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Canopus has been around since the early 1980s and has made its name producing reliable video editing and processing solutions for the PC. It is one of only about a half-dozen companies that have enough intellectual muscle and resources to engineer both the hardware and the software of advanced A/V products - while keeping them affordable.
The Canopus ADVC300 is definitely advanced and affordable. It is a bi-directional analog-to-digital transcoding device, but also much more. With professional-level image-enhancement features via both hardware and software processing, this is the solution for the shop that's making the migration to DV from older formats like Hi-8 and Super VHS. But getting from A to B is not always easy nor inexpensive.
There are cheaper solutions that will transfer your footage from one format to another, but they don't have the advantage of technologies like Canopus' proprietary Line Time Base Correction (LTBC) or its Digital Noise Reduction circuitry. Together with the included Picture Controller 300 software, for the PC or Mac, the ADVC300 will take those old tapes on VHS, S-VHS, and Hi-8 and improve the video and audio as you transfer them for digital archiving. It works with the company's own editing software, Edius, as well as with almost any other NLE, including Adobe Premiere (standard and Pro on both platforms), Avid's Xpress DV, and Apple's Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, and iMovie. As its price ($599) indicates, it's not a toy, and it's much more advanced than the earlier Canopus ADVC100. Sony has ceased making the popular DVMC-DA2 Media Converter, and the ADVC300 is the heir apparent at this price point.
The ADVC300 box itself is a simple affair. The front has RCA composite inputs for video and a left/right stereo audio-in port. There's a Y/C port for transferring Hi-8 and Super VHS and a standard four-pin IEEE 1394 port for connecting your DV camera. A four-pin-to-six-pin cable is included, and there's a six-pin FireWire port on the back. On top there's an input-selection button for switching between analog and digital inputs, with Digital In or Analog In LED indicator lights (nice in a dimly lit edit suite).
Conveniently located on top of the unit are Up and Down adjustment buttons with a series of...