Digital Focus: Wide-Angle Tips and Tricks

Q&A: Capturing Video From a VCR

I am planning to purchase a new computer with Windows XP. I hope to copy short snips of video from my VCR, then display those clips from within PowerPoint. Will Windows XP let me do this, or will I have to find another product to accomplish this goal?

--Tony Santos, Wilmington, Delaware

Based on the number of video questions I get these days, I'd say that desktop video is gaining critical mass. Everyone seems to be interested in making digital videos, and that's very exciting. Unfortunately, it's still not quite as easy to do as digital photography. Case in point: capturing video from a VCR.

If you had a DV camcorder, a new PC with Windows XP would be a complete solution for making short, low-res video clips for a PowerPoint presentation. But your VCR doesn't have an IEEE-1394 port, so XP won't be able to import the video. Instead, you'll need to get a video capture device for your new PC that can grab video ported in via good-old composite video cables.

You have two choices. Some new PCs actually come with S-Video-style video-in connectors right on the graphics board. The PC will probably also come with a simple video capture program to take advantage of that special graphics board. If you find a PC like that, your prayers are answered. Otherwise, you should grab one of the many analog video capture systems that are out there. In particular, you might want to investigate the $300 Dazzle Digital Video Creator II.

This product features a video port hub that sits outside your PC, so you don't have to crane your neck and reach behind your PC every time you want to connect a VCR or camcorder.