Capture Card

[wayupnth]

Can anyone tell me whether you really need a dedicated capture card and what advantages there are? I have just begun capturing video from a mini DV camera via firewire. I have a firewire/USB 2.0 PCI card in the computer. I've been using Adobe Premier Elements to capture. It seems that when I plug the camera in and open the software, I have no problems capturing to clips which I can easily edit. I must admit, I'm not sure the format of the captured clips but I think they are high resolution .avi. Is there any advantage to using a dedicated capture card +/- dedicated capture software?

Thanks

[toomanycats]

There's a thread under Genral Computing/ LCD monitor stopped working. I just recieved answer to your question and based on that I don't think you need a capture card. Your firewire will allow a lossless transfer of data. The capture software will just allow you more or less editing. Transformation to another format is another issue which I am afraid I am not qualified to answer but you cam to the right place. I would do a search on the specific format and what you wish to do with it.