ADS Video Xpress

Instructions impossible to follow, could net get the device to work with Windows 10

I bought this for a friend who had never worked with digital video. He had a bunch of 8mm tapes that he wanted to archive onto DVD, but no way to get the video into his computer. I work with video, and had plenty of suggestions for him, but he wanted something easy. Enter the ADS Video Express.I was skeptical of the product because it was so cheap and it used USB instead of FireWire, but he loves the product and has had zero problems. The digitized video is clean and smooth. He uses it with Windows movie maker, and when he digitizes an 8mm tape, it even detects the scenes, so he gets separate clips for every part of his video. After I told him everything else he could use it for, he was amazed--digitizing TV, VHS, some DVDs, and he can even hook up his 8mm camera and use it as a live webcam!I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking at it.A very nice product!

After borrowing an older ADS capture device from a friend, I decided to try this one out. The manual has very basic instructions, not much for a beginner. I created an entire movie using the Ulead software, and was very disappointed in the final product when burned to a dvd. The movements were jerky, and the images often somewhat fuzzy. Not what I wanted after 12 hours of editing. I might have been happy with the product if I was not aware of how well the conversion process can work with a higher quality capture device.

I'm not proficient with such things, so perhaps my word shouldn't count for much--but here's my experience, for what it's worth. I've been trying to convert Super8 video to CD or DVD, without success so far. The ADS device had the same problem I experienced with the Terapin, namely that any imperfection in the source signal caused the image to freeze and recording to stop (well, not exactly: the frozen image continued to record until the tape stopped playing). An additional problem is that the video from one tape took up my entire hard drive (and I've got a Dell Dimension 8300 with a lot of free disk space). Perhaps there are ways to tweak settings to reduce the size of the file, and maybe with better quality tape the unit would perform, but for me it was a no-go, so I returned it. I'm getting ready to hook up the Canopus I just bought, and I'll see if that fares any better.

You may as well pitch the instructions because they're worthless (and the only reason I'm not giving a 5-star rating for the ADS Tech Video Xpress). I was about ready to pitch the product as well, after losing two evenings trying to figure out how to get it to work. Ultimately, I gave up on relying solely on the program it came with, and I instead opted to try it on my Windows Movie Maker. Yahoo! Perseverance paid off! Once I switched to Movie Maker, this tool worked great!To date, I've converted about a dozen videos of content to computer files that I was able to burn to DVDs. I just leave my Xpress hooked up to the back of my television so I don't have to try to remember later how to hook it up again. Doing that, I can connect my laptop to the Xpress and start the video converting process within 3-4 minutes. My Movie Maker program takes over the entire process.The ADS Tech Video Xpress has been especially useful for me because I teach a college telecourse and often show edited video clips to my students. Before purchasing Xpress, I had crudely edited videos that I was reluctant to use; my videos had lots of amateur stop/start points. Using Movie Maker with Xpress, I was able to download these videos to my laptop, then easily edit them so transitions between stop and start points became smooth and seamless.Pretty cool. I'm glad I took a chance on this product!Below are hook-up and program instructions I've written to myself for easy reference later. Hopefully they'll be of more help to you than the instructions that come with this product:First, hook up the Video Xpress equipment as follows:1. S-cable (buy one, since it doesn't come with the VideoXpress) goes from the back of your television to the VideoXpress.2. Use red/white/yellow cords running into the back of the VCR/DVD that is hooked up to your televion as follows:- all three plug into the "video out" column- all three plug into the VideoXpress tool at the other end.3. The USB plug for the VideoXpress tool plugs into the back of the computer.Next, open the Instant Video Xpress program and verify the settings are as follows:- "NTSC M" for the video standard setting- "640 x 480" and "60 FPS (VGA)" for video format- "DVD, VCR, TV" for video source- "Video composite" for video inputUnder the program advanced settings:- Low motion (TV, VCD, DVD)- CPU support: "SSE3"- Stereo system: "MTS"- Video decoder: "video standard: NTSC_M"Under properties within the program advanced settings:- Stream format: Video format: "NTSC_M"- Frame rate: "59.940"- Color space/compression: "YUY2"- Outputs size: "640x480"Finally, CLOSE the Instant Video Xpress program. (Windows Movie Maker can't access the video until this program is closed. And yes, it's silly to have to open it, make those setting changes, then close it, but Video Xpress won't work correctly unless you follow those setting steps.)In case you need this information for Windows Movie Maker, the steps (in order) are as follows:Under "File," click on "capture video."Use the following settings:- audio device set at: "USB2.0 Analog Audio Device"- Video input source set at: "Composite"Under Configure Video Capture Device:- Video format: Video standard: "NTSC_M" Frame rate: "29.970" Color space/compression: "YUY2" Output size: "640x480"Under Camera settings:- Deinterlace method: "Low motion (TV, VCD, DVD)"- CPU support: "SSE3"- Stereosystem: "MTS"Under Video decoder: Video standard: "MTSC_M"Signal detected: "1"Lines detected: "525"Then...Give the file a name and indicate where to save itSet it for "best quality" for playback.Then "Start Capture."If the Video Xpress is hooked up and running correctly, you should see on your computer monitor the video image of whatever is showing on television, but you will NOT hear the sound. When you finish capturing and play it back, THEN you'll hear the sound.I know, I know -- clear as mud. But hey, it's better than the Xpress instructions! :-)

I purchased this product on the recommedation of an ADS techsupport person. He guaranteed me it worked under Vista. Well the hardware does but the MuVee software doesnt. There is no way to capture anything without the software. When contacted again, they indicated that they did not know when they would have updated software for this product.

We've used it to move all of our VHS tapes to DVD with no problems. The cost was good & I'd recommend it to anyone.

Doesn't work with new operating systems, only pre-2000 machines. Wish I would've known. You cannot get support or this item.