How should I capture my hi 8 videos with my Canopus ADVC 100 and TRV460

[eichelman]

Hi, this is my first post after reading a bit.

I have hi 8 and Digital 8 videos, about 10-15 years old and a Sony TRV460 that has a Firewire output.

Should I
1) Just connect the Camcorder through Firewire to my computer, and then:
a) use Windows Movie Maker to capture, or
b) use Nero 7 Vision software to capture?

I have tried both of these, capturing them in DV format (about 25G/tape). The size is acceptable. I do NOT want to capture again these tapes, so I want to get the best quality now from the capture process.

However, on my computer the video seems faded, the colors muted. But on the small camcorder screen the colors seem very vivid, and the picture sharp. The picture is not so sharp on my screen, perhaps just because my 19" screen is bigger than the camcorders screen. I'm using a generic 1394 card.

OR should I :
2) connect the camera to my Canopus ADVC-100 that I used several years ago to capture analog signals? Should I:
a) connect my camera's firewire to ADVC-100 firewire port, and from there the other firewire port to my computer's firewire port? Does the ADVC do any video processing, that would give me better colors?
b) connect the 460's S-video or RWY RCA connectors to the ADVC-100 ??? seems that would be a loss of quality.

What do you suggest?
Do you think the muted colors are just because the Sony Handycam revs up the color on its small viewscreen?

I'd appreciate any pointers you can offer me.

[2Bdecided]

PC monitors aren't calibrated to be as bright as TVs or viewfinders.

DV is 13GB / hour. Digital8 via PC to DV-AVI is a lossless process.

Sounds like nothing is wrong, and you shouldn't be doing anything differently.


However, for Hi8, the black level assumed by the camera might be wrong - try the ADVC - it has selectable "set up" (black level).

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
David.

[eichelman]

Thanks David,
I think the ADVC-100 doesnt have any black level setting, like the 300.

So you dont think I need to install a different DV codec or
use WinDV?

And If I use the ADVC, do I stay with firewire all the way (on both sides of the ADVC, both input and output?

[RWANDREWS]

Yes, the canopus does have a black level setting. It is on the DIP switches on the bottom of the box. It has a level for japan & one for USA.

I like WIN DV but its up to you .

Bob Andrews

[edDV]

Hi, this is my first post after reading a bit.

I have hi 8 and Digital 8 videos, about 10-15 years old and a Sony TRV460 that has a Firewire output.

Should I
1) Just connect the Camcorder through Firewire to my computer, and then:
a) use Windows Movie Maker to capture, or
b) use Nero 7 Vision software to capture?

I have tried both of these, capturing them in DV format (about 25G/tape). The size is acceptable. I do NOT want to capture again these tapes, so I want to get the best quality now from the capture process.

However, on my computer the video seems faded, the colors muted. But on the small camcorder screen the colors seem very vivid, and the picture sharp. The picture is not so sharp on my screen, perhaps just because my 19" screen is bigger than the camcorders screen. I'm using a generic 1394 card.

I think you may be seeing the classic black level shift issue with pass-through capture but it shouldn't be happening when playing Hi8 tapes in a Digital8 camcorder to IEEE-1394. At least my Digital8 camcorders (TRV-103, GV-D200) produce correct levels from Hi8 or Digital8 tape playback when passed over IEEE-1394. Here is a review of that issue.

NTSC IRE levels and DV camcorder Pass-Through capture.
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic319733.html

If you could post a few frames of your captured DV-AVI file that demonstrates the problem, I could look at it on the Vegas Pro scope. Max file size for attached files is 6 MB.

i recommend you use Win-DV to eliminate Nero or WMM version issues.