dv camcorder-video cpature??

[twolf]

Hi, am trying to figure out if using a dv camcorder to record vhs tapes from a vhs camcorder or vcr is a viable, possible solution for copying home movies in order to put them on computer and then a dv disk....will it provide high quality and record the video as well as audion...this in lieu of a dazzle II or hollywood or pinnacle dv500? Am going to get a dv recorder anyway and if I can play my vhs into it and copy the tapes that way, that would save money on having to buy a dazzle as well....Also will it provide as good as or better quality than the vhs? want to try and get it to be better than a second generation vhs copy..thanks..t

[tinycorkscrew]

I use my Sony TRV120 camcorder to capture from VHS. It's pretty easy to do. Your computer has to have a firewire card (I bought one for $20), and your camcorder has to do pass through conversion. Make sure the camcorder you're looking at has pass-through before you buy. The new Sony TRV130, for example, doesn't offer this feature.

Quality of a DV capture is much better than a 2nd gen VHS copy. DV files are huge, though, so you'll probably want to convert to another format. There's where keeping the quality level high becomes tricky.

Good luck

[SingSing]

What firewire capture program do you used ?
What format is the captured file ?

[twolf]

Hi and thanks much for your response and help.

Does the video enter the passthru recorder and it records it and then you transfer it to the computer? also as above, what file format and how large? I will only probably be recording in 20-30 minute segments...now I need to go and learn about dv camcorders..how they store video and how much memory...smile..thanks again..t

[twolf]

Hey Tiny, can't find your model camcorder found a trv20...might that be it? and the trv130...can't find it, but found a trv30 on sony site, but it has passthru....are these the same models? thanks..t

[twolf]

Ok, let me rescind that..found the 120 and 130...they are digital 8...t

[jtor]

The pass-through feature of some digital camcorders eliminate the need to make an 'extra' copy of your analog video. The analog video goes through the converter of the digital camcorder, and the digital output goes straight to your computer (instead of re-recording to digital tape).

digital camcorders store video to tape in digital format (hence the name). She basically handles the dirty work that we used to go through when we do analog captures. And since the process (conversion to digital format) is being done internally (no external crap to ruin things), you get very good quality. And since it is already in digital format, you only need to 'transfer' the information to your computer (instead of capturing) through a firewire port.

If you go for Digital8, and use a 120min Hi8 tape, you can store up to 1hr only (in SP mode). MiniDV tapes go as they are labeled (~60min for 60min tape in SP mode).

Once transferred to your computer, format would be DV AVI, and you use ~3.7MB/sec to determine the file size of your video. For a 1hr digital footage, it will eat up approx 13GB.

hope this helps.

[twolf]

that helps a great deal..thank you....guess that is the way I will go, cause only have prob 4 hours worth of home movie if you put it all together, on vhs and that would be all i would use capture for, and buying the camcorder i won't have any more vhs after that....thanks much..t

[tinycorkscrew]

FYI, the best capture program I've used is freeware. It's called DVIO. It doesn't do batch captures or anything else fancy, but it doesn't drop frames.

I have a dual Athlon MP system with a gigabyte of RAM and a 15000 rpm Seagate Cheetah SCSI hard drive, and Adobe's Premiere drops a frame or two every 7 or 8 minutes when I use it to capture.

I'm not sure where to get DVIO or if it's even still supported by its author, but it does the trick for me.

[twolf]

Hey Tiny, you mean that it drops frames between the digital camcorder and computer?..thanks..t