Capturing w USB Pt 2

[chibaengrish]

I'm trying to capture w USB cable from a Panasonic PV-GS39 that records with miniDVs. I've tried to capture video using Windows Movie Maker, Muvee Autoproducer, and Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0.

After connecting the camcorder to the computer via USB, Muvee Autoproducer can play the video but not capture it, saying "Capture failed. Please check device connection or reset the power before trying again." Adobe Premiere Elements won't even play the video, giving me the message "Capture device offline."

Help me, please!

[redwudz]

If that camcorder has a DV output, I would use that instead. Most camcorders use DV for full resolution and USB for low resolution video. You would need a FireWire card and cable, though.

For USB, try it with all other USB devices unplugged, especially if you have hard drives or a USB hub plugged in. If you just have a USB mouse or keyboard, they shouldn't cause problems. Try a different USB socket also.

But I think you will find FireWire is more dependable and faster for transfers. You can use a freeware program like WinDV for the transfer. WMM will work, but it only outputs WMV or DV, so not much use except for editing.

[Dan East]

Good timing on this thread. I just tried hooking up my new PV-GS39 today.

I can get it to work with USB, no drivers required, but it appears I'm limited to a resolution of 320x240. That's capturing with VirtualDub. I was hoping I could just go with USB, because I can't even find the required Firewire cable locally. According to the documentation, and what I read online, I was under the assumption that I could use Firewire or USB to capture just the same. Of course USB adds other capabilities, like accessing the SD card as a virtual drive, and using the camera as a webcam. So I'm trying the USB route first.

In VirtualDub under Video Format the only options available are resolution 320x240, Pixel Depth "MJPG" and Size 230400.

As long as the USB cable is attached, under Video Playback mode on the camera, I see a "WEB" icon, and I get an exclamation point when I try to pull up the menu. The 16x9 LCD display on the camera also switches to 4:3 regardless of the aspect ratio I have set on the camera.

So at this point it looks like the USB streaming capability is very limited - it pretty much behaves like a crappy webcam, whether live or playback.

Dan East

[redwudz]

Dan East, that's the way USB is for most camcorders. They use it for stills and low res web video. A few are able to use full DV resolution with USB.

The FireWire cable you probably need is fairly common. It should be a 4pin mini FireWire to a Six Pin FireWire. Looks like this on the camera. To the left is a mini USB.


The other six pin end looks like this:


I thought I had a better photo. EDIT: This one looks better.

And you would need a OHCI compliant FireWire PCI card also. They should be around $20US. With those you should be able to get an exact copy of what's on your DV tape. FireWire drivers are included with XP SP1 and better, I believe, so nothing to install. You can use a simple program like WinDV for the transfers. Or Virtual Dub should also work.

EDIT: If you are using W2000 or W98 OS, I'm not sure if FireWire is native, probably not, but this article may explain how it can work: http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/ieee-1394_support.html The drivers may also come with the FireWire card.

[Dan East]

Sorry to steal the thread from you chibaengrish.

My laptop must have the mini 4-pin firewire, because it looks exactly like the connector on my camcorder, which is the same as the DV IN/OUT jack in the first picture you posted.

Dan East

[Dan East]

It looks like the model one up from this one (PV-GS59, which shares the same operating instructions) may have the ability to stream high-quality over USB. It has a "USB Function" menu option you can set between "MOTION DV" and "WEB CAM". So I assume the Motion DV is high quality over USB?

Dan East

[chibaengrish]

no, this is all good info for me to know as well. my laptop has a 4-pin firewire as well, but my desktop has a 6-pin.

after considering the options, i think i'm just going to buy a high-quality digital camera with video recording capabilities instead of having a dedicated camcorder. i dont intend to shoot videos longer than a few minutes anyway, so i'm not sure a camcorder was the best choice for me to begin with... any opinions on this?

[redwudz]

I think chibaengrish and you both have the same problem. His camcorder appears to have a FireWire output also, which I would recommend for full resolution video. The 4pin to 4pin cables are a little rarer than the 2>6pin versions, but I've seen them at Staples and likely Office Depot or any video store, or Radio Shack may carry them.

Probably with a laptop, the 4pin is more common. I use a PCMCIA card for FireWire with my laptop and that also works well. It has the 4pin mini and a regular 6pin FireWire input.

The only problem you may run into with a laptop is filesize. DV is about 13GB an hour of video, so it takes quite a bit of space. That would be double or more when editing. External drives recommended if you don't have the room.

EDIT: If you are thinking of using a digital still camera, make sure your try the video output and quality before purchase. Some are not much better than the USB resolution you are experiencing.

And I should have mentioned another option. That's a DVD recorder with FireWire input. My DVR can accept camcorder video directly and either record to the hard drive and edit, or burn directly to a DVD. But then you usually need to do some more advanced editing in the computer, so I rarely use it that way. DV is very nice for editing. You can cut anywhere you want as all frames are keyframes. This makes editing easy. But you will need to encode the DV to MPEG-2 and author to produce a DVD. Lots of options available with camcorders to DVD.

[thecoalman]

my laptop has a 4-pin firewire as well, but my desktop has a 6-pin.

Bear in mind that the only thing that is relevant is what is on the cam. A 6 pin cable carries power, however the power connections on a 6-pin to 4-pin cable are just dummy connections on the 6-pin end. You'll have to get both cables if you want to work on both machines. Once you get a firewire cable you'll find it's quite simple a process to get the video to computer, most capture programs even allow you to control the cam directly from the computer.

so i'm not sure a camcorder was the best choice for me to begin with... any opinions on this?

Even the cheapest mini-dv camcorder is superior to any video produced by a still camera in everyway for playback on a TV or conversion to DVD. FYI, that's not an opinion... :P

[Bjs]

From a general compilation of info :

1: Usb fuction = remove all other usb device's
2: Ieee should follow suit as for usb ...

3: All camera's must be powered by power adapter .
4: Camera set to correct mode .
5: Cable to camera , then to pc .

6: Turn pc on (pc must be off prior to camera connection) .
7: Os pick's up device from there .

Note : All camera's come with a cd containing lame tool's and capture product's ... however , these must be installed as they will install the camera's device driver ... the winxp default , while it work's ... is junk compared to a device driver specifically designed for the device being connected ...

Most manufacturer's note that too connect the camera any other way may cause damage to either camera and / or pc ... so connect them correctly in the first place too avoid problem's ...

[chibaengrish]

Even the cheapest mini-dv camcorder is superior to any video produced by a still camera in everyway for playback on a TV or conversion to DVD.

that's just the thing, my main use for digital video was to play around with it on my computer and share short clips w family and friends.