Capturing when video and PC are in different rooms

[sync]

I've been trying to figure out how to do this with the least hassle and cost, but without compromising quality. I'll be capping digital satellite and S-VHS.

One option I considered is using a DV camcorder. But that's fairly expensive just for capturing and time-consuming. Currently I'm thinking of getting a Canopus ADVC-100 and some Firewire repeaters.

I imagine there are some creative minds here who have come up with solutions I haven't thought of and I'm interested in hearing about them.

[BaronVlad]

Hi,

what about the looooooooooong cable solution ? It is not the best since it does not really increase the quality, but it may be one possible way and much cheaper than buying a DV...

[sync]

I'm actually planning on get the DataVideo DAC-100 which is considerable less expensive than the Canopus. Good quality long cables are fairly expensive and I still need a good capture card. The DataVideo solution may be somewhat more expensive but I know the quality will be excellent and it will be easy to use.

[John2002]

Yeah if you go with brand name s-video cable it can be a bit spendy for longer lengths. I run a 50 foot s-video cable from my PC in another room to my TV and got a no-frills cable from Markertek (which sells pro quality stuff). I had been using a $15 cable and after I replaced it there was a noticeable improvement. Supposedly, if you use s-video cable of good quality there isn't much loss in quality with longer cable lengths.

[\AX]

there really isnt

i was using a 50ft s-video cable i bought for 30usd only
because the 50ft one i bought for 60usd produced the same
quality.

i just feed the cable through the wall via whatever whole
i could find which in my case was the cable line. I just
punched a whold through the other side and put a black
rubber washer thingy to make it look fine.

it works...and works fine. i did however look up that info
AFTERWARDS just to make sure...and i found that you can use
a s-video cable up to ~120 feet before a noticable drop.
However it does depend on the sheilding. For instance i was
worried that the cheap 50ft one would get interference from
the cable line so i bought the 60usd one...then said what the
hell and bought the 30ft..same difference.

NOTE: if you bend the cable too much (similar to CAT5) you can
and most likely will notice a drop in quality.