If you have ever needed to splice in analog footage from VHS or HI-8 sources into a documentary you were doing, then the Grass Valley ADVC110 is a device you really need to consider. However, there is another use for it that the manufacturers didn't likely intend it for: the ability to preview footage from modern AVCHD and P2 cameras in modern firewire preview solutions like Adobe OnLocation! (Even the CS5 iteration of this great preview solution doesn't have any support for anything other than Firewire, which rules out all the AVCHD and most of the P2 camcorders. Oddly enough, even P2 cameras that have a firewire output don't necessarily work with OnLocation, as the HVX200/A's popular 24PN format doesn't actually go out the firewire port because it's a "data file set" rather than a video stream!)
As such, there are a number of reasons to consider this attractive little adapter box. With that said, let's take a look at how well it works.
The ADVC 110 is pretty darn easy to set up and use. Simply plug the included 6 pin firewire cable into your 6 pin firewire port on your computer and you have connectivity and power for the little box to read any analog signals you run in through component or S-Video ports. On our initial tests using this intended method of use, it worked flawlessly, allowing us to be up and recording quickly.
If you're going to plug it into a firewire port on a laptop for use with the aforementioned OnLocation preview solution, it gets a little trickier. Unless you happen to have a large laptop with a 6 pin firewire port, you'll have to get their 5V power adapter to power the converter, which will run you another $38. (The 6 pin firewire carries power from the motherboard to power the device, whereas the 4 pin does not.) This means that you'll have to have an auto inverter (ie a DC-to-AC adapter that plugs into your car's cigarette lighter) if you happen to be out in nature (which probably isn't that big an issue because you'll probably need to have an inverter for your power guzzling laptop). Another solution which can allow a bit fewer wires at times if your laptop has an ExpressCard slot is to get a 6 Pin Firewire ExpressCard that can send power out from the laptop's mother board. This will cost about as much as the AC Adapter, so this is more as a convenience factor rather than a cost saving method. (Just be sure to read the fine print on some of these cards, as one recently sold from one major retailer required an ADDITIONAL power supply itself, which makes it useless for both convenience and price comparability.)
Once these things were attended to, the system worked great. I was able to preview video in OnLocation and see exactly what the camera was recording for framing purposes, including the letterboxing options we were using.
