Doesn't Perform As Stated or Expected

The CameraMate VideoSafe product is supposed to capture video from VCR, DVD, and camcorder players. The box details say the following:

- Make Backup copies of your personal DVD’s
- Easy to use ProPix DVD One Step Software
- Create DVD, VCD, or SVCD from any video tape

CameraMate Video is supposed to capture images from Camcorders, digital cameras, mobile phones, and other video and video on flash devices. CameraMate Video is supposed to allow you to convert your video into MPEG I, MPEG II, SVCDs, Windows Media TM files, and Real Time Video TM files. According to the manufacturer, the CameraMate Video product allows easy creation of professional looking DVD, VCD, or SVCD with the use of the included full version of software.

Manufacturer: Zio Corporation (www.easiestvideoever.com)

Technical Specifications:

Video Resolution:
- NTSC: Up to 720x480
- PAL: Up to 720x576

AV Connections:
- RCA Video Input
- S-Video Input
- RCA Audio Input

Output Formats:
- MPEG-1
- MPEG-2
- DVD
- VCD
- SVCD

System Requirements:

Windows Operating Systems Only: Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP
(Not for the MAC or any other operating system listed)

Processor: 800 GHz Minimum
RAM: 256 MB Minimum
Hard Disk: 150 MB for Software Installation
Sound Card: PC must have sound card
Video Controller: DirectX 9.0b or Above
Monitor: 1024 x 768, 32 Bit Color
Available USB Port: USB 1.1 or 2.0
Burner: CD Burner for VCD, S-VCD creation, and DVD Burner for DVD creation

Package Contents:

- CameraMate VideoSafe product (colors in black or white)
- ProPix DVD Software
- Quick Start Guide (this is pretty to follow along to)

Note: When the software is installed on a Windows XP system, you will get a warning message from the operating system stating Microsoft has not tested the drivers. This may cause problems in running the software. You can install the product whether approved or not.

Setup and installation is straightforward. If you follow along with the quick start guide, the installation will complete on its own with no problems. You will need to purchase the audio/video cables; these are not included. There is no need to purchase a USB cable; the USB cable is built into the video device. You will need a device to link your Audio/Video cables also. In my case, I am using a VCR player to record from.

Once you have all the cables hooked up to the pc, the video device, and the source, launch the software. In my case, I am launching the ProPix DVD creation software. The software is very limited to its features.

Once the software is open, you will select whether to import an image or capture from your external device/source. If using a VCR player, put in a tape and press play. The video will display on the capture screen on your computer. There is a record button on the software that enables you to begin to record your image. The software also has control features (i.e. fast forward, reverse, play, pause, stop). These features are supposed to control your external device/source. I was not able to use these features to control my VCR player. Instead, I used my remote control for the VCR player and coordinated with the stop and record button in the software.

You can choose a 'Capture Directory' in the software. This directory is where your image will copy to. If you have a separate drive you want to copy the image to (e.g. dvd-rom), you would select that drive for your output file to copy too. Once the software is initially installed, it installs a 'Video Device' driver for the 'Cameramate Real-Time Video' and an 'Audio Device' for the 'Cameramate Real-Time Audio'. You can also choose a different device if listed under the options. You can also configure both of these devices for volume control within the software. You can also setup the timer in the software. This allows the video capture to run for the time selected. You can set this time to the same as the video you are recording from. The video is captured by the number of frames in a specified time to the disk.

Once the video has been captured, you would select the 'Next' button in the software. The next screen is where you would select the device to burn your image to. In this case, I am burning to a DVD recordable player. You can also choose to burn to a 'Virtual CD/DVD' player. You can chose to simulate before burning. I guess this is supposed to simulate the video for you to see or test before wasting a DVD disk. The final product or image captured in the MPEG format. You can view it in Windows Media player to see if it works to the way you like.

All this sounds like it is a great thing, but the question is... does it really work well? My answer is probably not. I attempted to capture a video from tape to my hard drive but did not get the final product because the software hung up at the end of the movie. I was not able to go to the end and complete the picture. However, the MPEG file was created on my computer, a whopping 2.8 GB file. Make sure you have enough disk space for the video, particularly if you have a bunch of videos you want to capture.

If you intend on using your computer while the video is being captured, do not plan on it. If any services are running on your computer, it is best to shut them down before beginning the record session. Any service running active on your computer will influence the clarity and final output of the image. You could expect to see slow motion scenes, skipping, or lines going across the screen (or all of these). If you are using another part of your computer while the image is captured, these problems could occur, but your pc performance will also decrease significantly.

Regarding flaws with the video device and software... I would say there are many. The software is severely limited to what you can or cannot do with the image to capture. You cannot manipulate the image. There is no pause option in the software. Once you click stop, that's it. Then clicking record only creates a new captured image.

Will the software do the job? Yes, it will, but will limitations. If you do not have at least the minimum requirements, you won't be able to run the program or capture the image very well. My recommendation is to have at least 512MB of memory; any higher may help in the final output of the image. I also recommend you clean the heads of the VCR player if you choose that option. If not, you could see lines across the output product. It's not a bad idea to clean the heads anyway. You'll need to run your VCR player as a standalone also. I removed mine from the entertainment center and placed on a small table next to my computer. If you have a laptop, then you'd have more portability to capture the image, and probably avoid having to remove your VCR player from where it sits everyday.

I think I over paid for the video device. I paid $39.99 from Sam's Club on 8/5/2005. If I were to make an offer to the manufacturer, I'd offer no more than $19.99. It's not worth the money to spend with such limitations to the software. However, if you want to try it and have better luck, feel free to purchase it. You shouldn't pay more than $40 for it though.

My pc is a Dell Optiplex P4-2.4GHZ with 512MB of RAM with Windows XP Pro. I am waiting for an additional 512MB to arrive for this pc. Once installed, I'm hoping the ProPix video software doesn't crash on me for the next attempt. I tried several times to convert a VHS to DVD but was not successful due to the software constantly crashing. I was able to view some of the output in the MPEG file though. The output in the file was just like I described above: shaky, line at the bottom of the video, slow motion at times. I attribute most of that to the limitations of the software and the possibility of processes and services running in the background on my computer. You almost have to shutdown most of the active running services to get a clean output. The audio output wasn't very good either. I've got stereo MP3's on my computer that sound better than what was recorded. Again, I attribute the bad audio to the software and possibly the video device itself. May not be the best quality product. As the old saying is: "You get what you pay for." If it's cheap, your final product result will be cheap.