JVC GR-D90U- MiniDv Capturing--Instruction manual sucks

[clearwaterpro]

Camcorder has "DV In/Out Analog Input"-- is 1394 IEEE compatible.

The instruction manual doesn't even mention how to transfer DV to PC, only still photos. The camcorder has a DV out connection on it.

When I transfer MiniDV tape tp my computer using DV cable, will I still only be able to capture in realtime? In other words, I will have to "play" the tape in the camcorder, while I capture it into my PC? If this is true, what is the benefit of MiniDV, other than a better picture? I thought DV meant that the video was saved on the tape as a file that could just be tranferred to the PC using a firewire, sort of like how a Digital camera's compact flash creates a new drive letter on your computer.

[adboehm]

There is a big difference between the recording mediums of Compactflash and MiniDV. Compactflash cards can read any single part of it's stored memory almost instantaneously. MiniDV on the other hand is a tape, which records the information magnetically (just like any other tape medium), but instead of analogue information, it records it digitally, as 0s and 1s (in basically dvd quality). The reason for using tape for video, is that it can store lots and lots of information; more than any other format, and is cheap to manufacture.

To answer your question, recording from a tape medium to another medium (eg minidv to computer) requires it to be played at 1x, for maximum quality. The heads that pick up the magnetic 0s and 1s need time to sense them. You will need special software to transfer it. Check out https://www.videohelp.com/capture.

[clearwaterpro]

Many Thanks for taking the time to reply.