The Studio DC10+ is actually a very powerful capture card bundled with Pinnacle's incredibly easy to use Studio non linear editor. While the Studio software is simple, it does offer a full range of features including titling, special effects and timeline playback. At a street price under $200, I can't think of a product I would more highly recommend for the beginning non linear edtor. Studio DC10+ is perfect as a gift for your creative teenager, Uncle Harry who never leaves home without his camcorder, new parents wanting to show off the kids, or world travelers who want to share the adventures of their journeys. Sure the software isn't as powerful or professional as Premiere, but this card is a great place to start digital video editing.

Fast AV Master2000 No longer available

The AV Master 2000 is the third bundle version of the original AV Master card. It now ships with the full version of Ulead's Media Studio Pro 5.2 & Cool 3D animated titling program. The AV Master was the first PCI card with built on audio for perfect sync, the first card with it's own custom capture interface (fastCap), the first card with memory caching to smooth playback in slower systems( avi cache) and one of the first cards with timeline playback (PowerPlay). Today what you get with the AV Master 2000 is a proven, stable performer that runs on Windows 98 and NT equally as well. While the 640x480 capture size is slightly smaller then today's 720x480 cards, the video quality at 4+ megs per second is more then adequate for the prosumer video work. I've also found that the Ulead software is easier to learn for beginners and has a ton of very cool features that set it apart from Premiere.

Pinnacle DC30pro $499.95

Like the AV Master, this is the third version of this card. The current bundle is loaded. You get the dc30+ hardware (704x480 capture, 7 megs per second) and a breakout box. But most importantly you get the full version of Adobe Premiere 5.1, Pixelan Video SpiceRack transitions, Pinnacle's own TitleDeko titling software and Sonic Foundry's ACID audio software for creating your own background audio tracks using loops. You also get Instant Video 5.0 for timeline playback which integrates seemlessly into Premiere 5.1. Let me make it simple for you. If you have an analog camcorder and you want to edit video using Adobe Premiere, get the DC30pro. For under $1000 there isn't a better solution.

Pinnacle DC50 $1299

The DC50 is the big brother of the DC30Pro. What does big brother have that little brother doesn't? Component video, ProVTR device control for Betacam decks and Adobe After Effects. This makes the DC50 a very serious bundle, capable of handling very sophisticated, commercial editing. If you have betacam equipment or you need to input or output component video, the DC50 is the card for you. The DC50 breakout box includes balanced audio as well as composite, S-Video and component in and out. If you only shoot with S-Video, then for the price difference I think the DC30Pro is a better choice, unless of course you plan on buying After Effects. At that point even an S-Video editor may find the DC50 bundle too great a value to pass up.

Analog MPEG capture cards

Pinnacle Studio MP10 $179.95 No longer available

Pinnacle's low cost MPEG1 editing solution. What sets it apart from the Dazzle product is the Studio editor, which lets you fully edit your MPEG video. You get all the same great features as the Studio DC10+, but the video is MPEG1. This means it is ideal for web, presentation and CD Rom. The video output quality to tape is actually quite good for MPEG1, but still no where near as good the DC10+. Studio MP10 includes a light version of Minerva Impresison CD Authoring software which lets you create a basic interactive CD.

Dazzle DVC USB $249.95

Not all video editing is for output to tape. Today video is used in presentations, streamed over the web and burned onto CD ROMS. For these activities the DVC is a great choice, especially the new USB Internet version. If you've got a less then 2 year old computer or laptop with Windows 98 and a USB jack, then this product is a fantastic choice. In fact, it is for now the only product I recommend for use with a laptop. The video captured is MPEG1, so the output to tape quality is limited to VHS at best, but MPEG is ideal for web, CD and multimedia. The Internet version comes with real video producer, so you can actually capture, edit and create web streaming videos with it. Bets of all, it is a fully external product. No boards to install!! A very cool gadget for well under $300!

Dazzle DVC2 $299.95

This next generation card from Dazzle uses the same C-Cube technology that is found in the best selling DV500 and RT2000. It is analog only, but the video quality is great and it is very easy to use and set up.

DataTranslation Broadway $699.95

Broadway has always been our top recommendation for making MPEG1 video. It gives you good control of the MPEG encoding so you can optimize your video quality at low data rates. The new Broadway has full support for web streaming. You can use it to Make realvideo or Microsoft ASF files. It can also be used for live video streaming.

Vitec DVD Cut Machine DCM $749.95

This is the product many would be DVD and CD ROM authors have been waiting for. Encode either MPEG1 or MPEG2 video in real-time. MPEG2 files are completely DVD compliant. Video Clip softwarelets you edit the MPEG files, and DVD Toolbox lets you author CDROMs, VCD or DVD.

Vitec Profiler $2995

Seems that many folks have been looking for an affordable MPEG2 encoding card that supports component video. THe Profiler is just what you've been looking for. The perfect addition to teh BetaCam editing suite.

Canopus Amber DVD $2995

Amber is not actually a non linear editing system, but it is a video capture card. It lets you input composite or SVHS video and encode it in real time into spectacular broadcast quality MPEG2 video at extremely low data rates. Canopus positions Amber as the ideal video archiving and mastering solution. For under $300 you get the Amber and Spruce's professional Virtuoso DVD authoring software. Amber can be used with either a DV Raptor or DV Rex to create a complete non linear and MPEG2 production system. You can take files created with either card and have Amber convert them into MPEG2 in real-time. The next driver upgrade will allow you to go directly from teh Rex timeline to MPEG2. In the summer Canopus will be introducing a low cost Amber aughter card for the RexRT.

DV/FireWire cards

ADS Pyro $99.95

This new entry into the marketplace lets anyone with a DV camcorder and a fast computer edit video for well under $200. Pyro ships with Uleads Video Studio, a very nice, user friendly NLE program that while limited, does get the job done. The Pyro is also strictly a Win98 product with Win2000 drivers coming later this year. But hey, for the price, you can't beat it for just messing around with DV. Sure, you are going to outgrow it, but it'll get you started.

Pinnacle Studio DV $99.95

Studio DV gives you all the great features of the Studio software, including its ease of use. You also get avery cool utility called Smart Capture. This lets you digitize your video in low res files (150Mb / hour), edit it then recapture it at full DV resolution for your final output. Pretty cool feature!

Digital Origin IntroDV $149.95

Intro DV is the simplest way for you to capture and edit DV footage. It has the added bonus of an output to web button adn teh ability to upgrade to Edit DV down the road.

Canopus EZDV $199.95

EZDV is Canopus' stripped down, low cost version of the Raptor. The included EZ DV editing software has a very strong resemblance to Raptor Edit. While you don't get aton of features, you do get Canopus' rock solid drivers and stability.

Pinnacle DV200 $399.95

DV200 is another great card for under $400. What sets the DV200 apart from the other low end cards is that you get the complete DV Tools utility that lets you autoscan, log and batch capture your DV footage. If you are one of those videographers who has no problem shooting an entire 60 minute DV tape per day, these features are awesome. You also get INSTANT video timeline playback, an incredible feature for a product at this price range. This makes the DV200 a great choice for those getting started and the perfect addition for DC30/30+/30pro owners wanting to migrate to DV. DV200 now ships with the FULL version of Adobe Premiere 5.1 making it an exceptional value!!

ADS Pyro Pro $399.95

Now you can have a low cost DV card with a complete NLE app, Media Studio Pro 6, plus a ton of additional software. Of all the OHCI cards out there, the Pyro is the best performer and most stable. With the Pyro Pro you get a fully featured bundle that is still very easy to use.

Canopus DV Raptor $469.95

The Raptor comes in many flavors. We have it available with Premiere, MS Pro 6 or Edit DV. You can choose any one, two or all three. The DV Raptor is the ONLY DV card on the market that gives you a choice of NLE app. I think that tells you something about the stability and compatibility of this hardware. Canopus has done an incredible job with the DV soft CODEC. It renders quicker then the other software CODEC cards. The other big feature that sets the DV Raptor apart from the competition is its unique DV loop through. This very clever feature uses the DV cam to decode the DV signal and as a result lets you overlay your DV video in full size, full motion on your computer screen. To take advantage of the Raptors full screen preview, you must have a DV device hooked up to it. If you don't hook up a DV cam, it still works great, you just get the same limited preview size as all the other cards on the market. Another very cool feature of the Raptor is seemless capture which lets you capture up to the full capacity of your hard drive in one pass. This is a work around of the 2GB file limit, using a 'virtual' avi file that links multiple 2GB files into a single continuos file.

Digital Origin Moto DV Studio 2.0 $499.95No Longer Available

This bundle includes the full version of Premiere, PhotoDV, Potoshop le, and 3 plug-ins that fully integrate the MotoDV with Premiere. You get timeline playback, device control and batch capture. What really sets MotoDV apart from other cards in the industry is Digital Origins use of Quicktime rather then the Windows avi file format. At the time I was writing this there was not yet support for Quicktime 4, but my discussions with Digital Origin confirmed that not only will MotoDV have Quicktime 4 support, but it will also add all of the new quicktime features and that combined with Digital Origins AVA acceleration for Pentium 3 machines, it will become the fastest card on the market with Premiere 5.1

Digital Origin Edit DV 2.0 for Windows $549.95

Edit DV for Windows is fmy faqvorite NLE app for editing DV footage. I find it is very productive and simple to use, yet with very professional features. My favorite Edit DV feature is called Draft DV, in my opinion it single handedly makes it the best NLE software for editing DV video. What is so cool about Draft DV? How about a near real time editing environment at a fraction of the cost of real time systems. Let me explain a bit more. Draft mode creates a 1/4 resolution proxy file of every DV clip you use in a project. Since these files are 1/4 the size and require 1/4 the throughput, you get almost instantaneous previews, even with titles, transitions and filters. Once you are done editing, you switch back to full DV mood and let the final video render out. So it's not a true real time system, but when you are editing, and you don't have to wait for previes, it sure feels like a real time system. Edit DV, like IntroDV is also web ready. You can use it to creat great web video. I like the added power of teh Edit DV Web bundle $879.95) which includes the full Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 software.

Canopus DV Rex $2399

The DV Rex has quickly become the DV/FireWire system of choice for the event videographer, and it's easy to see why. It ships with a great software bundle including premiere 5.1 full version and Canopus's own Rex Edit NLE application. On top of that it is a very easy install, has rock solid stabilty, and it is loaded with features and goodies that give it a special edge over every other card in the market. What are these special features? The first and most significant is the Rex Edit NLE application. It utilizes both the software and hardware CODECs found in Rex, so it is lightning fast. How fast you ask? How about 5 seconds for a 1 second dissolve on my PII400, at full DV resolution. Rex Edit also lets you work with a 4GB file size limit, vs 2GB for every other card on the market. The Rex video capture app lets you seemlessly capture up to the full capacity of your hard drive. While Rex Edit may not have all the cool features of Premiere, it does support many popular plug-ins like Boris FX, SpiceRack, Hollywood FX and others. . Best of all, if you need the features of Premiere, it comes with DV Rex. And it's not just bundled in. You get total integration including timeline playback, device control and batch capture.

Real-Time DV systems

Pinnacle DV500 $799.95

The DV500 gives you a tremendous value for under $1000. You get analog & DV video inputs and outputs. You can hook an TV monitor up to the breakoutbox and play your real-time FX right on it. No need to have your DV cam hooked up. DV500 comes fully loaded. You get the usual Pinnacle plug-ins (Instant Video, SpiceRack, TitleDeko, DV Tools) plus Minerva Impressions CD for authring and Hollywood FX Copper for 3D tranisitions and FX.

Matrox RT2000 $999.95

Once you get to play with the real-time Flex 3D transitions and FX in the RT2000, you will have a hard time controlling yourself from over using them. They are that cool and so much fun to use, since they do not have to render! Like the DV500, RT2000 supports DV and analog video. It comes with a very impressive bundle as well. Sonic DVDit! le for authoring, Cool 3D for titling and of course, all those amazing Flex 3D transitions and FX!

Pinnacle DC1000DV $1799

This was the first MPEG2 based non linear editing system to hit the market. Based on C-Cubes revolutionary new DV Explore chipset, the DC1000 delivers the incredible combination of outstanding video quality, real time dual stream editing, CD Rom authoring and MPEG2 compression. The DC1000 uses a very special technology called SmartGOP that gives you frame accurate editing of the MPEG2 video, while maintain outstanding video quality at a data rate of 50% or even 35% that of DV. The base DC1000 system costs under $2500 and gives you Adobe Premiere 5.1 RT, Instant Video timeline playback, TitleDeko, SpiceRack, Acid, Breakout Box and Minerva CD Rom authoring software. When I first reviewed this system the cost was over $3 grand. Now it is almost $1000 lower. If you think I liked it then, I adore it now!!

DPS Reality w/ Premiere RT $2695

The DPS reality card is the next generation of DPS acclaimed Perception and it's technology. The card supports video at datarates up to uncompressed. With the Premiere plug-ins you'll get hundreds of real-time effects. Upgrade to the 3D module and you get hundreds more real-time 3D FX. The Reality / Premiere bundle is an excellent solution for those used to Premiere and looking to migrate to a more professional board set w/o having to learn a new NLE app. Note: Reality Premiere bundle is not yet shipping.

Pinnacle DC2000DV $2795

All of the great features of the DC1000DV plus component video, break out box and balanced XLR audio!

Canopus MegaRex $2769 (upgrade for Rex owners $969.95)

The MegaRex has earned a reputation as the best NLE solution for wedding and even videography. If you ask me, it's even better. When it comes to delivering Native DV real-time features and performance, nothing can come close to MegaRex. You get real-time color filters and correction, real-time Picture-in-picture effects and the ability to handle up to 10 graphics layrers. For know the MegaRex requires dual processors, but at NAB they had it running perfectly on a 1GHz Athlon system!!

Professional DV systems

DPS Velocity $2895 and up

The Velocity is the DPS Reality hardware with their own Velocity NLE app. The Velocity software is loaded with features (like real-time color crrrestion w/ scopes, TBC and waveform monitor), incredible 3D FX (all real-time with the 3D module) and a very easy to use, but prodcutive interface. The virtual file system lets you access any frame in your video through explorer. The same clips can be seen and used by several different apps, all at the same time (if you are on a network). Velocity is not for home or prosumer. It is a true professional NLE system. If you need to turn your NT workatation into a broadcast quality prodcution studio, Velocity is for you.

NewTek Toaster $2995 ($4995 w/ 24 input switcher)

The ToasterNT is simply the most incredible product we sell . The new 2.0 software will let you turn your workstation into a broadcast quality NLE studio complete with live digital switching. (If you buy Toaster today, you get the 2.0 upgrade FREE when it ships). Add in lightwave and Aura and the Toaster becomes a broadcast animation and compositing suite. Combine all these great features with the new 24 input switcher upgrade, and Toaster becomes a complete television production facility in a computer. Toaster uses only uncompressed video, so it is not for long format work.

Media100 iFinish $2895 and up

iFinish represents Media100s commitment to profesional video production, regardless of the format or delivery method. S-Video, DV or component, we've got an iFinish solution for you. Need to author DVD, iFinish has a real-time MPEG2 option. Most importantly, iFinish lets you multipurpose your content, you an export all the most popular streaming formats. If you need to put together a profeesiional video production facility for tape and the web, iFinish is your most prodcutive solution.