DV pass through problem

[Jag]

I've searched the forums, but haven't been able to answer this problem. I am trying to move 8mm movies onto my pc for burning using the new Sony HC30 Handycam as a Pass-Through. I also have a new Dell XPS P4 3.0, 120GB SATA HD, Ati 9800 pro and 1 GIG ram running WinXP SP1. So hardware is not an issue. The old canon camcorder is connecting to the Sony using single yellow and white composite. I have tried using Pinnacle 9 and windows movie maker.

When connecting the old analog camcorder to the HC30 to the PC via firewire, the picture from the analog camcorder shows up in the capture screen. Fine. However, when i click capture video, the picture disappears and the HC30 starts running (as if the PC is trying to capture from the DV camcorder, not the pass through). I do have the a/v out->DV enabled on the Sony. (which is how i can see the picture passed through). But i couldn't figure out how to get the firewire transfer to work. I have also tried taking the tape out, but then the camera won't go into edit mode.

So i tried switching to a USB cable and it actually captures in Windows MovieMaker, but the USB crashes Pinnacle 9 (patched). Since WMM captures in MPEG, Pinnacle is preferable.

My question is: is there anyway to get this pass-through working using firewire?? Also, does anyone know why pinnacle is crashing?

Thanks for any help.

[Beavis]

You can capture DV footage recorded on tape via firewire OK, right? See if there's a way to disable your software from sending any control codes / functions to the camera when you want to use the pass through. I think your software is what is sending the signal telling your camera to start running rather than sitting there just sending the pass through signal. You could also try starting with a more basic program like WinDV- that's what I use for my A/D conversion captures.

[Almost Human]

Use WinDV. Make sure the box to the left of the capture button is unchecked, this is the camera control on/off swich.

[Nolonemo]

As far as I know, you need to take the tape out of the camera to use pass-though. At least that's the case with the Sony TRV-xx series.

[Jag]

Thanks i will try WinDV. I read some of the posts on it and it may seem to fit my issue. Especially with someone who had the same issue with the Sony where the program starts the DV camera and the screen goes blank.

I tried taking the tape out, but it wouldn't let me go into edit mode without a tape to do the pass through.

If I use WinDV, can i import the AVI into Pinnacle for editing?

[Beavis]

If I use WinDV, can i import the AVI into Pinnacle for editing?

Yeah, you might have to figure out if Pinnacle prefers type 1 or type 2 DV captures, but that's simple to do (and it might actually support both, I don't use it).