instruCtiOn Manual
®
Orion Video Capture Device
#52181
Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975
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Customer Support (800) 676-1343
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© 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 dis-
played and recorded on
any computer or Laptop
with XP, Vista, Win7 or
Mac OS X operating
Figure 1. USB Device and
Software CD.
Figure 2. Examples of supported Input devices.
system requirements
The following hardware is required:
system installed.
Video input can be from any Composite or SVideo signal.
• Recommended minimum memory size is 512 MB.
• Disk Space – 1GB or more recommended for saving Movies.
The software CD includes video capture, video editing and movie format
conversion software.
The Video Capture Device can be used for many purposes including:
• Video Display – 800 X 600, 16-bit color or higher. 1024x768 or higher is
recommended.
• Live Viewing and recording of astronomy subjects via CCTV camera
such as the Orion Starshoot Deep Space Video Camera or the Orion
Starshoot Video Eyepiece.
• Mouse (external or built-in)
• Internet connection required to display on-line help and download
• Live internet broadcasting via NightSkiesNetwork.
additional software
• Capturing and editing home movies from tape to digital formats such
• High Speed USB 2.0 port
as DVD, Web and mobile devices.
Windows
• Capture and convert movies to other formats such as MPEG and AVI
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.
formats.
• Automated tracking and recording of meteors using HandyAVI or UFO
capture software. (windows only software links on CD installer)
Mac OsX
Please read this instruction manual before attempting to use the video cap-
ture device or install the software.
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.
Parts list
• Orion Video Capture Device (USB)
• Dual Format Windows PC / Mac OS X CD-ROM
input Devices
A wide variety of Input devices are supported (Figure 2).
• Manual
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2. The USB-TV Device Driver
software and
Software Installation will start.
Driver installation
3. Follow on screen Installation
instructions.
Before the video capture device can
be used the USB device driver and
image capture software must be
installed onto your computer.
4. When installation is complete
click the Finish button.
5. Restart computer.
Note: If you have any antivirus soft-
ware enabled, please disable it dur-
ing the installation of the software.
Once the driver is installed, the
computer will now recognize the
Orion Video Capture Device when-
ever it is plugged in.
Note: Do not connect the Video
Capture Device to your computer
yet.
Please connect the Video Capture
Device to your computer, you
Figure 3. The Windows launcher
provides an easy menu for software
installation.
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 hard-
ware is installed and ready to use”.
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”.
Verify Device Driver installation
Figure 4. Device manager screen.
You will now need to check that the
drivers are installed correctly.
Macintosh users
Included software:
1. Right Click on My Computer
2. Left Click on properties.
• EasyCap – Capture Software
• Video Impression – Video Editing and Conversion Software
• Lynkeos – Astronomical Post processing Software
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).
Please turn to the section titled “Macintosh installation and opera-
tion page”.
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.
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.
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.
Video Capture Device Driver installation
2. The Orion AmCap Setup Wizard appears. Click Next.
1. Click Install Capture Device Driver.
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3. Select a destination folder and
10. Select Capture File from the
File menu and name your file
including the AVI extension
name. IE MyMovie.avi. Click
Open.
Click Next.
4. Click Next again to start the
installation.
5. When the wizard is complete,
click close. This has installed
the capture software.
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
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
is selected from the device
menu.
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.
Figure 5. The live video window.
Figure 7. Video Capture Pin.
12. Select Set Frame Rate under the
Capture menu. Check the box
Use Frame Rate and type 15.
Press ok.
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
13. Select Set Time Limit under the
Capture menu. Check the box
Use Time Limit and type 20.
Press ok.
Figure 6. Video Capture Filter.
Figure 8. Video Crossbar.
settings such as Brightness,
Contrast, Hue, Saturation and
Sharpness (Figure 6).
14. Select Start Capture under the
Capture menu.
8. Under options menu select Video Capture Pin to modify settings such as
15. Press ok when you are ready to capture Images.
Output Size (Figure 7). The maximum output size is 720 x 480.
An AVI movie sequence of 300 frames (15 frames per second x 20 seconds)
will now be recorded.
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.
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.
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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.
Honestech
VHs to DVD
2.0 sE installation
& Guide
Figure 9. Product Key Check.
1. Return to the Launcher and click
Install VHS to DVD SE.
2. The VHD to DVD SE Software
Installation will start.
Figure 10. Input Device Selection.
12. If you select “recording and
burning” and click red record
key, it will start the burning
Figure 13. Edit mode.
3. Follow on screen Installation
instructions.
process right after recording for the designated time.
4. When installation is complete
click the Finish button.
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.
5. If the software is installed
correctly, you should see
“honestech VHS to DVD 2.0 SE”
icon on your desktop.
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.
Figure 11. Video Input Selection.
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).
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”.
8.
Click “Video Setting”
button located to the right
of the input device. Select the
correct input source for your
device (Figure 11).
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.)
Figure 12. Video Standard Settings.
9. Click “Control” button to select video standard under the Video
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.
Notice: VCD, SVCD, Data CD, Data DVD formats do not support “Create
Menu” option.
10. If you have connected your video output device with the Video Capture
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.
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.
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Blaze Video
Magic 3.0
installation &
Guide
Macintosh
installation
and Operation
Check your Mac Os X version
1. Return to the Launcher and click
Install Blaze Video Magic 3.0.
Orion Capture software requires
Mac OS X 10.3 or later.
2. The Blaze Video Magic Software
Installation will start.
Please go to
About this Mac.
There you will find your Mac OS ver-
3. Follow on screen Installation
instructions.
sion (Figure 16).
Figure 14. Registration Window.
Figure 16. Mac OS X Version window.
install Driver and application
4. When installation is complete
click the Finish button.
Note: If you have any anti-virus soft-
ware enabled, please disable it dur-
ing the installation of the software.
5. If the software is installed
correctly, you should see “Blaze
Video Magic” icon on your
desktop.
Insert the software CD into your CD
drive.
Open the folder “EzCAP1.0.1R” and
double click the file
“EzCAP1.0.1R.pkg”.
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
Follow the onscreen instructions.
You may need to enter your Mac
password.
Figure 15. Blaze Video Magic
Figure 17. EzCap successful
installation.
Software.
Once installation has completed
please restart your computer
(Figure 17).
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.
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.
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.
Please go to
More info Hardware USB.
About this Mac
Figure 18. Checking Driver
installation.
If the driver is installed correctly you
should see the device listed as in
Figure 18. (Vendor ID: Empia Technology, Inc)
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.
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.
Click the “Help” button on the top right of the software window to read
the “Blaze Video Magic 3.0 help” file.
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EzCap
Video
impression
installation
To start the Video Impression soft-
ware installation please insert the
software CD into your CD drive.
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.
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 proces-
sors. But if you install Rosetta, you
can use applications intended for
PowerPC-based Macs.
Figure 24. Video Impression install.
Figure 19. Video Settings.
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.
Follow on screen instructions to
install “Rosetta”. An internet con-
nection will be required to download
“Rosetta”.
Figure 20. Sound settings.
You can also click Record icon, and
select “Record Setup” to set items
for recording, and select “Record”
to record the video programs.
Figure 25. Successful Video
Impression install.
Select your language for the
installation and Click Agree
Continue Install. Enter your
name, company name and license
key of software (Figure 24).
(License key is on the CD bag)
Figure 21. Uninstall Application.
Figure 22. Uninstall Component.
uninstall the
application
Go to Macintosh HD
Applications EzCAP, and delete
the “EzCAP” folder (Figure 21).
Once successfully installed a confir-
mation window will appear (Figure
25). Click “Close” to finish the soft-
ware installation.
Go to Macintosh HD Library
QuickTime EzCAP.component
and delete the “EzCAP.compo-
nent” (Figure 22).
Video impression
settings for
Capturing
Click “Go” and select
“Applications”, double click “Video
Impression.
Go to Macintosh HD System
Library Extensions EzCAP.
kext and delete the “EzCAP.kext”
(Figure 23).
Figure 23. Uninstall extensions.
Select “Create a New Video”
and “Capture from Device”
(Figure 26).
Now you finished the uninstallation
application.
Figure 26. Capture from Device.
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If you get no video or sound you will
need to set Video source and Audio
source.
Video impression
Editing
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.
Click the “DONE” icon to go to edit-
ing panel, and edit your video and
audio files through the software
(Figure 31). Please click “Help”
icon for software information.
Figure 27. Video input.
Converting Video file to iPod,
iPhone
You can set the format of the
recording file (Figure 28).
Figure 31. Editing video with Video
Impression software.
Click “PRODUCE” icon in EDIT panel
as below. And select the device
name or video format that you want,
Click “START” to convert video file.
(Figure 32)
Click “Settings” of AUDIO item.
Following window will appear,
please click Source Unknown
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)
Figure 28. Video Recording formats.
Go Back to Capture Panel
If you want to go to capture again,
please click “MEDIA” icon, and click
“Capture Video” icon (Figure 33).
You also can click red “Record” key
to record video programs. And click
“STOP” icon to finish recording.
Figure 29. Audio Settings.
Figure 32. Exporting different format
movies.
Figure 33. Capturing with Video
Impression.
Figure 30. Audio Settings for Preview.
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works well with solar and planetary
images.
additional
software
MaximDl (Windows) –
trial/Paid CCD imaging
and image processing
software
Return to the Launcher and
click “Astronomy software links”
(Windows) to view additional soft-
ware compatible with the Orion
Video Capture Device (Figure
34). Select desired software to be
directed to a website to download
the latest software.
MaxIm DL is the fastest and easiest
way to image the night sky.Whether
you want to produce stunning por-
traits, collect science data, or hunt
for new objects, MaxIm DL has the
tools you need.
Figure 37. MaximDL.
Mac users need to place CD in CD
drive and select each piece of soft-
ware to install.
Complete observatory integration.
Controls your camera, autoguider,
filter wheels, focusers, camera rota-
tor, telescope mount, and dome.
ASCOM compliant.
Figure 34. Astronomy Software Links
for Windows users.
For detailed information on instal-
lation and usage of additional soft-
ware consult the websites of each
software provider. Tutorials and user
groups can be found online also.
Includes a complete image process-
ing toolkit, including a large vari-
ety of filters, deblooming, curves,
deconvolution, color tools, and
much more
Figure 38. HandyAVI.
registax (Windows) –
Free image processing software
A popular free image processing
suite of tools includes features such
as alignment, stacking, optimizing
and wavelet filters,
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.
Figure 35. Registax.
HandyAvi automatically captures a specified number of frames (pre-frames)
immediately preceding the “trigger event” so that the (possibly) dim begin-
ning of the meteor trail is captured.
Registax can analyze, align, and
stack thousands of images in just
minutes.
HandyAvi continues recording data while additional motion is detected.
aVistack (Windows) – Free
image processing software
HandyAvi continues recording an additional number of “post-frames” after
the last motion is detected.
AviStack is a freeware tool that reg-
isters, stacks and processes AVI’s
and image sequences of astronomi-
cal objects..
The AVI file will contain COMPLETE meteor trails, airplane trails or lightning
events.
Automatically email images of detected motion.
AviStack was primarily developed
to process lunar images, but, it also
Automatically FTP upload captured video to a website.
Figure 36. AVIStack.
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uFO Capture (Windows) –
trial/Paid time shifted
night skies network
– Free astronomy
motion capture software
internet Broadcasting service
(Windows and Macintosh)
Automated detection, recording
and analyzer software for Meteors,
Atmospheric phenomena and
security.
Share your views of the night sky by
broadcasting live over the internet.
Includes video, voice and text chat.
Figure 42. The Night Skies network
Interface.
See members from all parts of the
globe broadcasting the night skies
Automatically email images of
detected motion.
Figure 39. UFO Capture.
from their home built observatories, back yards, and just about any other
place where they can set up a telescope.
Automatically FTP upload captured
video to a website.
lynkeos (Macintosh) –
Free image
processing software
tips
loss of Capture Device Connection
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.
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.
Figure 40. UFO Analyzer.
To re-establish camera connection, first close all capture software on your
computer. Then, unplug and re-plug the Video Capture Device into the com-
puter’s USB port. Now, re open the capture software and the Live Video
Window should appear indicating re-established connection between cam-
era and computer.
Lynkeos is free software under the
GNU General Public License. Source
code is available for developers
(http://lynkeos.sourceforge.net)
recommended reading
(Books available through Orion, check the catalog or
Figure 41. Lynkeos (Mac OS X).
To use AVI or MPEG sequences
you will need to run the FFMpeg
installer.
www.OrionTelescopes.com for more information).
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.
specifications
Interface
USB 2.0
For latest software and documentation please visit: http://lynkeos.source-
forge.net.
TV System
Resolution
Recording Format
Frame Rate
Input
PAL, NTSC
NTSC 720 x 480; PAL 720 x 576
DVD, VCD, SVCD, AVI, MPEG
NTSC 30fps, PAL 25fps
RCA Composite + Audio L/R or S-Video +Audio L/R
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