Sony Vegas Capturing Outside Audio instead of MiniDV Audio

[RKelly]

I am helping a buddy transfer some minidv footage to Sony Vegas 8. I am transfering via a panasonic pvgs320 using the usb cable to input the avi files into vegas. Apparently the last time we did this the video went through fine, but instead of capturing the audio it recorded the conversation we were having. I am perplexed. Any idea as to why that happened or how to fix it? Thanks.

[guns1inger]

I am perplexed as to why you don't use firewire to transfer. If you are using USB, have you installed the drivers that came with the camera, and are you sure it supports DV over USB transfer ?

[edDV]

Most camcorders default to webcam mode when USB is used. In webcam mode you get low quality video (usually 352x240 CIF) and audio from the mic. The ones that I've used usually switch to tape audio when a tape is played. I can't explain why you get the mic. Must be a setting for voiceover.

If you want to transfer the high quality 720x480i DV video, you would use IEEE-1394. A limited set of camcorders do the latter over USB2 but only with proprietary software and drivers supplied with the camcorder. Consult the manual.

PS: It appears this model supports quality transfer over USB2 if you install the Panasonic drivers and the capture program from the CD. You would then import the resulting DV-AVI file from the hard disk into Vegas. Vegas DV capture only works with IEEE-1394. If it sees USB, it would be the webcam format.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/477103-REG/Panasonic_PVGS320_PV_GS320_3_CCD_Mini.html

[RKelly]

ok thanks for the advice. Yes my first preference is to use firewire, my friend's pc only has usb ports. I'll have to check into the drivers you're talking about, thanks both for the advice.