1. Introduction

Over the summer of 2002,I wrote a small article outlining my experiences archiving VHS tapes using the Apple iMac and the Canopus ADVC-100. I’ve received several emails about the Canopus as well as possible setups for the Windows world. Thus I thought I would revisit this by looking at the Canopus ADVC-100 again and show a setup that I commonly use now for analog video sources that I want to capture in a Windows environment. What I will present here is the method by which I capture analog video and eventually create a DVD out of it. You’ll find descriptions of more than just the Canopus ADVC-100 but of various hardware and software components that are used along the way.

2. The Hardware and Software

In order for all of this to work, we’ll need to get the proper hardware and software pieces together. In the Windows world, there are so many different options to work with so the following components can encompass a number of different manufacturers and vendors.

2.1 VCR

Your analog video source can come from a variety of sources. In my particular case, I have a ton of VHS tapes that I would like to archive and thus, I needed a VHS deck to play back these tapes. I could have opted for a S-Video enabled VHS tape deck but I went cheap and just got a low end Sony VCR. If you have high quality analog video recordings then you may want to opt for a S-Video VCR.

My cheap Sony VCR

2.2 The Canopus ADVC-100

Perhaps the most critical piece of hardware is the device that will take the analog video and digitize it. In this particular case, it’s the Canopus ADVC-100. The ADVC stands for the Advanced Digital Video Converter and that essentially summarizes what the ADVC-100 does. It converts analog video sources to digital video sources and vice versa. The ADVC-100 was co-developed with NEC and uses a proprietary DV codec designed by Canopus. One of the key benefits of the ADVC-100 is the ability to lock audio and video signals as the video plays along over long stretches of time. A number of other devices often lose sync over time as a video source plays.

2.2.1 ADVC-100 Technical Specifications

Here are the technical specifications of the ADVC-100 as taken from the Canopus website.

Digital Video in/out
- 6pin S200 (200Mbps), 4pin S200 (200Mbps)

Analog Video in/out
- NTSC (525/60), PAL (625/50) S-video, composite

Audio in/out
- stereo unbalanced line level

Sampling Frequency
- 48kHz/16bit/2ch, 32kHz/12bit/4ch

Power Input
- DC5V

Power Supply
- DC5V AC Adapter AC100V/220V
Power Usage
- 5.5W

Size
- 146mm x 27.2mm x 120mm

2.2.2 ADVC-100 Ports

The ADVC-100 comes with a variety of audio/video ports both in the front and back of the case. The front contains all of the input jacks which include audio and video in as well as S-Video in. The front panel also contains a 4 pin firewire port which can be used for both input and output.

Front ports

The back of the ADVC-100 includes all the analog video/audio out ports including S-Video. A 6 pin Firewire port is found on the rear of the case as well.

Rear ports

For this setup we will be capturing analog video from the VCR and then outputting the digital video via the Firewire connector. This also means that my PC needs to have a firewire port and so will yours.

VCR hooked into the ADVC in the front

Below is a picture of the final setup that I had for the VCR and ADVC-100. You will also notice that I placed a Western Digital Firewire drive on top of the VCR for extra storage. The silver device on top of the ADVC-100 removes Macrovision - I'll get into that later on:

Final setup

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