Number 305 - October 2008

Stop The Video Gap! A review of the Pinnacle Video Transfer
by Rob Limbaugh, Danbury Area Computer Society, September 2008
Technology always fascinates me because we seem to create new problems for ourselves in an attempt to make life more convenient. Video seems to be one of those advancements where we've outsmarted ourselves in terms of ease of media conversion. I've worked quite a bit with video acquisition and manipulation over the past decade for work purposes. It didn't take long to realize that there was a 3-to-1 ratio for turning source footage into the final product. Every hour of source video required one hour to capture, one hour to edit, and one hour to export the results on average.    Gaps in video from recording media changes irritate me. Sure, I could switch tapes at half time, or when someone else's kid gets the diploma--but why should I have to? I didn't want to babysit a tape-eating camcorder.    The time and effort required to move from tape to computer has always seemed to be WAY more tedious than it needs to be. The more video I have, the less likely I am to bother converting and editing it because the task requires too much time.    Along came the Pinnacle Video Transfer! This wonder-device converts an analog video source into digital and directly stores it to portable media WITHOUT A COMPUTER! That cuts out TWO HOURS of the 3:1 editing ratio and no computer needed! How? Well,let's start with the basics:    The Pinnacle Video Transfer is about the size of a small cassette recorder. It is an embedded video capture device that converts analog video into digital. It can handle both PAL and NTSC video inputs from VCRs, camcorders, DVD players, and game systems. In the box are a power adapter, RCA stereo video cables, and a VERY EASY to follow manual.    You'll find that one end of the Video Transfer has inputs--RCA jacks for stereo audio and composite video and S-video. The other has two USB 2.0 outputs for either USB-A or USB-B connector types. On the top of the Pinnacle Video Transfer is a silver circle labeled `REC' and `MODE'.    To use, connect power and a video source, then power on the Pinnacle Video Transfer. Add your USB storage device (PSP, iPod, portable USB hard drive). Everything is ready to record when the lights are all blue. Quality mode is set by pressing the 'MODE' button and observing how many blue 'quality' lights are on. Just press 'REC' to start recording. The input and output lights will turn red to clearly show recording in progress. Done recording? Just press mode again and wait for all the lights to turn blue. IT'S THAT SIMPLE! Here's the best part: Just leave the Video Transfer alone and it will record the WHOLE EVENT without stopping!    The Pinnacle Video Transfer will save the files as compressed H.264 formatted MPEG-4 (*.mp4) files and store them in a 'video' directory. Files will be named following the format 'vidxxxxx.mp4' where 'xxxxx'is a five digit number.	If you need a video editing application, Pinnacle again comes to the rescue! The Pinnacle Studio 12 is an amazing product line, which is beyond the scope of this review, but well worth checking out. If you're just a beginner, take a look at VideoSpin, which is free and by Pinnacle. All of their video editing products are easy to use and are packed with features! From VideoSpin on up to Studio Ultimate 12, the interface is consistent so that moving up the product line is intuitive.    During testing to USB flash memory it was discovered that it's best to use flash that is 8GB or better. The reason is because memory of 4GB or less tends to be of a slower (and cheaper) quality. The slow memory can cause audio and/or video sync issues with the resulting digital file. All the 8GB sticks I've tried out have been fast enough that this wasn't an issue. 2GB and 4GB sticks are hit-and-miss.    Lastly, if the Video Transfer doesn't find video files on the storage media it will start over with vid00001.mp4. If you already had moved a file named vid00001.mp4 to your computer for later editing, then there's a chance you could accidently overwrite it with a newer vid00001.mp4. In a future firmware update I hope that Pinnacle fixes this by adding a date code in the file name (hint, hint, hint) such as '20080416-vid00001.mp4'. For now I copy the mp4 files to directories such as 'graduation08' to help avoid accidental overwrites.    There are handy charts in the manual to determine file space consumption. Assuming you were using an 8GB flash stick and recording in 'best' mode, you could record 6 hours of video (720x480 @ 1.5Mbps video, 192kbps @ 48KHz stereo file). 'Best' mode for a 30GB iPod would allow for up to 38 hours of video (640x40 @ 1.5Mbs video, 128kbps @ 48KHz audio).    I recently used my Video Transfer at a two day convention with back-to-back presentations. I used up about 7GB of space and recorded all but two of the presentation sessions. I simply pressed 'REC' to start and stop recording so my editing was to a minimum. It took about 10 minutes to process an hour of footage rather than 3 hours! Not having to change tapes meant I didn't miss ANY of the presenters' speeches, too.    Overall, this device ROCKS! Suggested Retail Price is $130. I didn't have a storage device, so I spent $80 on a 160GB USB 2.0 hard drive. It's already paid for itself and the drive by saving me hours of capture time and the tapes I don't need to buy. If you're looking to easily capture video into a digital format, the Pinnacle Video Transfer is only way to go!    Rob Limbaugh is a network systems administrator for a global research organization, lifelong computer and technology enthusiast, and president of DACS.ORG. (C)2008 by Rob Limbaugh
Number 305 - October 2008