Sony DCR-TRV350

[fubar]

I just got this camcorder...seems to be OK, and It has analog to digital pass thru. I am virgin new to this scene and am fumbling along here, but have managed to capture some mpegs from the camera tape...no problem there.

Now I am attempting to capture some VHS tapes. I hooked up my VCR to the camera, and set it up to pass the signal thru to the computer. This may be the problem...I am using the supplied software that came with the camera...Sony's ImageMixer. I know it's probably not the best software to use for this. I intend on getting something much better in the future. Right now I am just finding my way around and learn about the equipment.

Anyway, I can view the movie scenes on my computer in the ImageMixer software that are being played from the VCR, but when I hit the capture button it begins playing the camera tape and capturing what's on the digital tape instead of what's coming from the vcr. Is this normal, or am I doing something wrong? Do I have to capture the vhs onto the digital tape first, and then capture it onto my hard drive?

The supplied book is pretty useless as far as instructions go. I'm sure this question has been asked before, but for some reason the search is not working in the forums, and I can't find any answers to these questions. I appreciate any help and guidance here.

Thanks...Fubar

[Tommyknocker]

I am not an expert. but I thought one was to be recording to a blank tape when using pass through. Anyway, here are the site's articles on pass-through: Click here.

[yg1968]

Take the tape out from the digital camcorder.

You can use freeware programs such as DVApp, DVIO or Windows Movie Maker to capture. However, they only work through the firewire port. If you don't have a firewire port, you need to get one. The ADS Pyro firewire card comes with a firewire cable and Ulead VideoStudio 6.0 (useful program for editing DV).

[fubar]

I tried taking the tape out...then it wouldn't even give me a preview. I'm pretty sure it's the Sony program, ImageMixer...uncapable of this. I downloaded and installed virtualdub and got it working...works pretty good for a free program. Only problem now is the capture file is huge...about 10G per hour. Is that because it's capturing to avi? Would mpeg2 be better...smaller?

I have an 80G drive, but that won't last long at these rates....so much to learn.

Thanks for the replies...Fubar

[Tommyknocker]

Virtual Dub lets you capture to several different codecs. DV, which is the by far the best resolution, all the way to DivX, which is probably the most efficient versus quality. You will have to install most of the codecs yourself (see the Tools section).

But do not give up on Virtual Dub, that monster has filters you will not believe, and when you learn how to frameserve, wait until you hook it up to TMPGEnc as well! Anyway, here is a great table that compares codecs. Click here.

[yg1968]

Virtualdub doesn't work with a firewire port. So I guess that you are not using a firewire port. You will get better results capturing DV using a firewire port. A firewire port can be bought for as little as $20. It's worth it!

DV is 13 gig an hour. You almost need an extra hard drive for capturing and editing DV. However, don't forget that the DV avi file is temporary since you will likely convert to mpeg, dvix or export back to the camcorder.

[fubar]

Tommy,
Thanks for the tips. Although I have nothing to compare virtualdub to, I do like what I see. It appears to be fairly simple to operate...so far, but I most likely will be trying another commercial product in the future to see the differences...so far I've read good things about Ulead and Premiere 6.

I am interested in that table you spoke of in your post but the link you provided doesn't work. Would you mind reposting?

yg1968,
You are correct. I do not have a firewire card...yet. I do plan on getting one...just trying to understand and make sense out of what I already have before throwing more hardware into the mix. I have been doing a LOT of reading on these subjects, and I have summized that a firewire card is definitely a requirement.

Good point about the avi being temporary...something to keep in mind as I progress with this learning process.

Thanks for the tips...Fubar

[Tommyknocker]

Click here.