Capturing off HC5 camera

[braxus]

I bought a HDV video camera, the Sony HDR-HC5, and am having problems doing captures from the tape onto my computer. I am using a 4 pin Ilink to 6 pin 1394 cable (an older one) and started to use Sony's supplied capture software that came with the camera. Now I can only get picture to come through when the camera is on live, or when I put in a tape in play mode and playback 1080i recordings. No SD DV format recordings will come through what so ever. I had the camera output in Auto mode, but also tried DV output mode. Nothing. So I tried Adobe Premiere Elements 3 and with its capture software. Nothing what so ever would come through in any mode and the software said my camera was offline, yet I could still control the fast forward, play, etc from the program. The camera controls also worked fine with the Sony software. Sony did say something about buying one of their cables which supports 1080i, but with what I've experienced I cannot say the cable is in fact the problem. Since the cable does pass 1080i pictures, but no DV pictures. Why Adobe doesn't work at all I can't say. Im running this on the Windows XP partition of the computer with service pack 2. I haven't yet tried the Sony software on the Vista partition, but I'm not confident that is the problem. Any ideas?

[braxus]

I tried a new cable as well. Same problem. So this sounds like a software issue. Any ideas?

[redwudz]

A 1394A cable is a 1394A cable..... There won't be any difference between any of them except quality of manufacturing. No experience with Vista 64, I have the 32bit version. But you might try WinDV to see if it does any different. Another software you might try is Enosoft DV Processor. If neither work, there may be something in the camera settings. You might try to find a Sony forum that has tips for transfers from the camera.

Others here may have better information.

And welcome to our forums.

[edDV]

I don't have a HC5, Sony software or Premiere Elements3.

The HC5 can be set to HDV format out or DV format out (downscale done in the camcorder). This is all spelled out in the manual. Any IEEE-1394 cable should work.

HDV capture requires an editing program that supports HDV. I don't know if Elements3 is HDV capable out of the box. Consult an Elements 3 forum.

DV downscale should look like any other DV source to XP, Windows Movie Maker 2 or Premiere Elements 3. Try WinDV if the others won't work.

[edDV]

I missed that you were on Vista 64. Are you sure any of the software you mentioned is Vista 64 capable? That homework is for you.

I'm having enough issues getting applications to work under Vista 32.

[braxus]

I have a dual partition in my computer. One is XP Home Edition service pack 2. The other is Vista 64 bit. I was running the software on XP since nothing is compatible with Vista yet. I haven't tried the Sony software on Vista yet. Elements 3 only works on Vista 32 bit, so this is why I set everything up in XP. I'm thinking of taking the cable back I bought, since that isn't the problem.

[braxus]

I dont get it. The Sony software keeps saying the camera is in Auto mode, yet I thought I switched it to DV. Anyway I loaded the Sony software on Vista 64 bit and same results. However when I let Vista use its own capture software, the SD signal from my old DV tapes showed on screen and I was able to capute them fine. It saved them as an AVI. Im not sure if this is the DV-AVI or just AVI. But it worked. I haven't test that program yet for the 1080i signal. But I can always use the Sony software for that. So this is definately a software issue.

[edDV]

FYI Vista Home Premium and Ultimate are supposed to capture HDV M2t files with Windows Media Maker and edit HDV format. That should work for the 64bit version as well.

Adobe Premiere Elements 3 is supposed to capture HDV or DV formats per their website.
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/overview.html

I'm sure you noticed they say Vista is supported for 32bit only.
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/systemreqs.html

[edong]

I have a dual partition in my computer. One is XP Home Edition service pack 2. The other is Vista 64 bit. I was running the software on XP since nothing is compatible with Vista yet. I haven't tried the Sony software on Vista yet. Elements 3 only works on Vista 32 bit, so this is why I set everything up in XP. I'm thinking of taking the cable back I bought, since that isn't the problem.

For my HC-3, I use capdvhs in XP home SP2. Problem is I cannot see on the PC screen what I am capturing but I can see the counter and the video file size that's building up. There is of course, the camcorder's LCD. I usually stop recording before the file size exceeds 4.3 GB so that I can transfer it to DVD. Windows Media Player and VLC can play the HD-MPEG2 files without problem. You just need to turn on de-interlacing in VLC.

If I want it in a regular DVD player, I use the Windows Movie Maker that came with Vista Premium. It supports HD-MPEG2 except that scene selections in the Menu are blank. Quality is very good that I can hardly see the difference between the original HD-MPEG2 and the DVD-Video. I am thinking why would I need an expensive Blu-Ray or HD-DVD writer/player and HD software. BTW, this Windows Movie Maker also can capture HD but with different file extension.

[braxus]

Now I have another issue. The Vista program that does capture is casting strange colors. A lot of shots are green in cast and all seem darker then original, especially since I checked the camcorder screen for how it really looks. Does this mean my cable is effecting picture quality?

[aedipuss]

no it's a digital transfer. bad codec may display wrong colors. try playing with a different program, maybe mpc or vlc.

[edDV]

Beats me. I'm still struggling with Vista install.