MiniHDV Playback

[raymoland]

I have a couple hundred MiniDVs I would like to capture. They were all recorded with a Sony DHR HC1. I have successfully connected the camera to a modern computer via Firewire and can detect the camera. I am having difficulty with the camera hardware. I am getting different error messages, moisture, eject the cassette etc. Occasionally I can get a tape to play and capture but it's apparent to me that the hardware is on it's last legs.

I'm looking for a way to playback these tapes for capture. Nothing obvious jumps out short of buying a used camera on Ebay. If that is only real route, should I buy another HDR HC1 to ensure compatability or will any HDV Mini DV camera do. Is there no Mini DV playback player available?

Thanks!
Ray

[Barrythecrab]

Are the tapes DV or HDV?
What are you using for capture software?

[raymoland]

HDV, using HDV Split

[Cornucopia]

If it were miniDV, you could play it back in a miniDV or HDV camera, or player/recorder.
The reverse is not true. HDV must be played in an HDV-compatiblle unit.

Also, there are 2 sub-variants of HDV, one does 720p and the other does 1080i. Some devices work with both, but some devices only work with one or the other of the 2 forms. Caveat emptor.

Oh, yeah, and you might also enounter issues between pal/25/50 and ntsc/29.97/30/59.94/60 playback compatibility.


Scott

[dellsam34]

I would suggest cleaning the heads of the HDV camcorder you have now before buying another one, You can find those long sticks with fabric on the tip or use a cleaning cassette, don't use cotton swabs or you will break the heads. For moisture use the camera in a dry room with normal temperature.
One more thing, going from a DV tape to a HDV tape would require the camera to be unplugged and plugged back in again for some operating systems as the hardware ID's are different when the camcorder is in DV mode or when it's in HDV mode.

[aedipuss]

you could try the wet phone trick with the camera to remove moisture. buy a big bag of rice. put the rice in a bag twice as big, let it settle, place the cam in the bag on top of the rice, seal it up and wait 24 hours. the rice will absorb the moisture if there really is any...

if the HDV tapes were recorded with the sony they can only be 1080 not 720. so any canon, panasonic, or sony HDV cam should be able to play them. HDV decks are a possibility but expensive.

[raymoland]

OK so I couldn't get the camera to work reliably so I bought a used Sony HDV Deck HVR M15U. Deck appears to work propertly. I can play back and view video via component and video out. Computer sees the deck via firewire with legacy drivers installed.

Here is the issue. HDV Split sees the deck and can control it but video does not show in the preview and any attempts to capture end after a few seconds with the information that the deck is not sending data.

PPro CC2020 sees and can control the deck. However preview is not available but it can always capture anywhere from 1-3 minutes of video and can sometimes capture an entire tape, but not reliably. I'm ready to throw computer, deck and all tapes through the nearest window. It's not like this technology is hundreds of years old. Most of these tapes were recorded about 11 years ago....

Any suggestions on what to try / where to go from here.

[aedipuss]

OK so I couldn't get the camera to work reliably so I bought a used Sony HDV Deck HVR M15U. Deck appears to work propertly. I can play back and view video via component and video out. Computer sees the deck via firewire with legacy drivers installed.

Here is the issue. HDV Split sees the deck and can control it but video does not show in the preview and any attempts to capture end after a few seconds with the information that the deck is not sending data.

PPro CC2020 sees and can control the deck. However preview is not available but it can always capture anywhere from 1-3 minutes of video and can sometimes capture an entire tape, but not reliably. I'm ready to throw computer, deck and all tapes through the nearest window. It's not like this technology is hundreds of years old. Most of these tapes were recorded about 11 years ago....

Any suggestions on what to try / where to go from here.

are you using win8/8.1/10? if so try installing HDVsplit in a non-c:\programxxx folder and make it run as admin. like create a "c:\capture" folder, put the program in there and right click on it, properties/compatibility put a check mark in "run this program as an administrator" click apply/ok. otherwise the program doesn't have enough admin right to write to a hard drive.

[raymoland]

Thanks for the suggestion. Tried it without success. Did get the "Do you want to let HDVSplit make changes" dialogue which I didn't before, but still the same issue with it not capturing.

Ppro captured another tape but will then give up 10 seconds into a tape that is full. So frustratingly inconsistent.

[dellsam34]

Make sure the deck is in HDV mode, read the user manual carefully, I have a similar deck and I can tel you if it is not set properly to HDV you will never get it to playback HDV tapes via firewire, I've already mentioned that in my previous post.

[raymoland]

Thanks Dellsam. Yes I saw that and it is in HDV mode. As I say, PPro captures from it sometimes, just not all the time. When I have 100 tapes or so to capture, the inconsistency is maddening.

[dellsam34]

At this point I will be suspicious about the firewire cable or the computer port, I've had a similar problem before that I fixed by getting a new firewire cable.