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FIREWIRE |
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CAPTURE |
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MOVIES & COLLECTIONS |
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PROJECTS & VIDEOS |
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CODECs |
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What is eCoachSoftware?
eCoachSoftware is a computer software
program that is specifically designed to capture and analyze any motion
related activity and is the ultimate tool to compliment today's coaches and
allied sport medicine professionals.
Using eCoachSoftware, coaches and athletes
can capture live or recorded video and study aspects of a movement, skill or
motion that is difficult or impossible to analyze with the naked eye or
using conventional analog video equipment.
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What can eCoachSoftware do?
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eCoachSoftware is a good example of how technology can benefit sport. Many
coaches use video cameras to value-add to their instruction and
eCoachSoftware is the next evolutionary step.
With
eCoachSoftware Professional you can:
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Capture up to 60 frames per second NTSC – 50 frames per second PAL
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Choose from multiple post capture options
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Add
graphics, notes, text, audio and video to specific frames
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Create overlays and synchronized movies
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Create collections from multiple videos and projects
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E-mail video frames and collections
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Export collections to PowerPoint
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Create videos from frames in a collection
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Import pictures into collections and create a video
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Pack
& Go your projects to CD for your customers to take home
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View
multiple videos and projects simultaneously
To view the program’s
full range of features,
click here.
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Who is using eCoachSoftware?
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eCoachSoftware is being used across a wide range of sports and other
activities. These include:
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- golf
- basketball
- baseball
- pottery
- diving
- tennis
- cricket
- physiotherapy
- podiatry
- sports psychology
- dancing
- athletics
- gymnastics
- martial arts
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What products does
eCoachSoftware
have? |
1. Professional - designed for the
sports coach and allied sports medicine professionals that has a extensive
range of tools and features to analyze video and create lesson summaries -
if you are interested in trialing eCoachSoftware Professional go to the
downloads page or
for more information about the Professional edition
click here.
2. Home Edition - The Home edition is a serious game development tool
for elite athletes. The Home edition has many of the outstanding features
that are available in the Professional edition but costs substantially less.
If you are interested in trialing eCoachSoftware Home Edition go to the
downloads age or
for more information about the Home Edition
click here.
3. Viewer - This product allows students to view their lesson summaries
created by their coach in the Professional version without spending any
money on any expensive viewing software. It has no capture functions and is
simply a tool to allow viewing of anything created in the Professional or
Home Edition. Go to the
downloads page if
you would like to use the free Viewer or for more information
about the Viewer
click
here.
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What sort of video camera
will I need? |
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eCoachSoftware will work with any video camera, but ultimately the better
camera you use, the better quality your video clips will be. The use of
digital video cameras is highly recommended while ensuring you are able to
adjust the shutter speed. Note that only digital video cameras have a
Firewire connection.
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Desktop computer V's
Notebook computer? |
| One
of the decisions you will have to make is whether you need a desktop or a
notebook computer. We recommend that unless it is absolutely necessary,
i.e.. you travel a lot, you should use a desktop computer. If you decide to go with the Notebook
option it is highly recommended that you adopt the recommended system
requirements as the minimum requirements.
If a Notebook and a Desktop computer had
the same configuration and specifications, the Notebook will be far less
efficient that the desktop. Notebook users who intend to capture video are
highly recommended to use Pentium 4 processors with XP Home or Professional
via Firewire. Many notebook computers now have Firewire inbuilt.
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What
are the system requirements to run eCoachSoftware?
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| The
processing and display of video clips places substantial demands on a
computer. We therefore encourage you to run the program on as powerful a
computer as possible. Please see the
System
Requirements page for more information.
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What if I don't have each of the minimum system requirements to run
eCoachSoftware?
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| The
eCoachSoftware system requirements are the features you will need to have on
your computer to operate our program and what is most likely to happen if
your system requirements fail to meet our minimum systems requirements is
that the time required to save captured videos and created projects will
increase, viewing video clips may not be smooth or play in real time.
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What is a video capture card?
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| A
video capture card is a piece of computer hardware you place into your
computer that enables you to convert a video image to a computer image. The
quality of video capture cards varies greatly. For new computers, Firewire
capture is highly recommended and is required if you want to be able to work
with videos with 50 frames per second PAL or 60 frames per second NTSC.
Firewire hardware is relatively cheap and has to comply with the IEEE 1394
standard.
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What video capture card
should I use? |
| The
choice of video capture card is confusing for many people. You will only
need a video capture card if you are using eCoachSoftware(TM) Professional.
The eCoachSoftware Viewer does not capture video and therefore a capture
card is not required. eCoachSoftware
recommends BELKIN & ASUS brands for firewire & analogue capture cards, again
firewire highly recommended.
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Can Interactive Coaching Solutions source all the equipment I need?
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We
are often asked to source complete systems for coaches and Interactive
Coaching Solutions can supply desktop and notebook systems within Australia
to suit most budgets. This includes a computer with at least our recommended
system requirements, video capture card & eCoachSoftware software etc.
Please use our
Contact
Form for all enquiries regarding Turnkey
Systems.
The computer package we provide is a 'turn
key' system - in other words, you only have to turn it on and everything is
set up. Setting up your computer for eCoachSoftware Professional is not
difficult but many coaches prefer to save the time.
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Can I trial
eCoachSoftware
Professional? |
| You
can trial eCoachSoftware Professional or Home Edition by visiting the
Downloads page and
supplying us your details. After downloading, follow the installation
instructions to install to your computer. Once installed the program will
remain active for thirty days. After the trial period expires, you will have
an option to purchase the program over the internet.
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How much does
eCoachSoftware
cost? |
| Standard
Professional version software US$349.00 |
Customized Professional version US$699.00 (With ability to sell to your
clients) Standard Home Edition version software
US$49.00 |
Customized Home Edition version $349.00 (With ability to sell to your
clients)
The Viewer is free to download
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How do I buy eCoachSoftware?
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Purchasers can buy the program from this website, please visit the
Purchase page section and follow the instructions.
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How do I obtain my Unlock Code? |
The Professional and Home Edition software
requires registration to operate past the thirty day trial period.
The registration is activated by entering a USER NAME and UNLOCK CODE. The
UNLOCK CODE is unique to a particular PRODUCT NUMBER / USER NAME
combination. The PRODUCT NUMBER is generated automatically and is displayed
within the trial window until the Software is registered.
To register and unlock your software simply
click on the “OBTAIN UNLOCK CODE” option in the trial window and you will be
directed to the purchase page on our website where you will need to supply
your email address and PRODUCT NUMBER with your payment.
Upon your payment being accepted your UNLOCK CODE and USER NAME will be
emailed to you. Enter your USER NAME and UNLOCK CODE in the spaces provided
and select ACTIVATE and the trial window will no longer appear.
The registration and
unlock code process is still required with CD versions.
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What is a Project? |
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A
project is created when graphics, video, audio or text have been added to a
Video and then saved. Even changing the video size or displaying a film
strip and then saving will create a project that will have an .ecs file
extension. By saving your projects, you can open the project file later and
begin editing it in eCoachSoftware Professional from where you last saved.
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What is a Movie? |
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When
viewing 2 videos, 2 projects or a combination in "Compare Videos" mode or
"Overlay Videos" mode you have the option to join them together by stacking
them horizontally or vertically that will allow you to open both videos at
once. You can synchronize your movie by setting each video to a particular
point, for example impact, before selecting "Create Movie".
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What is a collection? |
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A
Collection is created by adding frames from Videos and Projects. You can add
frames from multiple videos and projects and to add frames to a collection
you can right click on the video and select "Add Frame To Collection",
select the same command from the Frames Menu or use the shortcut key "ctrl
A". To view frames you have added to your collection select "View
Collection" from the Frames Menu or use the shortcut key "ctrl V".
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What is a collection video?
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After adding frames from videos or projects and selecting the View Frames
command from the Frames Menu you have several options and one of
those options is to create a video from the frames you have added.
Using this feature can be great for
reducing video sizes. For example, if you have a golf swing that you
captured, say 2 seconds long, via firewire and choose to enhance and save
the video you will have a video that is 100 frames in length and a file size
that starts at approximately 2MB dependant upon the CODEC you use to enhance
and save with. By adding only the important frames from the video to the
Collection, which in golf is about 8 frames, and selecting Create Video you
are going to greatly reduce the size of the new video, sometimes up to
80-90% smaller than the original video size. The new video will now play at
1 frame per second and can be used as a normal video i.e., add graphics,
audio, text etc and save as a project.
We highly recommend you use the Indeo Video
Codec which is available at
http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm if you don't already have it installed on
your computer. If you don't know how to check if you have the Indeo Video
Codec on your computer see
How can I check to see what codecs are on my computer?
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Understanding Imported Videos?
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When you import a video
and create a project by adding graphics, text, audio, or video and save, the
imported video file remains in the original location from which it was
imported. The resulting project that appears in eCoachSoftware is a
representation of the original video file; it is not a copy of the original
video file. In other words, if you edit the original or source file in
another program after it is already imported into eCoachSoftware, the
changes that you make to the file automatically appear in eCoachSoftware
and in any eCoachSoftware projects that include the edited clip. So,
if you delete the project that used the original or source video clip in
eCoachSoftware, the original video file still remains unchanged in the
original location. To ensure that you can continue to work with a project,
avoid renaming, deleting, or moving the original source files.
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Can I email a project? |
| Yes,
but there are limitations with regard to the size of emails that your server
and your recipients server will allow to be sent and received. It will not
be too far away that 10 to 20MB files will be able to be emailed - check
with your ISP for email size limits. If you have a project that you would like
to email to a student or another coach they must have either the
Professional version or the Viewer installed on their computer to be able to
view it.
After saving your project, select the Pack
& Go command and save in your Pack & Go folder or other location on your
hard drive. You will then need to open Windows Explorer and locate the .ecs
file and corresponding folder and use WinZip or PowerArchiver or similar to
ZIP them up. Once the ZIP file has been created right click on it and select
the Send To / Mail Recipient command and the ZIP file will be placed in an
email using your default email program.
The person receiving the ZIP file simply
needs to double click on the ZIP file to extract the project and double
click the .ecs file and the project will load into
eCoachSoftware
Professional or Viewer. If both the Professional and the Viewer are
installed on their computer, the project will open using the version that
was installed most recently.
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Can I email a video? |
| Yes,
but there are limitations with regard to the size of emails that your server
and your recipients server will allow to be sent and received. It will not
be too far away that 10 to 20MB files will be able to be emailed - check
with your ISP for email size limits.
An option to consider is adding the important frames from your video to a
collection and creating a Collection Video, which reduces the video size
dramatically. See What is a collection video? FAQ, or visit our
Tutorials page and open the "Using Collection ..." tutorial.
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Can I email a Collection?
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| Yes,
once you have completed adding frames to a collection, ensure your preferred
email program is open, then simply choose the "email" command and your
frames will be attached to an email. Your recipient will need to have either
eCoachSoftware Professional or Viewer installed on
their computer to be able to view the collection.
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Can I upload a project to a
website? |
| Yes.
If you have prepared a project for a student that you would like to upload
to a website so that a student can download it because the project was too
big too email, simply save the project and then select the Pack & Go command
and save to your hard drive.
You will then need to open Windows Explorer
and locate the .ecs file and corresponding folder and use WinZip,
PowerArchiver or similar to ZIP them up before uploading to your website.
After someone downloads the ZIP file to
their hard drive they will need to double click the ZIP file to extract the
project - then double click the .ecs file to open the project. The
project will load into the Professional, Home or Viewer and if more than one
version is installed on the computer, the project will open using the
version that was installed most recently.
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If I email a collection will the recipient need to have eCoachSoftware
installed on their computer? |
| Yes,
they will need either the eCoachSoftware Professional or Viewer installed on
the computer to be able to view a collection.
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Why won't my videos, movies and projects play on other computers?
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| When
you capture a video and then save, it is recommended you use a codec to
reduce the size of the video, especially when capturing via firewire.
However anyone wishing to view the video or resulting movie or project will
need to have the same codec. For the best results we recommend that
coaches and students use the Indeo Video Codec, however not all computers
have the codec installed. See
How can I check to see what codecs are on my computer?
The Indeo Video Codec is available at
http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm
eCoachSoftware Professional by default will
try and use the following codecs in this order - INDEO, CINEPAK, INTEL RAW
or No Compression. If your computer does not have INDEO it will use the
CINEPAK, if your computer does not have CINEPAK it will use INTEL RAW, and
if you computer does not have INTEL RAW it will not compress the video at
all. Most computers have the CINEPAK and INTEL RAW codecs but both have
their positives and negatives.
CINEPAK requires longer saving time but is
very good quality, small file size and is available on most computers
INTEL RAW offers faster saving time, is
very good quality, file sizes are approximately 4-5 times bigger than
CINEPAK and is available on most computers.
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Why do videos, movies and projects play slower on other computers?
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The
rate at which videos, movies and projects play is purely a reflection of the
computer processing and video card speed. The faster the machine, the faster
the movie will play. eCoachSoftware will attempt to play the movie at full
speed and if the computer can keep up, you will get a movie that is close to
real-time. In most circumstances, you want the movie to play through in slow
motion so this is not generally an issue.
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How
can I tell if my firewire device is correctly installed? |
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If you
are using a PCMCIA card device ensure it is plugged into your notebook
before proceeding.
Open
your computers device manager and select the + beside the "IEEE Bus Host
Controllers" option
Generally it will be referenced to an OHCI Compliant IEEE Bus Host
Controller
Then
when you plug in your DV camera and turn it on you should find an entry
under the "Imaging Devices" node for Microsoft Camera and VCR.
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When I enter the capture screen, no video appears in the window
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Make sure the camera is connected to the computer and it
is turned on
Click on the Set Source
option on the eCoachSoftware
Professional / Home v2005 capture
screen and make sure that the capture device you are using is selected in
the Device List and then try again.
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How can I
check to see what codecs are on my computer? |
Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select properties,
then click on the Hardware Tab then the Device Manager option. A window will
open and display a menu, select the + beside the "Sound, video and game
controllers"
Double clicking the Video Codecs option in
the above window will open the window below, select the Properties Tab and
this will reveal the available codecs that are on your computer:
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What codec do you recommend?
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| The
CODECS that we recommend in order are: LIGOS INDEO VIDEO 5.11 available @
http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm
DivX Pro 5.1 available @
http://www.divx.com/divx/
CINEPAK (CVID) - supplied with most
computers
INTEL RAW or iyuv_32.dll as it is displayed
- supplied with most computers
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What is firewire? |
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Firewire is a high speed digital interface designed to connect peripheral
devices like DV cameras, printers, scanners etc to a computer. It is
formally known as IEEE1394 and can transfer files up to 400Mbit/s. Devices
that are connected to your computer via firewire are hot pluggable which
means that they can be connected and disconnected without needed to restart
your computer.
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How is capturing video with firewire different from capturing with
conventional capture cards? |
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Conventional video capture cards are designed to accept analog video. If you
are using an analog video camera to capture video the video capture card
converts the analog video into a digital format that the computer can work
with.
However, if you are capturing video using a
Digital video camera with a conventional video capture card, the digital
video is converted within the camera into an analogue format as the card is
only designed to process analog data. Once the card receives the analog data
it re-converts it back to a digital format so that the computer can work
with it. Whenever an analog-digital or digital-analog-digital conversion
takes place a loss in quality is unavoidable.
Highly recommended is capturing video using
a Digital Video (DV) camera with a firewire capture card because firwire
capture cards are designed to accept digital signals therefore requiring no
conversions which means there is no loss of quality. The large majority of
DV cameras will have a firewire output.
When using a firewire capture card your DV
camera must be plugged in and turned on before any attempt to capture video
- conventional video capture cards to not require this.
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What are the advantages of
firewire? |
| 1.
If using a firewire card and DV camera to capture video it is really a file
transfer and therefore there is no loss of quality
2. Video capture is faster than conventional video capture cards
3. Firewire hardware is generally cheaper
than conventional video capture cards
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What are the disadvantages
of firewire? |
| 1.
The firewire frame size is fixed at 720x576 for PAL and 720x480 for NTSC 2. Files are larger and can require more
time to save
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What are the minimum hardware requirements to capture using Firewire?
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| If
you decide you want to capture Digital Video (DV) via firwire it requires
substantial computer resources - please see
System Requirements
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How much disk space
do firewire files take up? |
| In
eCoachSoftware an enhanced Digital Video (DV) of 2.5 secs requires 4.5MB
disk space. This file size is achieved by using the Indeo Video Codecs which
we highly recommend and they are available at
http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm
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What hardware do I need?
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| As
firewire is rapidly increasing in popularity, a lot of desktop and notebook
computers are supplied with firewire ports allowing direct connection of
your Digital Video (DV) camera. If
your computer does not already have a firwire port, hardware is readily
available for both desktops and notebooks. Desktops require a PCI card and
notebooks require a PCMCIA card. There are a variety of manufacturers and
this hardware is relatively inexpensive compared to conventional video
capture cards. See your local computer store for more details.
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Am I able to use footage recorded on an old VHS tape in eCoachSoftware
Professional v2005? |
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Yes,
as long as you have the appropriate hardware that will allow you to capture
from the device that you use to play the VHS tape.
If you
have an analog capture card in your desktop computer you can:
If you
have a Firewire (IEEE-1394) card in your desktop or laptop computer you have
2 options:
Option 1
This
requires a DV camera that provides an analog to digital conversion function,
this is sometimes called an 'AV In/Out' feature.
Connect the VCR to the Analogue connectors on the DV Camera. Then connect
the DV output from the camera to the firewire card in your PC. Consult your
camera documentation for further instructions.
Remember to select the firewire capture card as the capture device you wish
to use in the settings tab of the video capture screen.
Option 2
This
requires:
-a
Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge,
-a VCR and
-a firewire card.
Connect the VCR to the Dazzle DV Bridge and the Dazzle DV Bridge to the
firewire card in your PC.
Remember to select the firewire capture card as the capture device you wish
to use in the settings tab of the video capture screen.
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What if I have more questions?
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| If
you have any further questions please visit our
support page and be
as specific as possible.
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