Sony mini dv

scottygio · #1 (**permalink**) 01-20-2005, 11:45 AM

Having bought a sony hc40e a month ago i'm at the point of giving up and selling the bloody thing.
Using sony's original software(picture package) i can capture video using a usb cable. I switch USB streaming to on, my computer picks it up and the meagre software does really crap editing and saves it to my hard drive.This works.
Now how do i capture the video using firewire?
I have a pci firewire card inserted.
Do I switch USB streaming off?
Do I switch av/dv out on?
MY computer automatically picks up my camcorder when i insert the firewire cable into my camcorder but wants to open it in movie maker.

thanks

a stressed out man who might be selling £500 worth of camcorder gear if i can't get this to work!
All i want to do is capture video and burn it to dvd!

Alan Mills · #2 (**permalink**) 01-20-2005, 01:15 PM

Not familiar with your camera and what settings it may or may not have but I have a Sony TRV33e and set it up for capture as follows.

Plug in firewire cable to both camera and PC.

Turn camera on and put in VCR mode - just as you would when playing back your footage on the camera screen itself.

Open up my video capture and editing s/w of choice.

Ensure that the s/w is set to capture from firewire input (I sometimes flip between firewire and analogue input) which was the default in my s/w.

In the s/w I hit the play button and the camera starts playing. I can see the movie on the PC - and yes the s/w does control the camera so once plugged in and turned on there's no need to touch the camera again until you want to turn it off and unplug the firewire cable.

When camera is playing, hit the record button in the s/w.

That's it - it should be that simply. Connect camera and hit play and record in the s/w.

Oh, and as I mentioned before in another thread somewhere, the software disks that came with the camera remain completely untouched. Never been opened.

To be honest, I think all your issues are because you are capturing over a USB line. Get a firewire cable and use ONLY that. The USB link you have is designed for transferring still taken on the camera only. Video capture on this camera should ONLY be performed over a firewire cable.

bgarthp · #3 (**permalink**) 01-20-2005, 02:27 PM

My sony camera worked equally simply, just plug the firewire in and put it in VCR mode,
I would suggest using Movie Maker if the alternative is the Sony Image-mixer software, I had problems with it, but since I started using decent editing software I've had no problems at all.

Why don't camera manufacturers just bundle a firewire cable and some software that isn't junk with the camera???

It would prevent so many problems and make consumers more likely to buy another sony (or whatever) camera in the future. If they had given me something like "Sony Vegas Elements" (I know this doesn't actually exist) then the chances are I'd have got into it and I'd probably still be using sony software.

Alan Mills · #4 (**permalink**) 01-20-2005, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by bgarthp

Why don't camera manufacturers just bundle a firewire cable and some software that isn't junk with the camera???

It would prevent so many problems and make consumers more likely to buy another sony (or whatever) camera in the future. If they had given me something like "Sony Vegas Elements" (I know this doesn't actually exist) then the chances are I'd have got into it and I'd probably still be using sony software.

Here! Here! In contrast, I bought myself a digital still camera for Christmas and bundled in with that was Adobe Photoshop Elements (version 2 or 3). Software that does the job! Why can't the equivalent of this be done for MinDV camcorders?

And don't even bet me started on why they give you a USB cable but no firewire cable....

scottygio · #5 (**permalink**) 01-21-2005, 09:21 AM

After a month of phoning around and trying websites i'm now at the point where i'll just have to sell the bloody thing and my computer because this just isn't working.
When i connect my camcorder to the computer via my firewire hey presto the computer picks up my camcorder. Under 'my computer' along with my drive icons i even have an icon which says 'sony camcorder'.
When i right click on this icon i can test the camcorder and it says the camcorder is functioning properly.
However when i open moviemaker 2 and try capturing nothing happens for 10 minutes and then i get a message from moviemaker saying
' the device is not responding.Close any other application that is using the device and try capturing again.'
However when i open windows task manager it shows only a couple of moviemaker applications running.
What is this VCR mode you guys are talking about?
My instructions just tell you to make sure the camcorder is in play/edit mode.
:cry: :cry: :cry:

Mike Thorpe · #6 (**permalink**) 01-21-2005, 09:28 AM

Whoa, whoa, don't give up just yet.

Try the tryout version of premiere elephants:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloa...atform=Windows

Alan Mills · #7 (**permalink**) 01-21-2005, 09:59 AM

I would agree with that.

Don't give up. I've never even opened MM2. Maybe it is the s/w. Try some 'real' software as Mike suggested. Premiere Elements has recieved good write-ups and the demo version will certainly let you find your feet with the subject and more importantly - works!

As to VCR mode. Those are my words. Your camera may call it something else. If it's labelled playback mode then that would be the one.

Sounds like the s/w to me from everything you've said. Anyone had any luck using MM2 to capture min DV over firewire? Any quirks or pitfalls to be aware of?

purejammy · #8 (**permalink**) 01-21-2005, 05:56 PM

I've captured (Sony TRV33) via Firewire using Movie Maker. Movie Maker recognisded the camera immediately. No problems at all.

I don't have the USB drivers installed though, so I wasn't offering Movie Maker any choice. The Movie Maker Help file offers this,

Make sure your DV device is connected properly to an IEEE 1394 port, and then set the camera mode to play recorded video (often labeled VTR or VCR on a DV camera).
On the File menu, click Capture Video.
–or-

In the Movie Tasks pane, under Capture Video, click Capture from video device.

On the Video Capture Device page, in Available devices, click the DV camera.
In the Enter a file name for your captured video box, enter a file name for your captured video file. Then, in the Choose a place to save your captured video box, select the location where you want your video to be saved or click Browse to select a location.

Hope that helps

James · #9 (**permalink**) 01-21-2005, 08:58 PM

Hello,

I’ve had really good luck with Movie Maker 2 and my Toshiba laptop. I did have problems with a Dell laptop, but it wouldn’t even see my firewire card. Before you give up, try this website:

http://www.eicsoftware.com/PapaJohn/MM2/MM2.html

It has a lot of information on Movie Maker 2.

James

mrsmr2 · #10 (**permalink**) 01-26-2005, 03:18 PM

It could be a faulty Firewire connection on the Camcorder. I have seen various complaints about this on forums. Or, could be a faulty firewire card in your PC.

It really should be as simple as switching the Camcorder to VCR/Player mode and connecting it to the PC.

The other to check is if the DirectX drivers are working correctly. Windows uses the DirectX drivers to capture from the firewire card. Run DXDiag and see if there are any problems reported.

Switching software should not make any difference as they will all use the same Windows and DirectX drivers to capture - unless they install/repair any problem files on your PC at the same time.

What version of DirectX are you using?

Regards

Jason