Dazzle Video Creator Plus

Beware! Do not buy this if you have a 64 bit system, or windows 7. It will not work. Other than that, it's ok. It's a way to capture some images digitally, but not as handy as I thought it would be. If I had to do it all over again, I would have saved my money.

I use this exclusively for video game capture to post on Youtube. The capture card does record in pretty good quality, but it doesn't even look close to what it looks like on my TV. The editing software is nice and easy to use, but they make you pay extra to unlock the extra features such as HD recording and editing.

However, in almost completely random instances, the recording audio/video syncing will get messed up and/or VERY choppy. If someone is saying a sentence, the words will become a garbled up bunch of gibberish and when it's a video sequence of someone walking from one building to another, the video will freeze for a few seconds, then it'll look as if the person warped several yards, then it'll freeze, and the person will warp again. This can end up making videos unwatchable, which is unacceptable.

If you play FPS games regularly you know that there are those times when you do some amazing, "once in a lifetime" things, like dropping 5-6 guys, one after the other with a pump shotgun. Or shooting a rocket launcher and taking out 5+ people at once. If the video skips at these parts, you will never, ever be able to see it again.... and it will make your blood boil. Some people mention that when the video takes too long, the syncing gets choppy... but every single one of my videos is 10 minutes or less - each round is 10 minutes in Modern Warfare 2, and they usually end a couple of minutes before the time limit is up.

I upload the good videos to Youtube. However, the default preset for recording format is either AVI or MPEG 1/2, and I prefer WMV over the both of them. Another thing to note is that AVI files usually don't upload to Youtube very well.... sometimes they won't upload at all. I have converted from AVI to WMV (which I have always used for Youtube uploads) and the built-in format converter results in poorer quality than if I converted it using Windows Movie Maker, not to mention its a hassle.

There are many times when I wish I hadn't bought this.... and that's never a good sign. Whenever I actually capture something without flaws, it's more of a relief than anything.

EDIT: Make sure you also keep an eye on the preview screen. It shows a delayed but semi-accurate version of what you're recording. I recorded almost an hour's worth of good footage, then when I went to my computer to edit the clips, NOTHING was saved in my file! Once again, this product has infuriated me.

is this the same as the HD one? please someone help me. i got the plus one, but i was wondering if the hd one comes with different hardware? i know the other one comes with studio hd v14, but is it a different recording device? please someone help me.

After viewing tutorials I was able to create a video from old VHS tapes (26 years old ) incorporating music downloaded from the internet and incorporating text titles and merges form one scene to another. I am still learning the features and look forward to creating more videos utilizing the additional tools.

I purchased this item for my grandson. We needed to buy additional components to hook it up to the laptop. We got it all set up and it didn't work. His Dad is overseas and he's a little frustrated right now. We will find someone among his parent's friends who can help (hopefully!).

Very nice product. My son seems to love it. The software that comes with it, has helped me as well.

I have had no problems at all with the Dazzle recorder and found the software intuitive and easy to use. I captured and got the hang of editing in a couple of nights. I read everything I could find before buying and so far feel like I made the right choice for the $. I bought it strictly to transfer old VHS recordings on to DVD.

My sys is pretty old but it runs the software and captures just fine
AMD Athlon XP 2600 (1.9ghz)
1.5GB RAM
ATI 9600XT Video
160GB Hard Drive
Windows XP Professional

Two things I wish I had been aware of. Hard drive space. You need at least 100GB to capture and burn an average VHS tape. I read a lot about how capturing requires a lot of space...(50-60GB for the first VHS tape I captured which was roughly 4-5 hours of video). No biggie, but be aware that its just like most burning software in that it copies your edited video to the hard drive for burning. So in essence it requires space for TWO copies of your tape. (a master and an edit) And thats just for one video, if you wanted to work on multiple captured videos at once...your gonna need a big hard drive. I'd recommend 500GB at least. I have an older machine and my 160GB hard drive is not enough to do even one unless I uninstall everything but windows...no fun. Not the manufacturers fault...but be aware. Lesson learned for me.

Also be aware that the included sofware (Pinnacle Studio 12 when I bought it) only allows creation of 5 chapters on a DVD...thats it. If you have more than 5 chapters in mind... like a chapter for each summer vacation or each school play or whatever.....you have to buy an upgrade of Pinnacle Studio. This was a major disappointment and I thought a ridiculous limitation just to get you for more $.

I purchased this item to create a video synching pictures and video captured from VHS tape to music tracks. Works as advertised - software easy to use and intuitive to learn. Very reasonable price. Completely satisfied.

No problems at all with either setup or operation. Works even more easily than my old ADSTech DVDExpress, which didn't work at all once I upgraded to Windows 7. No problems with audio sync as described above. Would highly recommend this product.

I first bought a Sabrent video capture device and had all kinds of problems getting it to operate properly on Windows XP. It did not come with the proper drivers. I sent it back to the online store I had purchased it from and bought the Pinnacle Video Creator through Amazon. No problems whatsoever! It works exactly as advertised. I should have paid attention to a previous glowing review about this product!!

Video conversion hardware and software work fine, but I was disappointed that it did not ship with Pinnacle Studio 14, but rather with Studio 12, even though V14 has been available for some months. It was impossible to determine, from the information on either the Amazon site or the web generally, which Studio version ships with Dazzle.

It{s exactly what i was looking for, is easy to use even my father can use it with no explanation.
Now i have my old video tapes in DVD :)

DAZZLE CREATOR PLUS IS NICE BUT ONE NEEDS PRACTICE TO BE ABLE TO
CREATE MOVIES AND PHOTO'S CONVERTED TO DVD DISC.

It records at a very good quality, but if you want better quality you have to get the advanced version of the software (pro) rather than the version that came with the dazzle itself (plus). What is the point of getting this with the plus software if there is even better software that the company makes for even better quality recording? I like the dazzle itself, but the way they taunt you by having the better options available to you but not unlocked until you pay an extra 80 dollars for them is just rude. go with the original base hardware for a cheaper price so you can save up for the upgraded software or find other software.

I purchased this product after reading mostly favorable customer reviews. Every product is going to have one or two bad reviews and one or two nuts you need to ignore. So I figured this product would be okay. HOWEVER, using the capture device and accompanying software to capture analog video from a VCR produces NOTICEABLE AUDIO DRIFT with time. The audio starts out in perfect sync, but over the 30 minutes of a camcorder VHS-C tape, it can be out of sync by over a minute by the end of the tape. I first thought the problem was with another editing program, but no. Playing back the raw avi capture through several video players confirmed it was the Pinnacle capture software.

If you choose video preview while capturing it, you can verify that the audio and video are properly synched all the way to the end as being delivered by the Pinnacle USB capture device to the PC. Once in a while, a capture will work just fine, but it appears to be random. I had to capture each tape about 3 times to get one with proper synchronization. Don't know if other programs running in the background inadvertently affect sync, but they shouldn't. And yes - my PC specs are superior to the minimum stated requirements. FYI - I am runing Windows XP SP3.

If you search on the web for "pinnacle studio audio sync problem" you will see that this has been an ongoing problem for YEARS. Incidentally, I have not had any problems with lost frames as others have. So buyer beware. If you have purchased this product and are happy with it - congratulations. But if you haven't bought it yet, I would seriously advise finding another product, as I now have to. I hope this review halps those reading it. Thank you for reading this.

The Dazzle Caputure card is really good to have and it's quite easy to use too. In the beginning I always wanted to make my own videos and not sure what to use, I happen to browse around to see is there anyway to record my video games or anything in general I happen to saw this product and bought it. This is a quite way to start out to make your own videos. I also like the Pinnacle Studio but for some reason it can be really slow due to my computer has low memory but I use the Windows Video maker for now. It works great with Windows XP and you if are planning to become a film maker or anything in the art industry this product is great to have. I recommend to anyone who wants to record anything and create there own videos as well.

my review isn't for the product but for the seller the items were sent separate and when we got the second item it was not what we ordered it was a dog pack for a dog to put on. ( we ordered a video production dazzle ) although we eventually got the correct item it was a hassle to return and again wait for the new item

It does a wonderful job in capturing videos. It's not the capture card that annoyed me it's the fact that you have to go out and get other wires to make it work. I do not understand why people are mad about it not working on 64 bit vista, I always check some sites with information about the product before I buy it. It does use up a lot of memory so I recommend some extra RAM too. Sometimes lags but whatever it gets the job done.

I am my mother's 14 year old daughter if I could make it work you should too.

The Dazzle Video Creator Plus is a great capture card and Amazon gives it to you at a great price. ($60 at time of purchase) Capturing video with the device couldn't be any easier. My one gripe with capturing video is if you want anything is high quality then its going to cost you alot of space. In avi format I recorded a video for 8 mins and it ended up being around 1.63 Gigs of memory. This isn't the Dazzle's fault but using MPEG format to save space will result in a noticeable drop in quality. Overall a great product. 5 Stars.

This is a great product! The only problem I had was connecting the adapter. After connecting the adapter, it wouldn't work so I consulted my VHS/DVD manual and discovered that there was a switch on the back of my VHS/DVD that controlled the Component/Composite hook-up. So I checked the back of my device and found that it was not set to Composite. I switched it to Composite and it immediately picked up the signal. So if you are having trouble you may want to check your device manual. Other than that, this device works great and the software is nice also. It has a lot of features and yes it will take time to figure out how to use them if you are a novice. I'm a novice, and I am having fun learning the features and creating great dvd's from my old VHS movies. As far as the picture quality, that is going to depend on the quality of the VHS tape. I have even recorded television shows and I get great picture quality. In my opinion, the product is definitely worth buying.

Quick shipment. Item is simple to set up. However,s-video connection would not work. It took 4 calls the Pinnacle help dept to figure this out. Had to use composite (red/white/yellow) connection to transfer vhs to computer.Once properly connected, transfer process is very easy. Editing is another issue. If you are a novice, the editing process can be confusing. Will need a lot of time and trial & error to get it right.