ADSTech Instant DVD+DV Review

Instant DVD+DV Hardware & System Requirements

Everybody I meet wants to edit videos and make home movies on DVDs. The trouble is, most people are fairly computer illiterate or at least aren't going to run out and search online for a hodgepodge of solutions to get the job done on their own. And then there's the hardware 舑 where do you start? What devices do you need in order to digitize from your camcorder and make a finished product? Fortunately, a large percentage of new computers are being sold with built-in DVD burners. Truth be told, the prices on these devices has dropped below $50 in many cases and even advanced dual layer models are being sold at commodity prices. Assuming you have a fairly modern system, the solution for home DVD and movie-making isn't as far away as you might think.

ADS Tech is a worldwide company specializing in USB and IEEE-1394/FireWire solutions for the personal computer. Since the company's inception in 1992, the cornerstone of the company's success has been to introduce niche or high-end technologies to the consumer marketplace with quality devices sold at a reasonable cost.

Over the years, ADS Technologies, Inc. has brought a wide range of products to market including VGA-to-TV scan converters, video capture and TV Tuner cards, which enabled ADS Technologies to sustain steady growth and sales during the mid-1990's. They have only continued in growth and now manufacture higher end products marketed under the "PYRO" brand in addition to their more consumer-oriented products.

The Hardware Requirements

Hardware requirements to use the ADS Tech Instant DVD+DV system are a breeze for anyone who has upgraded in the last 4 years. Though the recommendations given here will technically run the system, we would advise beefing up a little bit in order to get performance that does not leave you looking for something to do while your computer catches up on an import or compilation process.

Minimum System Requirements

• Intel® Pentium® III 800 MHz or higher or AMD Athlon/ Duron CPU (we recommend a Pentium IV or Athlon)
• Microsoft® Windows® 98SE, 2000, ME or XP (we recommend using Windows XP SP2)
• 128MB of RAM (we recommend at least 512MB or more of RAM)
• 500 MB of available hard drive space for program installation
• 4 GB+ hard drive space for video capture and editing (we'd recommend getting a dedicated 60GB or larger drive for your video files)
• Windows-compatible display with at least 1024x768 resolution (we recommend a 17" monitor at 1280x1024)
• Windows-compatible mouse or pointing device
• Windows-compatible sound card
• Available USB Port
• CD-ROM drive
• CD-Recordable or DVD-Recordable drive required for saving movies onto CD or DVD (make sure you order a universal DVD+/-R/RW recordable drive if you don't already have one)

The Review System

• AMD Athlon 2500+
• Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2
• 1024MB of RAM
• Over 120 GB of hard drive space for video capture and editing
• Dell 17" & 15" LCD displays at 1280x1024 and 1024x768 respectively
• BenQ Universal DVD+/-R/RW recordable drive

As you can see you can only increase your experience by making sure your hardware is better suited for editing video. If you're not quite there but you fit the minimums, don't fret it 舑 just realize that any frustrations you experience due to computer slowness or lack of hard disc space can be easily remedied with some upgrades.

The Instant DVD+DV Hardware

The Instant DVD+DV System comes with a small external set-top box that is designed to interface with your PCs USB 2.0 bus. It provides real-time capture of NTSC at 29.97 (drop frame) or 25fps PAL. It features composite (RCA) and s-video inputs and outputs on the rear along with the USB 2.0 B connector and 3.5mm stereo inputs and outputs. The front panel possesses a composite (RCA) input, stereo audio RCA inputs and a mini 4-pin IEEE 1394/Firewire connection. With all of these connections you will have everything you need to import and export consumer audio and video content.

Instant DVD+DV Software and Conclusions

The Instant DVD+DV provides some excellent software that, while perhaps a bit frustrating for power-users, is pretty helpful and simple to use for beginners (power users have the option of getting some of ADS Tech's higher-end products which offer more professional editing/authoring solutions). Having simple software without too many options or frills is the only way to get "Mom & Dad" to edit videos and not feel like they need to take a college course. For the most part, all software gives helpful on-screen guidance and utilizes procedural instructions so that, if you're a good reader, you will likely end up with a successful finished product. Knowing which software to use, however, may not be as intuitive unless you follow the supplied chart and take inventory into what exactly is provided in the software that accompanies your Instant DVD+DV system. The two discs that come with the package include four main pieces of software: ADS Tech Capture Wizard 3.5, Ulead VideoStudio 7.0 DVD (SE), DVD Movie Factory (SE), and muvee autoProducer DVD SE.

ADS Tech Capture Wizard

Using the Capture Wizard was about the simplest way I could think of to grab content from either a DV camcorder or analogue source. I performed both and even did some "live" capturing from the analogue outputs of my DVR cable box. When capturing from the DV camera the ADS Tech box was able to control my camcorder, allowing me to fast forward and rewind as well as punch in when I was ready to begin recording.

The general steps are: Launch the application, select the inputs and outputs you are using, set the file name and destination, select the digitization format (what you want to save the file as), and record. It's just about that simple. Once configured, you can capture any number of clips and they will all go to the location you specified. In addition, these steps are spelled out for you in a startup wizard that runs each time you launch the Capture Wizard application.

Ulead VideoStudio 7.0 SE

This version of Ulead VideoStudio is specially bundled with Instant DVD+DV and contains everything you'll need to capture, author and burn DVDs or home movies. This software also follows a Wizard-approach, giving you step-by-step instructions on how to go from start to finish and eliminate the guesswork associated with having to figure out what to do next. This is accomplished by introducing a navigation system at the top of the screen which follows the pattern: Capture > Edit > Effect > Overlay > Title > Audio > Share. Each item has submenus that give you further options. Clicking on an item rearranges the window to feature the controls that allow you to complete that particular task.

While fairly intuitive, I did run across several bugs along the way, including a proclivity for this application to spontaneously freeze up and close for no apparent reason. Even with an easy-to-use interface there is so much going on in the background you are almost certain to get a few ghosts in the machine when you're dealing with entry-level software like this. With our testing system we encountered many hesitations and pauses while the application did something in the background, and no real-time video or audio "scrubbing" was available in real-time with any of the clips we tried to utilize.

Overall, this program will allow you to make fairly nice movies or slideshows set to your own music or the original soundtrack. Assembly is a breeze provided you're not in a hurry and titling capabilities are provided to aid you in getting some text into your videos. When you are done, you can either print your project to analogue tape or burn a DVD or lower-resolution VCD or SVCD of your masterpiece.

DVD Movie Factory SE

DVD Movie factory is perhaps the most fun application to use of all that is provided. Whether you want to make a DVD, SVCD, or VCD, this application has the tools to get you there. Rip scenes from your camcorder, arrange them on a DVD with menus and interactive elements, and then burn them to disc. What could be simpler? I really liked the Direct to Disc functionality where you can take a DV Cam and drop it directly onto a DVD+R disc without having to burn it to the hard disc first or do any authoring whatsoever! That's right - it actually burns the content in real time, directly to DVD+R media. I tried it and it works like a charm.

If you're looking for something more in-depth, then just follow this simple process: Add videos or slideshow elements (or capture video from a digital or analogue source), trim video as needed or extract into sections or chapters, design and setup your DVD menu system (templates and tools are provided), preview the finished product, and burn to DVD (or CD if you are making a VCD or SVCD.) With this software you can even edit your content later (perhaps you added a new video or wanted to remove an older one) and simply burn a new disc with the new content.

muvee autoProducer

Though included in the package, this software is only a very limited application designed for one purpose - cranking out videos. You can select video clips to be played sequentially and add a soundtrack that will either play along with the movie's audio, or in place of it. You can also capture video directly to autoProducer, however it doesn't always "play nice" with others, so do the majority of your capturing with one of the other applications.) The interface is simple and you have no way of getting lost, but the lack of features and utilitarian approach to video editing make this a barely usable piece of software.

Conclusion

For $249 you can be on your way to editing your home videos and archiving them onto DVD, a format that is not only prone to lasting longer than VHS, but also takes up less room. Whether you are shooting a family reunion video or archiving old VHS' to DVD, this system hits the nail on the head and gets the job done. Documentation is clear and concise and the hardware seems to function as advertised to help you get nearly every consumer video format in or out of your system whether it be analogue or digital.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Video Performance
Build Quality
Ergonomics & Usability
Ease of Setup/Programming/Integration
Features
Performance
Value