I'll keep this short ... despite a bad review on Amazon, I bought this product. I received it promptly, I installed the highly regarded Pinnacle Studio v14 software FIRST, on my computer, AS INSTRUCTED. I connected the Canon DV tape camcorder to the Dazzle with the 'AV Out' cable that came with the camcorder originally, plugged the Dazzle into a front-mounted USB port on the computer, launched Studio, and imported 6 year old video from tape to disk by simply hitting the 'play' button on the camcorder ... I have a lot more work to do for video editing, but this beats the HELL out of installing a machine specific capture card. I can't think of a simpler way to capture tape-based video. You can pick from a variety of file outputs, I used AVI and I'll probably experiment more and use whatever burns to DVD the best for HD tv viewing. I was dreading the pain of capturing old video, but this has made it much easier than I expected, at a very reasonable cost considering the hardware/software package you get. In fact, it works well enough that I'm willing to stick with my DV tape camera for a while longer. More importantly I have old but good quality video of family, dogs and fun that I can now capture and save to DVD. Dazzle Video Creator Plus HD
Well I purchased this product a few days ago for recording montages and such off my xbox 360. The installation was easy and only took a few minutes. When I recorded my first gameplay from my xbox 360. I had fames dropped and experienced a ton of audio lag, which was a major problem. I messaged pinnacle studios and they help me out a ton although they take forever to respond in the live chat. But after I changed a few settings in Studio 14 HD it works phenomenally. Another great feature of this product is the Pinnacle Studios 14 HD is very easy to use and is way better then windows movie maker and it has some great features (watch the tutorial videos they show you some cool features). It is definitely a great product and overall I give it 4 stars. I would give it 5 stars, but I do experience audio lag occasionally when I am recording from my xbox 360.
The Dazzle "HD" is a joke. It's the same device as the previous Dazzle. They just threw in the "HD" part to trick consumers. The HD part only reflects the program it comes with. Yes, the program "Pinnacle Studio" is HD, but the Dazzle itself does NOT capture HD quality video.
The only way it can capture HD quality video is if it is wired through Component cables or HDMI. The dazzle offers none of it. It only offers S-Video and Composite...Which do not provide HD quality videos...
I purchased this package so that my son could record from his Xbox and learn some video editing. When it arrived, I installed the software and tested it with my video camera to make sure it was working properly. The install seemed to go fine on a Windows 7 laptop - I plugged in the hardware, the drivers installed, and the device was recognized. When I started up the Pinnacle Studio HD software the Dazzle showed in the list of available "Import From" devices; however, when I tried to import, I got an error stating "failed to get video from device".
I contacted their customer support via chat (that transcript is below), when that didn't work out I asked how I could contact a supervisor and was given the general support number. When I called that number they stated that a "service code" is required to speak with someone on the phone. I entered the service code that was included with my software and was told that it was invalid. This stuck me in an endless loop and I had to hang up and call back.
When I called back I wanted to see if I could speak with someone, anyone, without a valid service code - that is apparently not possible. The rep I was chatting with online offered to give me a new code if I scanned and sent him a copy of the receipt, but at this point I was 45 minutes in and extremely frustrated...
After I had hung up the phone and closed down the chat, I received an e-mail stating:
"Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response. We will assume your issue has been resolved if we do not hear from you within 5 days. Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you."
I replied to that e-mail noting that the issue had not been resolved, etc and immediately received a reply from a "noreply" address that simply said "List has no rows for assignment to SObject".
So I am left to vent here... Pinnacle apparently does not want to hear my complaints or fix the problem, so the best I can hope that others don't suffer this frustration. Needless to say, I will not purchase any products from Pinnacle again.
Here is the transcript of my chat session:
---------------------------
Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
You have been connected to CUSTOMER SERVICE.
ME: Hi, I just installed Pinnacle Studio HD with the Dazzle hardware. All drivers, etc seemed to install correctly, but when I go to capture, I get an error
CUSTOMER SERVICE: What is the error message that you get when you try to capture?
ME: failed to get video from device
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Are you using a laptop or the desktop?
ME: laptop
CUSTOMER SERVICE: I just want to know are you capturing from a camcorder or vcr?
ME: Camcorder, but this was just to test. Ultimately, I am going to be capturing from a gaming system
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Do you have a camcorder or vcr that you
CUSTOMER SERVICE: can use for capturing?
CUSTOMER SERVICE: If your going to connect the dazzle device to the computer. Did the computer recognize the device?
ME: yes
ME: the dazzle DVC100 shows up in the list of "import from" locations in pinnacle studio HD
ME: if I click SVideo it says "no input signal", but Composite says "failed to get video from device"
ME: so it sees the device, it seems to know that there is video to be captured, it just fails to get it.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: It is because that there is no signal that is coming through the device.
ME: that doesn't sound right
ME: there IS video going from my video camera to the device through a composite video cable
CUSTOMER SERVICE: If your going to capture from a game console I can't help.
ME: Right now I am trying to capture from a VIDEO CAMERA
ME: Still there???
CUSTOMER SERVICE: What connection did you use?
ME: composite video out of video camera into Dazzle - Dazzle into USB on computer - computer recognizes device
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Click the dazzle device on the import to section then click the composite cable then turn on camcorder and let it play.
ME: IT SAYS "FAILED TO GET VIDEO FROM DEVICE"!
ME: Is there a way for me to chat with someone else? You don't seem to get it,
CUSTOMER SERVICE: It means that the connection is good but the computer cannot get the signal in order to get the display.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: are you using a laptop or the desktop?
ME: You have already asked me that question
ME: How do I get in touch with your supervisor?
CUSTOMER SERVICE: You can dial this number 650 267 5196
ME: that is a general number. who should i ask for?
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Your asking for a super visor right? Just dial the number.
ME: What is your supervisors name?
CUSTOMER SERVICE: I apologize just dial the number.
ME: I did. It will not let me through without a service code. It is telling me that the service code is invalid
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Where did you purhcased the studio? Do you have the receipt?
ME: Amazon.com - yes
CUSTOMER SERVICE: WOuld that be ok if you can send me a san copy of the receipt so that we can provide you anew service code.
ME: No. At this point, I am just going to return it and post the transcript of this idiocy so people can see what sort of customer service you guys give
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Thank you for chatting with us. Have a great day!
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.
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