the Elgato Video Capture and I absolutely love it. It's dead simple and does exactly what I want.In the box:- Elgato Video Capture hardware- Elgato Video Capture software CD-ROM (for Mac 10.5.8+ and Windows 7)- Cyberlink PowerDirector 8 CD-ROM- Proof of purchase key (on the Video Capture software CD envelope, which I never had to type in anywhere for some reason)- Composite-to-SCART adaptor- Composite video/RCA stereo cable (which is only three feet long, so you may want to invest in a longer cord)Something to keep in mind if you're going to purchase this used like I did, the one I bought came with everything but the Cyberlink PowerDirector 8 CD and the composite to SCART adaptor, so I can't comment on either of those items. But I believe if you have iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, you probably won't need the PowerDirector program. Also, although I don't intend to install this on Windows (especially considering my laptop is running Vista, not 7), I'm very happy that this device works on both Mac and Windows.Setup (I'm using an Intel iMac, running Leopard 10.5.8 with 4GB RAM):Setup was quick and painless: connect the composite cables into the back of the device you want to record from (in my case, the TV 1 area on the back of my DVR). Connect the other ends into the Elgato capture hardware and then plug the USB into a USB port on your computer. Then install the application by putting the CD in and then dragging the app icon into the /Applications folder. Boom, done.The Software:The app itself is very straightforward and I haven't had any issues with it crashing or hanging. The app is in a setup format:Screen 1: Naming the video file and choosing how long the recording will be. The time length option is only for letting you know how many MB the final file will be, rather than a time restriction.Screen 2: Selecting the video input and aspect ratio. Here, you can select if the video input is S-Video or Composite and if the aspect ratio is 4:3 or 16:9. Personally, I would play around with the aspect ratio to get the best looking picture. For instance, even though my TV is a widescreen, I chose 4:3 in the app and adjusted my TV to stretch 4:3 (non-HD) video across the screen (making it 16:9) and that was the best choice for video quality (in my opinion). I used 16:9 in the app to record a 16:9 (HD) video. It really depends, so I would suggest doing a couple of tests with different settings to see what will give you the best video quality.Screen 3: Audio check. Nothing to do here except make sure you have sound.Screen 4: Recording. There are two checkboxes for automatically stopping the recording after 10 minutes and muting the sound (not of the recording but of the playback over your computer speakers) and a large red record button. There is next to no lag time when you press the record button. Also, there's a timer at the bottom of the screen that shows how long you've been recording, as well as how large the file is becoming (which is very helpful to know). A 30 second clip is about 6mb, so make sure you have plenty of space on your hardrive.Screen 5: Viewing and trimming the video. If you recorded too much, you can trim the beginning and end (no ability to trim video from the middle). You don't have to utilize this feature if you plan on editing in iMovie later but it's very helpful if you just want to trim, export and go.Screen 6: Once you make it to this page, the video will export to the location of your choice (which you can choose in the Preferences pane). This screen lists where the file was saved, as well as giving you options to play the video in Quicktime Player, add to iTunes, edit with iMovie and upload to Youtube (the app stays open if you choose any of the options). At the bottom are two buttons to exit the app or begin the process again.The Preferences are also short and sweet:Tab 1: Choose where the videos will be saved, which format the video will be (Automatic, MPEG-4 or H.264) and a checkbox for checking for updates automatically [haven't had any updates (and I probably won't since I'm on Leopard) but I feel better knowing that updates will come in the app rather than requiring me to go searching all over].Tab 2: Video adjustments (Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Hue controlled by percentage sliders, which you can adjust while watching the video, before recording)Tab 3: Audio adjustments (Volume)Video and Audio Quality:Here are some screencaps showing the video quality:Screencap of a 4:3 recording (originally 4:3 video stretched to 16:9 on the TV): [...]Screencap of a 4:3 recording (originally 4:3 video kept at 4:3 on the TV): [...]Screencap of a 16:9 recording (originally 16:9 video kept at 16:9 on the TV): [...]I was worried the video quality wouldn't be very good, based on some of the reviews, but I'm very happy with it. It's not HD quality but I didn't expect it to be (you're using composite cables... can't get much better than 480i). It's slightly fuzzy but otherwise, very acceptable for my purposes (I just wanted to archive some clips on my computer, not burn Blu-ray quality video to disc). Compared to the Dazzle DVC 80 I used to use long ago, this is much better. I'd give the video quality a 4.5 out of 5. The audio quality is superb.Negatives (nitpicks, really):- I don't like that the app always creates a new folder in the /Documents folder called EyeTV Archive. There's nothing in it... so why is it there? It's harmless enough but I just hate when programs create folders unasked.- I wish the input source and audio check screens were located in the preferences pane instead of the main app. Once it's set up, I don't need to adjust the input (it is what it is) or audio (I can hear the audio through my computer speakers when I'm on the record screen so I'll know if the audio is working or not). It's just a bit of a waste, having to run through those screens every time.Overall:I fell in love with this device after five minutes and I think you will, too. It does what it says it will and it does it well.