The chief reason for the kudos is the packaged software (notably the editor)
and the superior A/V sync. FutureTel's Video Sphinx is the only product with
its own audio encoder. That way, sync is not dependent upon the cheap crystal
in the SoundBlaster, because audio and video are locked together *at source*.
After a few minutes of capture, the difference between the A/V sync
performance of the products becomes clear. We also won, I believe, based on
the quality of the encoded video.
The latest version of Sphinx is, as of 2 weeks ago, marketed by Adaptec under
the brand-name "VideOh!". It comes bundled with their Easy CD Creator.
I don't think there's a cheaper way to make MPEG-1 Video CD's than this.
See the http://www.adaptec.com site for details.
The software for Sphinx has been revved *majorly* to Version 2.0, and is now
dubbed "ClipView". It now previews and multiplexes in real time, among many
other improvements.
Cheers,
Andrew Palfreyman
Disclaimer: I work at FutureTel, as some on this list already know.
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>Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 08:19:45 -0800 (PST)
>To: digvid-l@ucdavis.edu
>From: Richard Buchanan <rbuchana@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>
>Subject: Re: Dazzle
>
>Thanks for the reply. I was going to buy Dazzle, but now will check out the
>competing products that you suggested.
>
>At 07:49 AM 10/25/98 -0800, Mark Shapiro <dmc@cts.com> wrote:
>>The La-Vision Dazzle MPEG products are great for converting camcorder video
>>to MPEG. Dazzle offers two products, both a PCI card and a parallel port
>>device. I found that the add-in board worked better.
>>
>>By the way, there are a bunch of competing parallel MPEG boards available
>>including the FutureTel Sphinx and the Videonics Python. They all use the
>>same basic conversion chip but their bundled software is different. Right
>>now, I would say that FutureTel bundles the best editing software.
>>
>>However, there is a big if. Many people can't get these outboard products
>>to work with their older computers.
>>
>>Mark
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Cheers,
Andrew