Sharp Viewcam VL-Z8 - Transfer to PC

Murada · #1 (**permalink**) 01-11-2005, 05:46 PM

Help, new to digital imaging and I need some advice. I have a Sharp Viewcam VL-Z8 and would like to know how to get by video onto my PC and then convert to DVD?

My PC has a 120gb HD (approx 80% free), an Athlon XP 2600+ processor, 1gb memory and a Geforce FX5900 graphics card. My PC has a Firewire Port (IEEE 1394), a Liteon LDW851S DVD writer and USB ports. What is the best thing a could buy? (I guess it would some sort of external converter??)

I have a Dazzle DVC 80 (USB link) which I have had very limited sucess transfering video from my old analogue camera.

All advice greatly appreciated!

samster · #2 (**permalink**) 01-17-2005, 12:30 PM

Hi Murada,

I've the same Viewcam Z as you........ all you need is a firewire lead to connect the viewcam to the firewire port on the PC.

I'm using ULead VideoStudio8 at the moment and getting good results, although I'm burning SVCD as I don't have a DVD writer. You can test the capturing process using XP's Movie Maker.

Did your PC come with a firewire (IEEE1394) lead?......Sam

alexprice1988 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-09-2005, 12:12 PM

Hey i'm using the same camera and have just borrowed a firewire cable off a friend. When i try to capture the video through Windows Movie Maker the camera doesnt show up. Do i need firewire drivers for the cable/camera?

Ian in Northampton · #4 (**permalink**) 10-10-2005, 08:18 AM

Alex: normally, Windows XP will auto-detect a camcorder attached via Firewire. Is the camcorder set to 'play'? - it may not detect it if it's set to 'record'.

alexprice1988 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-10-2005, 07:09 PM

yes it is set to play but windows xp does not detect it

Ian in Northampton · #6 (**permalink**) 10-10-2005, 07:32 PM

You say Windows doesn't detect it: is there nothing present in Device Manager? Does a bubble not come up on the screen saying 'new hardware detected' when you attach it/switch it on? If those reveal nothing, it may be as well to start eliminating stuff - like, can you borrow another Firewire cable? - it's not unknown for cheap ones to be faulty. Can you borrow another camera - see if there's an issue with the camera? After that, I'm all out of ideas... :(