I am happily copying from my mini dv camera to pc to dvd , but have loads of stuff still on 8mm tapes. I have copied them to VHS video , but would like to now back some of the data I have on these older tapes to DVD. (via my pc) I just wonder what is the best way forward. What is the best way to copy from my Sanyo 8mm camcorder (VM-RZ2R) to my pc . The connections on the camera appear to be AV terminals, with a yellow and a white single round ports. The cable I have to copy to my VHS video has a smart cable at the other end , so I guess thats no good for my pc. Do I need a video capture card ? I do have a firewire card / cable which I use for my mini dv. My other option maybe to copy from my VHS video recorder to my pc , but its nowhere near it , though I can play the videos onto a television which is in another room next to my computer , so could run cables if necessary. I know they may not be the bst , but I use Windows Movie maker to capture AVI from my mini dv , and Nero to burn it. I appreciate any help you can give to my queries - advice on both options would be greatly recieved , including any tips on which video capture card to buy if necessary . Cheers.
You can buy a capture card, but since you have a miniDV camera: try a pass through. Look at the last picture in this article: http://www.digitalvideoclub.com/basics/transfer.php
TPFKAS thanks for that idea. I have looked at my Digital camera and it has an AV port (with a headphone sign next to it - is that the correct one for where the cable from the Camcorder goes ?) Do I also need to buy a new cable , as the one I use from the Camcorder to VHS Vido has a scart at one end , with 3 possible male ends going into it (one labelled video , the other 2 audio). Thanks again.
I don't know what camera you have, but the best thing to do is check the manual. If it says AV, that sounds good (although if it is strange that it has a headphone sign next to it). Anyway, there should be a reference in your manual which is the analog connection and whether it also accepts input (it always does output, not always input). It is also not sure if the camera does pass through, meaning that it directly send the analog input to the digital output (the Firewire connection) again. You can check the manual about that as well, but many manuals even don't mention it at all. Indeed, you probably have to buy a special cable. Mine looks like this:
It definately says AV on the port , and its a small yellow round coloured hole. And there is a headphone shaped sign next to it - (for headphones he guessed ?! ) My mini dv is a Canon MV700. I have checked the manual and it says.. "For analog line-in recording or analog-digital conversion, please use a Sacrt adapter with input capability. " Does that mean it works ? I must also check thru my old 8mm tapes to ensure I have kept eveything - else I will have to revert to copying off VHS anyway ! Thanks for t
Yep, that statement sounds like it does work. Form the description you gave, looks like the cable on the picture is exactly the one you need.
I have purchased a cable (with the pre-requisite of being able to return it if it doesnt work) but still having no succes. It could be that this is not the right cable , or I need a bit more advice on how to progress. The cable has 2 male ends (red/black) which fit into my old Camcorder ok, and the other end fits into my av port on my new mini dv (canon mv700). However, to get the pictures from old cam to pc , what do you need to do on the new camera ? Do I have to be in record mode , and it should show the pictures coming from the old camera ? I have also looked thru my manual and it gives no help re-what settings I may need to change. It talks about changing the 'vcr setup' to use headphones etc. If all fails , it looks like Im heading towards a tv card , and copying from my video . Would really appreciate some help tonight on this , as need to take the cable back asap if its wrong. And if anybody else on here works where I do , they need help... MGRover - say no more.
Hi Ami, I question if you have the right cable. Normally black/red is audio left/right. There should be a yellow connector also for the video (look at the picture in my previous post). If all connections are OK, you just start your capturing program, turn your DV camera in VCR mode (playback) and press the PLAY button on your analog camera. The video should then show up in your capturing window. If that does not work, try if you can simply record your analog video to a DV tape. Put the camera in RECORD mode, hit the play button on your analog camera and check if the analog video is copied to the DV tape. If that does not work, you either have a wrong connection or your DV camera does not allow analog input. If it does work but you don't get your signal on your PC, the DV camera maybe does not do pass-through. Tell me the models of your analog and DV camera and I can check some specs on the Internet.
TPFKAS many thanks for the prompt reply. The cable that I use successfully to copy from my old camera to VHS recorder also just has red and black connectors . The red connector goes into a port with a V on it, a black connector goes into a port labelled A. At the other end is a scart cable. If there should be a yellow cable where would that plug in ? I have tried both tests you suggested , and neither work ie neither the pc , or digital camera show the film that is playing on the analogue camera. The 2 cameras are ... analogue - Sanyo 8mm Camcorder VM-RZ2R. Mini Dv - Canon MV700 Thanks again for your time. PS, you may not know , but Ami Nuttal is a UK soap star (she is female and very cute ..not rough and male like me ! )
Poo - this sounds like bad news .. have done a bit more research , and found that the manual mentions AV Terminal - Audio input - MV700i only (which mine isnt). Also now found a section headed 'Converting Analog signals into Digital' MV750i/ M730i/MV700i (mine is just the MV700 - oh why didnt I buy one !). Also found this report.. "Built-in Analogue-Digital pass-through converter The MV750i, MV730i and MV700i all feature an Analogue-In and Analogue/Digital converter. Analogue devices such as VHS players or analogue camcorders can be connected to have their analogue signals converted into digital, which can then be stored direct to the camcorder or output to a digital storage device such as a PC." If I cant convert , what is the best way to plug my old *mm into my pc ? Im trying to avoid having to use the pictures off a TV screen as it would probably mean having the video camera in another room , and I dont want to batch copy , but if i have to... And I thought this was going to be easy !
That is bad news. And I understand that wasn't the only one if you work for MGRover.... Well, it is easy ... if you have the right equipment. If you can't lay your hands on a DV camera for a period of time (I guess you only need it for a little while to do all your analog tapes) that can do it, your only good option is to buy an analog capture card or break out box. Check out the following manufacturers: Canopus, Pinnacle and Matrox. Make sure that the card or box converts to DV-AVI for best quality. A good choice would be the Canopus ADVC55 , http://www.canopus-uk.com/UK/products/ADVC55/pt_advc55.asp Too bad that you did not read http://www.digitalvideoclub.com/basics/camcorder.php before buying your DV camera. :-(" It states "A very interesting feature if it will also allow analog input is if the analog input is bridged to the digital output. If this is the case you can use the camcorder as a pass-through to convert analog video to digital video enabling you to transfer analog material (e.g. from a VHS or Hi-8) and store it digitally on your PC for further processing. Oh yeah, by the way, the i in 700i stands for "input" I guess. You know why they have these different models? Because the European Union has higher taxes on videoreorders than on camera's because you can copy copyright protected stuff with it. If your camera has input capability you can actually use it as a videorecorder. Thus they have models in which the input is disabled (this is called "nEUtered"). In many camera's (specially older ones) this is done by change in the firmware not the hardware and so-called "widgets" exist to enable DV-in. Howver the legal status of these widgets are questionable and you will certainly loose waranty if you use them...
TP - just had a quick search and one of those cards seems to retail at £120 ! - surely I dont need to spend that much ?
I'm afraid so... If you're looking for a cheaper solution, there are video cards or TV-tuner cards that have an analog input connection, but they do software-based analog-digital conversion. Many of these cards allow you to capture the video and compress it with any DirectShow codec installed on your system (like divX or so) or they are supplied with a software mpeg-encoder. But you will end up with lower quality. Some of them do com with a DV software codec, but I don't have experience with the quality. If you want to go thet way: check out the Pinnacle PCTV cards. A cheap one is PCTV Rave (50 Euros). A more expensive one is the PCTV Pro taht comes with software DV compression. Another well know brand is Hauppage. But be warned, you are going to experience a trade off between cost and quality.
I can plug the camera into my TV , and play the films through that. Whats the the best way to the play the pictures onto my pc from the Television ? Is that a Also , can I the use Windows Movie Maker to copy the film thats being played ? (do you click on 'capture video device' and it picks it up ?)
I can plug the camera into my TV , and play the films through that. Whats the the best way to the play the pictures onto my pc from the Television ? Do I need to ensure any video I capture can be captured in Dv-Avi ? Also , can I the use Windows Movie Maker to copy the film thats being played ? (do you click on 'capture video device' and it picks it up ?)
That does not bring you any closer to a solution. How would you want to get it from the TV to your PC? Yeah sure, you can connect your TV to your video card on your PC, but that is output, no input.
I was thinking that if I plugged my video into my tv , that somehow whatever appeared on my tv screen would also appear on my pc - maybe my understanding of tjis is wrong , and that you only get the feed from the (aerial) cable that goes into your tv .
Yse, your understanding is wrong. If you connect your TV to your PC you connect it to an output that sends signal from the PC to the TV. You will not see the picture from your TV to your PC, whatever the source of that picture is. If you want to watch TV on your PC you need a TV tuner card on your PC. You connect the aerial cable to such a card and you can control the tuner card to select the channel that you wnat to wacth, just as on your TV. Or you connect an anlog output connection from a TV (very little TV models atually have an anlog output connection) and connect it to a capture card.
TPFKAS many thanks for your prompt replys . Somebody at work told me he copies from his video recorder to his pc , so I need to ask him again how he does that. Just off to my local pc shop to see what they can offer. I may be back - but again thanks for the quick replys.
Looks like I may have to create a VHS tape of the clips I want , then a friend says he can create a cd or dvd for me. To make it as easy for him as possible , I just want him to do the following ... 1 - I create a VHS tape of my clips 2 - He just copies the film in one go to a cd 3 - I then want to copy the film back to my pc , but split it back into clips , add titles , so when I make a new dvd the clips are split and show as different chapters(?) on the screen in a menu , so I can pick which clips to view on a dvd player. When copying from my mini dv , I make sure I select the DV-AVI format for best results , but I dont know if there is any way to do this in the above ? My friend says he usually only uses Mpeg-1. I currently use Windows Movie Maker to copy from my mini dv, and then Nero to burn to cd. Thanks for any advice on the best way to do this. I am fairly happy with the end quality I get from my mini dv, so happy touse WMM/ Nero , and dont really want to spend any money buying other s/ware if not necessary
