Panasonic PV-GS250, software for capturing

[rhuala2]

Hi, my Panasonic PV-GS250 software, MotionDV Studio is not the friendliest for grabbing video from the camera tapes, would someone please recommend an alternate software... the thing that makes it annoying is that sometimes it stops grabbing video and doesn't give a clear indicator how much video is left, couple times I archived a tape then went back after I couldn't find video I swore I shot, and sure enough found it at the end of a tape...

pg 12 of the manual shows the USB port type if that matters...
http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/PVGS250.PDF

All I want is something quick and simple that will grab all the video from the camera's tape and store it on my hd is one pass (without encoding it)

Thanks,

rhuala

[edDV]

The Panasonic PV-GS250 is standard MiniDV format and capture is via IEEE-1394 (aka Firewire or ILink). It will work with any DV capture software.

Easiest to use is WinDV. It copies DV data to and from you hard disk and stores an exact copy of the tape data to a DV-AVI file. That file can be imported into most editing software.

[rhuala2]

Thanks edDV, any other good programs you can think of, I don't mind spending the $$, I just want something good, fast and reliable... once I'm in the "trying" mode, it's nice to have 2 or 3 programs to compare against each other...

Thanks,

rhuala

[edDV]

Thanks edDV, any other good programs you can think of, I don't mind spending the $$, I just want something good, fast and reliable... once I'm in the "trying" mode, it's nice to have 2 or 3 programs to compare against each other...

Thanks,

rhuala

Even though I have Vegas Pro 8, I still use simple WinDV to transfer most DV data to the PC. The Vegas capture program can do additional batch features but is time consuming to set up and use. Likewise, I mostly use HDVsplit for HDV transfer.

Just about any DV format editor you buy will include DV capture functions. None will be as easy to use as WinDV.

I can also capture DV with Windows Movie Maker, Vista OS capture, Adobe Premiere, Nero9, Video Studio and others.

If you want a deluxe DV capture program check out ScenalyzerLive.

[Richard_G]

Bear in mind though that to use WinDV, or any other proper DV transfer program, you do NOT use the USB port. You use the Firewire port instead (Item 32 on page 13 of the manual) which is described as the DV port.

I must admit that the manual stinks as far as I'm concerned. There's page after page on how to use it with the supplied (inferior, as you have found out) software and barely a mention of how to do it properly.

[edDV]

Thanks edDV, any other good programs you can think of, I don't mind spending the $$, I just want something good, fast and reliable... once I'm in the "trying" mode, it's nice to have 2 or 3 programs to compare against each other...

Thanks,

rhuala

No matter how much you spend you won't get 720x480 resolution from the USB port on that camcorder. Use IEEE-1394 (aka Firewire or ILink).

[rhuala2]

Thanks guys...

So it came with a USB cable and that is what I have used for the first few movies I've downloaded from it and I edit in Pinnacle, the file size on my PC is around 15GB per 1 hour and says it's 720x480... so what benefit would I get from switching to a different cable, would it just transfer faster, or are you saying the file stored on my PC will be different or of a higher res? Manual makes no mention of this... anyone have a URL that can explain differences in USB vs. Firewire downloading, I thought it was just a transfer rate difference...

Is this the recommended cable?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812339053

Thanks a bunch...

rhuala

[minidv2dvd]

the cable will be 4 pin on the camcorder end, and either 4 pin or 6 pin on the computer end depending on which one your computer has.

the files transferred over usb are not the same as on the tape. DVavi can only transfer over firewire. as stated in your manual, once transferred over usb they can't be written back to camcorder tape, unlike the files transferred over firewire that can be sent back to tape.

Connecting the Camcorder to a personal
computer
1 Set the Mode Dial to Tape Recording Mode
or Tape Playback Mode.
2 Set [BASIC] or [ADVANCE] >>
[USB FUNCTION] >> [MOTION DV].
≥It enters MotionDV STUDIO Mode.
3 Connect the Camcorder to the personal
computer with USB connection cable.
4 Select [Start] >> [All Programs (Programs)]
>> [Panasonic] >>
[MotionDV STUDIO 5.3E LE for DV] >>
[MotionDV STUDIO LE for DV].
≥Using the MotionDV STUDIO for Windows, a
variety of visual effects can be added and titles
can be created.
≥You cannot record a video edited by the PC
onto the Tape in the Camcorder.
With DV cable (optional)
OS:
Windows Me/2000/XP
1 Set the Mode Dial to Tape Recording Mode
or Tape Playback Mode.
2 Connect the Camcorder to the personal
computer with DV connection cable.
3 Start MotionDV STUDIO 5.3E LE.
≥You can record the video edited by the PC onto
the Tape in the Camcorder.

[rhuala2]

can't be written back to camcorder tape

I can't think of any reason why I would ever want to do that?

so in the original question, is the video quality the same (usb vs. firewire cable)?

[edDV]

can't be written back to camcorder tape

I can't think of any reason why I would ever want to do that?

so in the original question, is the video quality the same (usb vs. firewire cable)?

Not on 99+% of DV camcorders. The PV-GS250 manual is unclear.

There were a few Panasonic models that implemented DV over USB2 using proprietary software but they are rare and the experiment seems discontinued.

Normally full DV rsolution transfer and device control is done over IEEE-1394 while net stream low res is transferred over USB. Some models allow webcam emulation over USB. All third party DV edit software would connect over IEEE-1394.

[minidv2dvd]

you'll need to test the files transferred over usb for us. we don't have the cam. try mediainfo in tree mode and/or gspot. post a screenshot of the results here.

[KBeee]

You can try via USB2 to see if it works, with software that'll copy across from your camera to PC. As already stated, WinDV won't work with your cameras USB2 port, but WMM (which should already be on your computer if you're running Windows) will copy your DV to your PC IF YOUR CAMERA SUPPORTS USB2 COPIES. I know the GS400 does support proper USB2 cam-to-PC copies, but the cheaper GS250 might not, falling back to only "webcam" type resolutions.
Costs nothing to try

[edDV]

You can try via USB2 to see if it works, with software that'll copy across from your camera to PC. As already stated, WinDV won't work with your cameras USB2 port, but WMM (which should already be on your computer if you're running Windows) will copy your DV to your PC IF YOUR CAMERA SUPPORTS USB2 COPIES. I know the GS400 does support proper USB2 cam-to-PC copies, but the cheaper GS250 might not, falling back to only "webcam" type resolutions.
Costs nothing to try

The manual is very specific about installation requirements for the proprietary drivers and software. WMM will not capture the stream by itself.

[lildeee]

rhuala2 what did you end up doing? I have the PV-GS250 as well - did you try WMM? Why do you edit with Pinnacle instead of MotioDV Studio which came with the camera?

My current project is capturing, editing, and outputting to DVD's while preserving quality (played on TV). Do you have tips to maximize quality of the final DVD?

[NHar88]

Ran across this old thread when researching how to get Panasonic PV-GS250 to work with my new Win 10 laptop with no Firewire port.
I can confirm that it works on my machine using:
- CyberLink PowerDirector 14 video editing software
- USB 3 port connected to the Panasonic camera.
- the driver that Windows 10 provided and installed.

How set up:
I did NOT install special or old driver software from Panasonic or others. I just started camera, positioned tape to show some recorded video, then connected camera to computer using USB cable, and let Windows 10 install its native driver software. I then started up PowerDirector, and told it to go to Capture mode. PD 14 found the camera, popped up the video picture on its screen, and could advance and rewind the tape, and record, same as if using Firewire. The captured video on the computer was in .mpg format, 720 x 480, at 8300 bits/sec. Video quality looked unchanged.

[NHar88]

See my previous post regarding this camera on Windows 10 Dell Precision machine and using PowerDirector 14 edited software .
I tested again, this time using an older (ca 2010) well equipped Dell Studio 1747 machine, running latest Windows 10.

Results are the same as for the earlier machine:
- Windows recognized the camera when plugged into USB 2.0 port and installed the correct drivers.
- PowerDirector 14 found the camcorder as an available Capture device.
- PD 14 could successfully operate the camera -- rewind, play, fast forward, and Record.
- PD 14 could successfully capture. Capture was in mpg format, 720 x 480, 8300 fps. All was well.

Note: there are many reports here that USB cannot be used for capture from camcorders, especially for camcorders with only Firewire output. Evidently the Panasonic PV-GS250 is an exception. It does have a Firewire 400 port, but also a USB port, and it came with drivers specifically made for USB connection to a Windows 98 computer for video capture. The manual says later versions of Windows, including Windows 10 can use the native driver installed in the OS for USB capture.