Digital Camcorder/Video Capture Card/Video Card recommendations

[wready99]

A friend I am helping is looking to start a website where she will be doing live cooking shows. She has a pretty good amount of money to spend and she is most likely going to get a Sony digital camcorder. Can anyone recommend a video capture card and video card to go along with it? She wants me to build her a computer specially for this task. Also, if anyone thinks we should go with a brand other than Sony I would be interested in hearing that as well.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Will

 

[calbars]

Sony is fine (i have one...). If you want something more pro, you can get a 3-ccd camera with interchangable lenses, like the canon xl1. But the best investment you can make is buying 3 spots to properly light the set!

As for capture card and software... Any OHCI compliant firewire card should do the trick, but some capture cards have features that are missing in cheap cards (better soft dv codec, RGB->601 clamping control, etc.). Though it is a bitch to configure, i like the EditDV/Digital Origin firewire card combo. The software is really easy to use. Digital Origin Site

If the person doing the capture/editing is a novice, I would also recommend you look at an Apple G4 with Final Cut software. The firewire adapter is built in, it's easy to use and it's rock solid.

If you don't want to build the system or if you want to see the specs of similar systems, go see promax's web site.

 

[wready99]

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I had not thought about going Apple but after looking at the site you mentioned I might suggest she just buys one of the FireMAX Studio kits with the camera as well She is a novice she the easier the software is for her, the better it will be. Lighting is definitely being considered as well.

Thanks again,

Will

 

[Radboy]

Linkage

Mas