Camcorder - DV Codec?

[echo1434]

I think I've got my facts straight here, but let's just say I'm using my Sony Digital 8 camcorder to play back an 8 mm tape via the DV FireWire output and into my computer.

Now: Regardless of what kind of DV profile I select with Scenalyzer, and regardless of what DV codecs I might have installed on my system — the DV stream in this case is coming from the camcorder and has nothing to do with anything else, correct? In other words, the Sony is creating its own DV stream with its own codec and simply transporting that to my computer. So, the stream will always be the same regardless of one's computer or configuration.

I think that's right, but I just was hoping someone would confirm/disconfirm it for me.

By the way, I'm not concerned about further rendering of the "captured" DV file - only the video stream coming from the camcorder.

[edDV]

....

Now: Regardless of what kind of DV profile I select with Scenalyzer, and regardless of what DV codecs I might have installed on my system — the DV stream in this case is coming from the camcorder and has nothing to do with anything else, correct? In other words, the Sony is creating its own DV stream with its own codec and simply transporting that to my computer. So, the stream will always be the same regardless of one's computer or configuration.

Correct. The video is encoded in that case with Sony's hardware DV codec in the camcorder. A pure transfer will be bit for bit the same as frames on the DV tape or the converted live input.

The capture program needs to decode the DV video for preview, or in the case of Scenalyzer, for "optical" scene break analysis. To do this it will use the DirectShow MS-DV or other codec. This should not affect the data stream being captured/transferred to the hard drive.