INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Orion® Video Capture Device
#52181
Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975
OrionTelescopes.com
Customer Support (800) 676 -13 43
E-mail: support@telescope.com
Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000
89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076
© 2011 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
IN 433 Rev. A 10/11
The Orion Video Capture
Device enables any NTSC
or PAL analogue video
signal output from CCTV
camera, DVD, DVR, VCR,
Cablebox, Game Console
or Camcorder to be displayed and recorded on
any computer or Laptop
with XP, Vista, Win7 or
Mac OS X operating
Figure 1.
Software CD.
USB Device and
system installed.
Video input can be from any Composite or SVideo signal.
The software CD includes video capture, video editing and movie format
conversion software.
The Video Capture Device can be used for many purposes including:
• Live Viewing and recording of astronomy subjects via CCT V camera
such as the Orion Starshoot Deep Space Video Camera or the Orion
Starshoot Video Eyepiece.
• Live internet broadcasting via NightSkiesNetwork.
• Capturing and editing home movies from tape to digital formats such
as DVD, Web and mobile devices.
• Capture and convert movies to other formats such as MPEG and AVI
formats.
• Automated tracking and recording of meteors using HandyAVI or UFO
capture software. (windows only software links on CD installer)
Please read this instruction manual before attempting to use the video capture device or install the software.
Parts List
• Orion Video Capture Device (USB)
• Dual Format Windows PC / Mac OS X CD-ROM
• Manual
Figure 2. Examples of supported Input devices.
System Requirements
The following hardware is required:
• Recommended minimum memory size is 512 MB.
• Disk Space – 1GB or more recommended for saving Movies.
• Video Display – 800 X 600, 16-bit color or higher. 1024x768 or higher is
recommended.
• Mouse (external or built-in)
• Internet connection required to display on-line help and download
additional software
• High Speed USB 2.0 port
Windows
The Orion Video Capture device, device driver and Orion Capture
software requires Windows XP, Vista or Win 7 running on a Pentium
III™ or equivalent, or higher.
Mac OSX
The Orion Video Capture device, device driver and Orion Capture
software requires Mac OS X 10.3 or above running on a Power PC
G3/G4/G5 or Intel-Based Macintosh computers.
Input Devices
A wide variety of Input devices are supported (Figure 2).
2 3
Software and
Driver Installation
Before the video capture device can
be used the USB device driver and
image capture software must be
installed onto your computer.
Note: If you have any antivirus software enabled, please disable it during the installation of the software.
Note: Do not connect the Video
Capture Device to your computer
yet.
Figure 3.
Windows Users
Included on CD are the following:
• Orion AmCap – Capture Software
• VCR to DVD – Video editing software
• Blaze Video magic – Movie format conversion software
Please turn to the section titled “Windows installation and operation page”.
Macintosh Users
Included software:
• EasyCap – Capture Software
• Video Impression – Video Editing and Conversion Software
• Lynkeos – Astronomical Post processing Software
Please turn to the section titled “Macintosh installation and operation page”.
Windows Installation and Operation
Turn on your computer and allow the Windows operating system to load
as normal. Insert the included CD-ROM into your computer’s CD-ROM
drive, and the Launcher will appear (Figure 3). This allows you to install the
included USB Device driver, Orion capture software, VHS to DVD capture
and editing software and Blaze video magic conversion software.
Video Capture Device Driver Installation
1. Click Install Capture Device Driver.
provides an easy menu for software
installation.
The Windows launcher
2. The USB-TV Device Driver
Software Installation will start.
3. Follow on screen Installation
instructions.
4. When installation is complete
click the Finish button.
5. Restart computer.
Once the driver is installed, the
computer will now recognize the
Orion Video Capture Device whenever it is plugged in.
Please connect the Video Capture
Device to your computer, you
should see a window, select “Yes,
this time only”, and then select
“Install the software automatically
(Recommended)”, select “Continue
Anyway”. Wait for a moment until
the system displays “Your new hardware is installed and ready to use”.
Verify Device Driver Installation
You will now need to check that the
drivers are installed correctly.
1. Right Click on My Computer
2. Left Click on properties.
3. Click on Hardware tab and then Device Manager.
In the Device Manager click on the “Sound, video and game controllers”.
You should see the “USB 2861 Device” listed. (Figure 4).
If it has a Yellow mark next to it then this means that the driver is not
installed correctly. You will need to remove the driver and disconnect the
Orion Video Capture device from the computer and reconnect to install the
driver again.
Capture Software Installation & Guide
Now that the Video Capture Device driver software is installed, the capture
software must also be installed.
1. Return to the Launcher and click Install Orion Capture Software.
2. The Orion AmCap Setup Wizard appears. Click Next.
Figure 4. Device manager screen.
4 5
3. Select a destination folder and
Click Next.
4. Click Next again to start the
installation.
5. When the wizard is complete,
click close. This has installed
the capture software.
6. Open Orion AmCap from the
icon on your desktop. The Live
Video Window should appear
(Figure 5). The software will
recognize many cameras so
check that
USB 2861 Device
Figure 5. The live video window.
is selected from the device
menu.
7. Under Options menu select
Video Capture Filter and select
Video Decoder Tab to modify
settings such as PAL/NTSC/
SECAM country video standard
settings. Select the Video Proc
Amp Tab to modify image
settings such as Brightness,
Contrast, Hue, Saturation and
Sharpness (Figure 6).
8. Under options menu select Video Capture Pin to modify settings such as
Output Size (Figure 7). The maximum output size is 720 x 480.
9. Under options menu select Video Crossbar to modify video input
settings based upon the video device attached to the Video Capture
Device IE (Figure 8). The majority of devices will output standard Video
Composite video signal. Higher quality can be achieved using SVideo
input.
Figure 6. Video Capture Filter.
10. Select Capture File from the
File menu and name your file
including the AVI extension
name. IE MyMovie.avi. Click
Open.
11. Enter the amount of disk space
to allocate as a Capture buffer
for this data. Movie files need
a large amount of disk space.
Enter a value such as 50
Megabytes or higher. Press ok.
The size of the captured data
may be much higher than this
value depending upon number
and size of frames captured.
12. Select Set Frame Rate under the
Capture menu. Check the box
Use Frame Rate and type 15.
Press ok.
13. Select Set Time Limit under the
Capture menu. Check the box
Use Time Limit and type 20.
Press ok.
14. Select Start Capture under the
Capture menu.
15. Press ok when you are ready to capture Images.
An AVI movie sequence of 300 frames (15 frames per second x 20 seconds)
will now be recorded.
The total number of captured frames is displayed on the bottom bar. If
frames are being dropped this will be displayed also. To remedy this, try
increasing the capture buffer size. If this does not resolve dropping frames
then the frame rate or resolution should be set to a lower value to prevent
dropping of frames.
Figure 7. Video Capture Pin.
Figure 8. Video Crossbar.
6 7
Honestech
VHS to DVD
2.0 SE Installation
& Guide
1. Return to the Launcher and click
Install VHS to DVD SE.
2. The VHD to DVD SE Software
Installation will start.
3. Follow on screen Installation
instructions.
4. When installation is complete
click the Finish button.
5. If the software is installed
correctly, you should see
“honestech VHS to DVD 2.0 SE”
icon on your desktop.
6. Double click “honestech VHS
to DVD 2.0 SE” icon on your
desktop, enter your product key
in the window (Figure 9). You
can find the product key on the
CD-ROM bag,
7. Select input device to be “USB
2861 Device” (Figure 10).
8.
9. Click “Control” button to select video standard under the Video
10. If you have connected your video output device with the Video Capture
Click “Video Setting”
button located to the right
of the input device. Select the
correct input source for your
device (Figure 11).
Decoder tab to modify settings such as PAL/NTSC/SECAM country
video standard settings. (Figure 12) Select the Video Proc Amp Tab to
modify image settings such as Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation and
Sharpness.
device and your computer correctly you can now watch video and record
it. Before you begin recording video, select the output file format from
drop down menu, recording video type, quality and recording duration
time. You can also select output folder for the recorded video file.
Figure 9. Product Key Check.
Figure 10. Input Device Selection.
Figure 11.
Figure 12. Video Standard Settings.
Video Input Selection.
11. Click the red record button to
start recording video. If you
select “commercial cutting”,
you can cut the part of the
video you don’t want to save,
when you want to finish, click
the white stop icon, you should
see the thumbnail image of the
recorded file on the top right of
the window.
12. If you select “recording and
burning” and click red record
key, it will start the burning
process right after recording for the designated time.
13. If you want to edit the recorded video file, select “Edit” tab to enter edit
mode (Figure 13). Double- click the thumbnail image of the recorded
file you want to edit or drag the file into the player panel and the file will
play.
14. During the edit phase, you can cut out scenes from your recorded video.
You can also cut your movies into multiple scenes and add storybook
transition effects between each scene. When you have multiple scenes
captured, you can combine them into one continuous clip with transition
effects. In order for you trim or cut part of the scene from the captured
clips, you will need to create two separate clips, one before the part of
the clip to be trimmed and another for the scenes after the part of the
clip to be trimmed. You can even combine two separate clips into one
scene using the storyboard.
15. Click the “Preview“ button to preview the edited video file before saving
it, and click “Merge and Save” button, you can set your video file format
to be “MPEG” or “DV-AVI”.
16. Click the “Burn” tab. Now, you can select output video format, and click
“Option” button, you can select CD/DVD writing device, and select the
disk name, and must select correct input video type, then click “OK”
icon. Select your file or click “Add clips” icon to choose the other files,
according to your want, you can edit the video files by “Create Menu”
function. (Chapter, Select back ground image, Select a navigation button
image, Select the number of clip per page, Text.)
Notice: VCD, SVCD, Data CD, Data DVD formats do not support “Create
Menu” option.
17. Next, insert a blank CD or DVD into your CD/DVD writing device, and
click “Start” icon to publish the video files.
Click the “Help” button on the top right of the software window to read
the “honestech VHS to DVD 2.0” help file.
Figure 13. Edit mode.
8 9
Blaze Video
Magic 3.0
Macintosh
Installation
Installation &
Guide
1. Return to the Launcher and click
Install Blaze Video Magic 3.0.
2. The Blaze Video Magic Software
Installation will start.
3. Follow on screen Installation
instructions.
4. When installation is complete
click the Finish button.
5. If the software is installed
correctly, you should see “Blaze
Video Magic” icon on your
desktop.
6. Double click “Blaze Video
Magic” icon on your desktop,
you should see the “Register
Blaze Video Magic” window
(Figure 14), click the “Register”
icon, enter user name, E-mail
address and serial number, (You
can find the serial number on the CD-ROM bag) and click “Register”
icon.
7. Click “Add” button to select the source video file you want to convert,
and click the ”Play” button to preview and play the selected video file,
click “Delete” you can delete the selected file from source file list.
8. In the “Output Format” menu, you can select output format for your
video file, and click “Setting “button, you should set the output video file
according to your want.
9. In the “output Path” menu, you can click “Browse” button to change the
output path, and click “location” you can quickly open the output folder
and access the converted video file.
10. Click “Option” button at the right top of the main window, you can select
your desired interface language.
11. Please click “Start” button to begin to convert the added file.
Click the “Help” button on the top right of the software window to read
the “Blaze Video Magic 3.0 help” file.
Figure 14. Registration Window.
Figure 15. Blaze Video Magic
Software.
and Operation
Check your Mac OS X version
Orion Capture software requires
Mac OS X 10.3 or later.
Please go to
There you will find your Mac OS version (Figure 16).
Install Driver and Application
Note: If you have any anti-virus software enabled, please disable it during the installation of the software.
Insert the software CD into your CD
drive.
Open the folder “EzCAP1.0.1R” and
double click the file
“E zCAP1.0.1R.pkg”.
Follow the onscreen instructions.
You may need to enter your Mac
password.
Once installation has completed
please restart your computer
(Fig u r e 17).
Connect the Capture Device to a
USB port on your Mac, after a short
while, the hardware will be installed
in your computer. You now need to
check that the drivers are installed
correctly.
Please go to
More info Hardware USB.
If the driver is installed correctly you
should see the device listed as in
Figure 18. (Vendor ID: Empia Technology, Inc)
If not then it means that the driver is not installed correctly. You need to
remove the driver and disconnect the USB Video Capture from the Mac,
uninstall them first and then re-install the driver and application again.
About this Mac.
About this Mac
Figure 16.
Figure 17. EzCap successful
installation.
Figure 18. Checking Driver
installation.
Mac OS X Version window.
10 11
EzCap
Video
Application Guide
Click Go Applications EzCAP,
then double click EzCAP Capture
icon.
Select “Digitizers” and “EzCAP” to
select device. Next Click “Record”
and select “Video Settings” on the
application window. Click Source
and select Composite or S-Video
to match your video source (Figure
19). Select “OK”. You should now
see the video in the video window.
Click Record
Sound Settings
Source Unknown USB Audio
Device”, and set Speaker to “On”,
then click “OK” (Figure 20). You
should now hear the audio as your
inputted audio source.
You can also click Record icon, and
select “Record Setup” to set items
for recording, and select “Record”
to record the video programs.
Uninstall the
Application
Go to Macintosh HD
Applications
the “EzCAP” folder (Fig ure 21).
Go to Macintosh HD
QuickTime
and delete the “EzCAP.compo-
nent” (Figure 22).
Go to Macintosh HD
Library
kext and delete the “EzCA P. k ex t ”
(Figure 23).
Now you finished the uninstallation
application.
EzCAP, and delete
Library
EzCAP.component
System
Extensions EzCA P.
Figure 19. Video Settings.
Figure 20. Sound settings.
Figure 21.
Figure 22. Uninstall Component.
Figure 23. Uninstall extensions.
Uninstall Application.
Impression
Installation
To start the Video Impression software installation please insert the
software CD into your CD drive.
Additional online software
“Rosetta” may need to be installed
if prompted. Normally, applications
intended for Mac computers based
on PowerPC processors don’t work
on Macs based on Intel processors. But if you install Rosetta, you
can use applications intended for
PowerPC-based Macs.
Follow on screen instructions to
install “Rosetta”. An internet connection will be required to download
“Rosetta”.
Select your language for the
installation and Click Agree
Continue
name, company name and license
key of software (Figure 24).
(License key is on the CD bag)
Once successfully installed a confirmation window will appear (Figure
25). Click “Close” to finish the software installation.
Install. Enter your
Video Impression
Settings for
Capturing
Click “Go” and select
“Applications”, double click “Video
Impression.
Select “Create a New Video”
and “Capture from Device”
(Figure 26).
Figure 24. Video Impression install.
Figure 25. Successful Video
Impression install.
Figure 26. Capture from Device.
12 13
If you get no video or sound you will
need to set Video source and Audio
source.
Click “Settings” of VIDEO item.
Click Source Composite or
S-Video to match your video
source. And select “OK” (Figure
27). You should now see the video
in the video window.
You can set the format of the
recording file (Figure 28).
Click “Settings” of AUDIO item.
Following window will appear,
please click Source
USB Audio Device, and select
“On” for Speaker. Click OK to finish
Audio settings. Now you should get
the sound from USB Video Capture
device. (Figure 29 and Figure 30)
You also can click red “Record” key
to record video programs. And click
“STOP” icon to finish recording.
Unknown
Figure 27. Video input.
Figure 28. Video Recording formats.
Video Impression
Editing
Click the “DONE” icon to go to editing panel, and edit your video and
audio files through the software
(Figure 31). Please click “Help”
icon for software information.
Converting Video file to iPod,
iPhone
Click “PRODUCE” icon in EDIT panel
as below. And select the device
name or video format that you want,
Click “S TART” to convert video file.
(Figure 32)
Go Back to Capture Panel
If you want to go to capture again,
please click “MEDIA” icon, and click
“Capture Video” icon (Figure 33).
Figure 31. Editing video with Video
Impression software.
Figure 29. Audio Settings.
Figure 30. Audio Settings for Preview.
14 15
Figure 32. Exporting different format
movies.
Figure 33. Capturing with Video
Impression.
Additional
Software
Return to the Launcher and
click “Astronomy software links”
(Windows) to view additional software compatible with the Orion
Video Capture Device (Figure
34). Select desired software to be
directed to a website to download
the latest software.
Mac users need to place CD in CD
drive and select each piece of software to install.
For detailed information on installation and usage of additional software consult the websites of each
software provider. Tutorials and user
groups can be found online also.
RegiStax ( Windows) –
Free image processing software
A popular free image processing
suite of tools includes features such
as alignment, stacking, optimizing
and wavelet filters,
Registax can analyze, align, and
stack thousands of images in just
minutes.
AVIStack (Windows) – Free
image processing software
AviStack is a freeware tool that registers, stacks and processes AVI’s
and image sequences of astronomical objects..
AviStack was primarily developed
to process lunar images, but, it also
Figure 34. Astronomy Software Links
for Windows users.
Figure 35. Registax.
works well with solar and planetary
images.
MaximDL (Windows) –
Trial/Paid CCD imaging
and image processing
software
MaxIm DL is the fastest and easiest
way to image the night sky.Whether
you want to produce stunning portraits, collect science data, or hunt
for new objects, MaxIm DL has the
tools you need.
Complete observatory integration.
Controls your camera, autoguider,
filter wheels, focusers, camera rotator, telescope mount, and dome.
ASCOM compliant.
Includes a complete image processing toolkit, including a large variety of filters, deblooming, curves,
deconvolution, color tools, and
much more
HandyAVI (Windows) – Trial/Paid Suite of tools for AVI files.
Features include time lapse, motion detection, surveillance, planetary
imaging, meteor trail imaging and stop motion animation.
HandyAvi automatically captures a specified number of frames (pre-frames)
immediately preceding the “trigger event” so that the (possibly) dim beginning of the meteor trail is captured.
HandyAvi continues recording data while additional motion is detected.
HandyAvi continues recording an additional number of “post-frames” after
the last motion is detected.
The AVI file will contain COMPLETE meteor trails, airplane trails or lightning
events.
Automatically email images of detected motion.
Automatically FTP upload captured video to a website.
Figure 37. MaximDL.
Figure 38. HandyAVI.
Figure 36. AVIStack.
16 17
UFO Capture (Windows) –
Trial/Paid time shifted
motion capture software
Automated detection, recording
and analyzer software for Meteors,
Atmospheric phenomena and
security.
Automatically email images of
detected motion.
Automatically FTP upload captured
video to a website.
Figure 39. UFO Capture.
Night Skies Network
– Free Astronomy
Internet Broadcasting Service
(Windows and Macintosh)
Share your views of the night sky by
broadcasting live over the internet.
Includes video, voice and text chat.
See members from all parts of the
globe broadcasting the night skies
from their home built observatories, back yards, and just about any other
place where they can set up a telescope.
Figure 42. The Night Skies network
Interface.
Lynkeos (Macintosh) –
Free image
processing software
Included on CD is the Lynkeos
software which is dedicated to the
processing of astronomical (mainly
planetary) images and movies. This
program can be copied (dragged)
into the applications folder or run
from the CD itself. Run Lynkeos and
select help to access tutorials and
other general help features.
Lynkeos is free software under the
GNU General Public License. Source
code is available for developers
(http://lynkeos.sourceforge.net)
To use AVI or MPEG sequences
you will need to run the FFMpeg
insta ller.
To load or save images in FITS format you will need to go to the website
http://lynkeos.sourceforge.net.Please go to the download area to select
the latest App, Plug Ins and Libraries.
For latest software and documentation please visit: http://lynkeos.source-
forge.net.
Figure 40. UFO Analyzer.
Figure 41. Lynkeos (Mac OS X ).
Tips
Loss of Capture Device Connection
If the computer connection to the Video Capture Device is interrupted,
you will need to re-establish connection. This can happen due to several
reasons; if a cable becomes unplugged, the computer “freezes”, or the
software/hardware otherwise temporarily loses the data coming from the
device.
To re-establish camera connection, first close all capture software on your
computer. Then, unplug and re-plug the Video Capture Device into the computer’s USB port. Now, re open the capture software and the Live Video
Window should appear indicating re-established connection between camera and computer.
Recommended Reading
(Books available through Orion, check the catalog or
www.OrionTelescopes.com for more information).
Specifications
Interface USB 2.0
TV System PAL, NTSC
Resolution NTSC 720 x 480; PAL 720 x 576
Recording Format DVD, VCD, SVCD, AVI, MPEG
Frame Rate NTSC 30fps, PAL 25fps
Input RCA Composite + Audio L/R or S-Video +Audio L/R
18 19
One-Year Limited Warranty
This Orion Video Capture Device is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship
for a period of one year from the date of purchase. This warranty is for the benefit of the
original retail purchaser only. During this warranty period Orion Telescopes & Binoculars will
repair or replace, at Orion’s option, any warranted instrument that proves to be defective,
provided it is returned postage paid to: Orion Warranty Repair, 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville,
CA 95076. If the product is not registered, proof of purchase (such as a copy of the original
invoice) is required.
This warranty does not apply if, in Orion’s judgment, the instrument has been abused, mishandled, or modified, nor does it apply to normal wear and tear. This warranty gives you
specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights, which vary from state to state.
For further warranty service information, contact: Customer Service Department, Orion
Telescopes & Binoculars, 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076; (800) 676-1343.
OrionTelescopes.com
89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076
Customer Support Help Line (800) 676-1343
© 2011 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
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