Newbie gets reacquainted with ancient Panasonic camcorder

[Dixie60]

Hi guys - any help appreciated. About 6-7 years ago, I was reasonably proficient at capturing, editing and transferring video shot on my Panasonic NV-GS180 camcorder (mini DV tapes). I now need to do the same thing, but a few issues: I've upgraded my PC to a Windows 7 model, and lost Panasonic's Motion DV sofware disc - though it probably wouldn't have supported Windows 7 anyway.

I never had a Firewire cable, as USB2 worked comfortably. So, what I now need is simple software to capture, split, join and transfer the content of the mini DV tapes to my PC. I've tried WinDV, but though it seems to recognise the camcorder (albeit giving it a rather generic name - Video Edit) it comes up with an error and I can't get it to initialise. Perhaps it needs Firewire? If so, which one to buy?

Advice as to cable, software and technique much appreciated.

[The_Doman]

You could try ScenalyzerLive ?
It supports capture from USB.

I just notice it is now available for free download.

[Dixie60]

Great call! This does exactly what I wanted. Many thanks.

[TreeTops]

You will need firewire to transfer with that camera.

[Cornucopia]

If you "transferred before with USB", you were NOT getting full quality captures at the time. My experience has been that there are ZERO DV (or HDV) cameras that give quality equivalent to Firewire transfers while using USB. The USB on those devices was mainly meant to allow connection & tranfer of still pictures, with the USB DV transfer capability more akin to a medium-rez "preview quality" version.

I would STRONGLY recommend you get yourself a Win7-compliant Firewire card. Then use WinDV or one of many other Firewire DV transfer apps (I mostly use the module in Vegas).

Scott

[The_Doman]

My experience has been that there are ZERO DV (or HDV) cameras that give quality equivalent to Firewire transfers while using USB.

With some camcorders it can work with USB, i have seen it working even with passtrough mode.
Check: Youtube: Firewire vs USB Video Transfer Cable Quality Test From DV Tape

[smrpix]

Check: Youtube: Firewire vs USB Video Transfer Cable Quality Test From DV Tape

What are we supposed to be seeing on a YouTube compressed mp4 file? Completely agree with cornucopia and treetops.

[Cornucopia]

Not only re-compressed, but how "complicated" was that video? NOT! (IOW, not a good way to make a comparison, not taxing of the codecs or showing much resolution or contrast)

And if you drill down into the comments, you find that that may have only worked as well as it did because the poster was using a proprietary solution from the cam mftr.

Scott