Color Bars

[viking2403]

I borrowed a Sony Handycam DCR-TVR510 to transfer several tapes to my computer. I recently transferred several video tapes, and I have the camcorder hooked up exactly the same way as I had the VCR. However, in Adobe Premier and Debut Video Capture, all I get in the capture screen are wide colored bars. Sound records just fine, just no video. Any ideas as to why?

[Brad]

I'm confused. Are the tapes Digital8, Hi8, or a VCR hooked up to the analog inputs?

Try WinDV.

[viking2403]

These are Digital8 tapes. I'll try the WinDV. Thanks.

[sanlyn]

WinDV should do it.

[viking2403]

WinDV couldn't find the device. "Error: Can't find DV output pin". I'm just confused because I had it hooked up exactly as I had the VCR hooked up to transfer those tapes. As I said, sound records great, just those color bars.

[Brad]

Okay, tell us how you are connecting this Digital8 camcorder and how you "had the VCR hooked up".

It sounds like you are using an analog-to-digital video capture device. You should be connecting the Handycam to your computer using a Firewire cable.

[PuzZLeR]

and I have the camcorder hooked up exactly the same way as I had the VCR.

I had it hooked up exactly as I had the VCR hooked up to transfer those tapes.

I too will ask "how?" since it's so important. You said this twice and didn't tell us.

RCA/Composite?
S-Video?
Firewire?

We are recommending the latter, and to work with WinDV and get the best quality with DV video.

Do you have a firewire input on your computer?

[viking2403]

RCA video out to a Turtle Beach card. RCA Audio out 1/8 into sound card in the back of computer. Yes, I have Firewire, just no cable yet. The camera shows video when hooked to the TV.
With WinDV, I don't even get the color bars.


Thanks.

[jagabo]

RCA video out to a Turtle Beach card. RCA Audio out 1/8 into sound card in the back of computer. Yes, I have Firewire, just no cable yet. The camera shows video when hooked to the TV.
With WinDV, I don't even get the color bars.

Because there's nothing plugged into the firewire port. How's a firewire capture program supposed to capture from a device that's not connected? Do both your camcorder (since it's D8 it does) and your computer have a firewire port? Few computers have firewire ports anymore.

[viking2403]

RCA video out to a Turtle Beach card. RCA Audio out 1/8 into sound card in the back of computer. Yes, I have Firewire, just no cable yet. The camera shows video when hooked to the TV.
With WinDV, I don't even get the color bars.

Because there's nothing plugged into the firewire port. How's a firewire capture program supposed to capture from a device that's not connected? Do both your camcorder (since it's D8 it does) and your computer have a firewire port? Few computers have firewire ports anymore.

I understand that now. I have other capture programs that are NOT Firewire programs, and they worked fine with the VCR, but not this camera. The camera plays video through the TV, but not the programs I've used before to capture video. It's obvious I'm getting some sort of signal into the capture programs as I get these colored bars, like a test pattern. Just no video. When I unplug the video out, the bars go away.


And yes, I do have Firewire in my computer. Jut not sure how many pins yet.

[PuzZLeR]

I would think that there may be a switch with the camera that's supposed to output a video signal, or analog signal, but if it works with the TV, then it should work with your capture device in that same way. Could it be your capture card, or even capture setup, doesn't read the camera's signal, if it is indeed analog? Strange.

Regardless, it wouldn't be the recommended method anyway. Firewire, and DV video, is the best way to go with this unit. WinDV should pick up the signal with a firewire cable properly attached (and the only way it would).

A DV cable is not expensive at all today. What I can suggest is to just go to an electronics chain, and they can easily determine what cable, and amount of pins you'd need. For the camera hookup just lug it in and show them, and for the computer hookup most firewire ports on a computer are, I'd imagine, rather standard at 6 pin (but make sure you can come back and exchange if not).

[smrpix]

And yes, I do have Firewire in my computer. Jut not sure how many pins yet.

Camera is almost always 4 pin. If it looks different on the computer it's six pin.

[jagabo]

If you're getting color bars in the capture program that's what the camcorder is putting out.

[bigass]

WinDV is looking for digital video input from your FireWire port. If you have nothing plugged into the FireWire port, there's nothing to display. WinDV may display color bars as a default.

The "pin" you're seeing referenced in the error message is not a physical pin. It's not an 8-pin, 4-pin issue the program is talking about. It's a virtual "pin" referring to a path in the software from here to there for carrying the video information. It's essentially telling you "I can't move video from here to here -- something's not connecting." Well, obviously. You don't have it plugged in.

Or, you might have something plugged in somewhere, but the program you're asking to do to the recording is looking at the empty hole in the back of your computer. What are you supposed to plug in there? Something with a DV output. Not a yellow video cable, not a yellow-red-white cable, not a tip-ring-sleeve cable... the firewire cable. If you don't have a machine that puts DV out by firewire, WinDV is not the thing to be using to capture the video. WinDV just helps suck the 1s and 0s out of the device and put it on your hard drive. It doesn't turn video into data -- it moves data from a device into your computer.

Hope that clears some of this up.

[PuzZLeR]

Yes, Digital8 uses the DV codec, and using firewire outputs the "data" - bit for bit identically - that is on the tape in digital format. WinDV is merely an aid in the transport of this data (using the proper, and properly attached, cable) and wraps it into an AVI container, which is the process we recommend.

Digital8 has digital info on it (as per the name) and is not like the conventional "analog signal". In your setup, either your capture gear isn't set up for digital signals, and/or your camera isn't set up to output analog signals (hence the color bars). Even if you got it to work with your setup like you'd be capturing VHS, you would only capture it as an analog signal, and deteriorate much of the quality.

Although the PCM audio is digital, you can capture the audio because it comes through as an analog signal to your capture setup. It's like capturing the audio content of a CD via RCA/composite by playing it in real time. You can do it, but you are converting from digital->analog->digital and losing quality in these steps. Better quality will come from capturing the audio on the CD by directly copying it - which is what you'd be doing with firewire and DV.

(I was being hypothetical about copying CDs. I wasn't insinuating breaking copyrights.)

At any rate, this is all moot if you intent to use firewire and WinDV - which you should.

[viking2403]

Thanks all. I have some time this upcoming week, and will go get a Firewire cable and give that a go. I'm obviously pretty new to this and just want to get these movies digitized. I waited a LONG time for the VHS tapes, and what a mistake that was. Talk about degradation. But, they're historic anyway.

Thanks again.