Problems digitalizing miniDVs

[audire]

Recently, I have been trying to digitalize my miniDV tapes. The camcorder I am using is Panasonic NV-EX3 which works with miniDV. After some research, I found this FireWire 1394 port and bought it. I also installed winDV from here, since I am working on Windows 10.

It did not work on the first try, so I applied iteratively some suggestions I found on the Internet: running the app as admin, selecting the checkbox next to "Capture" button, check if there is some problem on the device administrator, and making sure that type 2 AVI is chosen on the configs.

None of these steps worked, for some reason winDV detects that the camera is connected, but is not able to get the video. When I press "Capture" the camera starts reproducing the video (which means that the camera is detected), although it is unable to capture the recording the timestamp and buffer are set to 0.

Hence, I decided to give ScenalyzerLive a try. I downloaded it from this website, and copied the key to get the full access. I first got a warning saying that it could not read from the capture driver and that I should reconnect tha cables of the FireWire. I did but the warning persisted. However, when I pressed capture a small frame was capture and immediatelly stopped in less than a second (this implies that the current drivers are capable of capturing the tape, right?). Some tries later, I could not obtain any capture. An error popped saying the app was not obtaining any information from the driver.

Finally, I checked again for errors or warnings on the drivers (they were not) and tried to update the drivers (which were up-to-date).

Does anyone have a clue on what could the problem be? What other steps should I try?

[Alwyn]

Could be a driver issue. There are only two Firewire "drivers" for Windows, the first is default Windows 10/11 driver which is installed when you first fire up your PC with your new Firewire card in place. The second is the Legacy (original) Windows Firewire driver.

Depending on what you have currently installed, you could try installing the other driver.

You can see what driver Windows is currently using in the IEEE1394 section of Device Manager. If the entry doesn't have "(Legacy)" at the end of the name, you're currently on the default driver. If it does say "(Legacy)", you're on the legacy driver. Here's mine:


[Attachment 86707 - Click to enlarge]

I have a comprehensive explanation of the steps to follow to swap between the drivers for troubleshooting on my site here.

Also, make sure you have allowed Windows access to your AV gear. Read this.

Let us know how you get on.

[rgr]

Test with another computer. It's probably not a program fault, but a hardware or driver issue.

[audire]

I have a comprehensive explanation of the steps to follow to swap between the drivers for troubleshooting on my site here.

Also, make sure you have allowed Windows access to your AV gear. Read this.

Thank you for your help @Alwyn. I have tried to change to Legacy controllers, but my computer fails when doing so. I would like to try checking for the "AV gear". However, the links you provided are in localhost, therefore, I cannot access them. I would appreciate if you gave the original links to the websites.

[audire]

Test with another computer. It's probably not a program fault, but a hardware or driver issue.

Probably you are right, I will try it out on another one. I appreciate your response, thank you!

[Alwyn]

I would like to try checking for the "AV gear". However, the links you provided are in localhost, therefore, I cannot access them. I would appreciate if you gave the original links to the websites.

My profuse apologies, I've corrected the links. Here they are again:

Swapping Firewire drivers

DV camera not showing up in your transfer program

I have tried to change to Legacy controllers, but my computer fails when doing so.

Hmmm, there could be a message there. I wonder if that is the cause of your trouble.