Please Help - Problem with Capture 8 mm Tape

[wangy26]

Please help! I am really frustrated. I am trying to capture my old 8 mm tape to my computer through DV camcorder and have trouble with this task. I connected my 8 mm camcorder to the DV camcorder according to the manual of the DV camcorder. I then connected my DV camcorder to my computer with firewall connection. If I only have tape in the 8 mm camcorder and no tape in the DV camcorder, the software will show error message “please insert tape”. The capture video button is gray and I can’t click anything even though the tape is playing in the 8 mm camcorder. If I put DV tape in the DV camcorder then it will only capture the DV tape. But what I really want is capturing the 8 mm tape. I don’t know if the problem is with my software or with the setting and/or connection. Here is what I have:

Capture software: Screenblast Movie Studio
DV camcorder: Sony TRV25
8 mm camcorder: Sony TR714

By the way I can capture my DV tape to the computer with the same software without any problem.

Any help from your knowledgeable people is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Tommyknocker]

Is there a way to put a blank D8 tape in the D8 camcorder and pressing Record while passing the video from the Hi8 camcorder? It will probably record the Hi8 video, but may also transfer the video to the PC as well.

[DaveS]

I can say that on my canon camcorder, I need to tell it that I'm doing 'passthru' (which is what you are doing) so that it takes the analog input and sends it out through firewire, thus 'disabling' the CCD (camera) portion. This is on a setup menu on the digital camcorder...don't forget to set it back when you're done

also, for passthru, some camcorders like / need a tape in and I think others don't care.

good luck!

[MpegEncoder]

I think the problem is the software. Windows Movie Maker has this same problem. Use DVIO or WinDV instead.

[wangy26]

Thank you all for the help! The problem is indeed the software. When I use the WinDV the problem went away.