DV cam corder newbie

[finally]

ok....

i am a dv n00b... need some beginer questions answered

1) a firewire is a capture card for dv cam corders... my manual states that a firewire will not work with my dvcam (sharp vl-pd3) is there a site or resource which can help me... wil a firewire work regardless?

2)what format are the captured files in? mpeg??

3)does capturing require a lot of system performance and does it take long?? i.e hard drive space - cpu etc... i have 35G h/d space free, 1.4Ghz amd with 650Mram

thanks

[christdoss]

1) a firewire is a capture card for dv cam corders... my manual states that a firewire will not work with my dvcam (sharp vl-pd3) is there a site or resource which can help me... wil a firewire work regardless?

ANSWER: If your DV camcorder supports IEEE 1394 then there should be no problem using firewire card. Get proper firewire card for IEEE 1394A. And make sure the i-link cable pin (4 pin to 4 pin or 4 pin to 6 pin). If there is no IEEE 1394 support in your DV camcorder then forget it. You can't capture to PC.

2)what format are the captured files in? mpeg??

ANSWER: Generally it will be in AVI file format. You can convert AVI file into whichever format (like VCD, SVCD, DVD NTSC/PAL) you want by using appropriate software

3)does capturing require a lot of system performance and does it take long?? i.e hard drive space - cpu etc... i have 35G h/d space free, 1.4Ghz amd with 650Mram

ANSWER: Generally the 15 Min of capturing from Camcorder to PC will occupy 3 - 3.5 GB space. So compute your free space availability accordingly.


Hope this helps.

[Cooly-O]

1) ... my manual states that a firewire will not work with my dvcam

What kind of Video Out does your camera have?

[jtor]

1) a firewire is a capture card for dv cam corders... my manual states that a firewire will not work with my dvcam (sharp vl-pd3) is there a site or resource which can help me... wil a firewire work regardless?

I did some checking, and this model has DV-IN/OUT. So you should be able to use a firewire card. Firewire comes in different names (firewire, ilink, IEEEE1394), but they are all the same.

Unless the doc that I saw is not telling the truth, and indeed firewire won't work, your other option is to use an analog capture device/card, connected to the camcorder's analog outputs (which defeats the 'nice' things about a dvcamcorder).

2)what format are the captured files in? mpeg??

Firewire-transferred files are in DV-AVI format...basically. Resolution of 720x480 (NTSC). I thought there are cards that'll let you do straight MPEG, but I may be wrong. It will be a whole lot easier if you plan on adding 'fancy' stuff to your video (transitions, titles, sp effects, etc) if done on AVI.

3)does capturing require a lot of system performance and does it take long?? i.e hard drive space - cpu etc... i have 35G h/d space free, 1.4Ghz amd with 650Mram

You'll need a lot of disk space. DV AVI runs at around 3.6MB/sec, so 1hr is about 13GB. That's for raw transferred files. If you're going to add fancy stuff, you'll need about the same space to render the video (unless you'll do frameserving). CPU power is considered in the encoding stage (if you plan to convert your AVI to MPEG1/2).

[foobarley]

3)does capturing require a lot of system performance and does it take long?? i.e hard drive space - cpu etc... i have 35G h/d space free, 1.4Ghz amd with 650Mram

Your system must be able to sustain 3.6 MB/s throughput, not difficult for a system of your spec, just make sure DMA is enabled on your drive. One hour of DV will occupy approx 13 GB of your HDD. It is a real time operation: one hour of video will take one hour to 'capture'.

[christdoss]

I agree. If you want you can capture directly to mpeg by using Firewire card. I'm using Ulead Videostudio software which has that option and I use Firewire card manufactured by SIIG Inc it supports.

[finally]

ok thanks for all your help guys.....


i gonna look into purchasing a capture card and give it a go


once again THANKS!!

[BackupNewbie]

wow!! you guys answer that very well. i have been searching for that answer for months now. ok few questions what is the best programs out there to convert avi (from mini dv) to mpeg2 (for dvd burning) and which software is the best for adding motions manual for the final touch?

thanks in advance

[christdoss]

Try Ulead products such as Ulead VideoStudio for Capturing, Editing and rendering. For burning you can use VCDEASY new version or Ulead DVD MovieFactory. I used both, and on both I'm getting very good quality.