Review: Dazzle Digital Video Creator 80

A video capture device comes under the scrutiny of Don Bradbury.

Product	Digital Video Creator 80
Company	Nikon
Web	www.dazzle.com
Price	£69.99
We like	Simple device. Effective capture options.
We don't like	May need a primary USB port. VideoWave needs a printed manual.
Rating	7/10
Requirements

Many PC users who use a camcorder want to capture their footage to a computer, principally to edit the scenes before assembling the final product. To do that, a capture device of one sort or another is required, and this Dazzle unit fulfils the purpose out of a USB port.

The package includes the DVC80 device itself, a driver CD which also carries a copy of MGI's VideoWave4 video editing software, and a quick start guide (two actually), and free admission to Dazzle Webcast Theater for putting your productions on the Web.

Installation

Neither the prime nor the addendum quick install guides were accurate. Indeed they seem to have been written by someone who'd never seen the product, let alone used it. Just stick the CD in its drive, connect the Dazzle device, and let Windows (ME used) install default drivers from its database.

That will produce an exclamation mark next to the 'USB Composite Device' listed under USB items in Device Manager, but that doesn't prevent it working. The Dazzle device itself is listed under Imaging Devices.

We found that this unit did not like running out of the test PC's USB hub port. In fact trying to do so crashed VideoWave, simultaneously removing all the Dazzle Device Manager entries plus a USB flatbed scanner, necessitating a reboot. We had to run the DVC80 out of a primary USB port, but that will probably have been a function of the particular USB chipset controller on the test machine rather than the Dazzle software or hardware.

Video in, S-video In, and audio left and right in ports on the DVC80 (to connect to the camcorder) were complemented by an activation LED and a long USB lead to plug into the computer. A simple but functional device then.

VideoWave

Version 4 of MGI's popular software comes, in this particular package, without a printed user manual. That is a substantial handicap until you gain familiarity with the product. Unintuitive to the first time user, and lacking effective on-screen help, only the cognoscenti will get up to speed quickly with their video production.

The rest of us have to either do it the trial-and-error way, following the tooltip prompts, or we have to summon the on-CD manual and follow events from there. Something of a pain, then, though effective in the end.

Capture

During video capture a countdown of frames processed, plus the number of dropped frames, is given, together with the processing time to that point.

A range of production formats lets you output in types suitable for your purpose, including MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, Microsoft WMV in many configurations, Real Video, Video CD, and Video in a Window - AVI.

Capture, preview, and output styles are well customizable then, and the resultant footage will suit most camcorder and other video device users. Editing, effect and transition addition, and other facilities were adequate, but scene detection, at its default 50% sensitivity, didn't seem too clever. Most users will probably over-ride this.

VideoWave's preview mode does not reproduce the audio channel, just the video. It's a workable arrangement but un-nerving if your production is a long one because you can't check audio capture until the product is finished.

Facilities within VideoWave 4 are good, but as I said, you have to delve more than a little if you're not willing to print out the manual but guess your way through proceedings.

In conclusion

Dazzle's DVC80 video capture device works nicely, once you've sussed the install procedure, though don't be surprised if you have to devote a precious primary (on system) USB port to the duty, not a hub port.

VideoWave4 really needs a printed user manual, but the CD version is thorough if you have the patience to follow it.

 

Don Bradbury