How to PLAY DV via 1394 on XP ???

[stevech]

I have just switched from my old trusted 8mm to miniDV format, been toying around with capturing, other than the usual newbie problems, things are satisfactory. One thing that I like to know is if there is a way to just PLAY my DV (from my digicam thru firewire) on my WinXP PC without using any capturing software.
I will be travelling with my laptop (firewire equipped) with my miniDV and like to be able to look at the video on the laptop, so far, I've tried using Windows Meda Player, but it does not appear to recognize firewire as input source. If some cheap software solution exist, I'll be happy to pay for it, as I do not want to carry all the overhead of my current capture software (Ulead VS, MyDVD Deluxe, PowerProducer..). Thanks.

[lechtin]

Use Windows Movie maker. In the capture screen, you can just play the video by controlling the camera through your PC. It's used to cue the tape to the proper place before beginning capturing. Might be limited in terms of video window size though.

[Safesurfer]

Or something like Windv which is only a 92kb file. Also gives you about a 75% of full screen preview.

[stevech]

Hi, thanks for the quick replies. I did try Windows Movie Maker, it's a bit bulky, and the screen is way too busy, video window also too small. WinDV looks like the ticket, just downloaded it, unzip, start, plugged my MiniDV into firewire, and off it goes. The only thing I am not getting is audio, tried both audio format on config, but no luck, is there a trick to this ?? Thanks a bunch.

[Safesurfer]

Oh crap! You're right, no sound. I tested AMCap though, and it does give sound in the preview - nice full screen too. You might want to give it a try instead - a little bigger at 152kb.

[crawf1982]

What you need is a little program called TV Viewer 3.0.

You can download it here: http://www.aptrio.com/Multimedia/Video/tv-viewer-download-451.html

It allows you to view footage from a DV cam at fullscreen and with sound.

[stevech]

Thanks, I am going with amcap for now, TV viwer appears to be a better piece of software, but cost $10 (which is more than reasonable). For now it looks like amcap can do the job, I will just stay with it.