Capture DV, DVCAM, DVPRO or miniDV

[jfmartins]

Hi guys need help on a subject that a friend of mine has some tapes in DV , DVCAM and some DVPRO (wich i had to read some to understand the diferences) and we doesn´t have a camcorder for those tapes - they were from his father - so i can´t capture those tapes to my Pc . Can you advise some hardware i can get to read those kind of tapes so i can put them on my pc and then to DVD?
Thansk for the help
Fernando

[kitty]

You might rent the appropriate gear to record the output to your computer or try a duplication/conversion service to do it professionally. It's gonna cost some money either way.

[jfmartins]

Hi, Thks for the reply !
I live in Portugal and renting isnt an option cause i live in Portugal and no one - for now - rents this equipment for a reasnable price and they refuse to do the conversion (????)
Can you help on were to search the best hardware for this job??i know it will cost me some bucks but i got to know how it can be done.
Thanks

[Biodroid]

Ok if you have an available PCI slot you can install a Firewire or IEEE 1394 card on your PC. Your camera have an slot with the Ilink logo maybe or IEEE1394 because of the DV format. The Firewire card is a new standard to retreive realtime video from a supported camera every DV camera supports Firewire and some Digital 8. When you hook your camera on the PC instantly windows will ask you what type of program you want to use.

You can find those cards with a cable included for 40.00 on the streets beware of Sears or some other shops they sell the cable only for 59.99 and do the same thing.

P.D.
you must have a newer PC to tranfer the data fine (Video and Audio) another thing your HardDrive must be an ATA 100 compliant and use FAT32 because there is some problems with NTFS.

Saludos, desde Puerto Rico

[jfmartins]

Thks for the reply but forgot to say that i have a Matrox Rt2500 and i´m using Win2000 with 2 80gb HD and until now no problemo with NTFS so i dont realy get what problem you are mentioning but my Digital8 cant read those tapes (DVPRO or DV or DVCAM) so guys please give me a little hand on this one?thanks

[yg1968]

Buying the equipment would be too expensive. A miniDV camcorder is somewhat affordable. I personally like the Sony TRV-18 or TRV-25. However, this will not help you for your DVPRO or DVCAM tapes. These camcorders are very expensive.

Perhaps you should have this done by a company in the U.S.
I have no suggestions as to which company does this as I have no experience converting DVPRO or DVcam to DVD.

For some background information on the subject, see the following link:

http://www.adamwilt.com/DV-FAQ-tech.html#DV%20formats

[fingernailX]

We do this all the time in my department at a college. A Sony DSR20 (about $3k US) will play minidv, dv and dvcam out over firewire. If I need to capture something at home where I only have a minidv camcorder that was shot on DVCAM, I connect a Canon XL 1 via firewire to the DSR 20 and record on the XL1 to minidv that way (no loss or < 1%). I use my consumer camcorder at home (also a Canon) to capture to HD and edit/encode to my hearts content.

[jfmartins]

8) Thanks for the info.I will check if that sony is available at Portugal so i can Rob a bank and purchase it
BTW do you know some magazines or sites where i can compare other mothels/Brands to that Sony?
Thanks again for the help.

[yg1968]

My guess is that DVCPRO will not be read by the Sony DSR20 given that DVCPRO is a format invented by Panasonic.

[fingernailX]

yg1968

You are correct. The DSR20 will not play the DVCPro. You would need to bump it down to minidv from the camcorder that shot it or another DVCPro deck. Thank god once captured, the dv.avi doesn't care what flavor it started out as.

[jfmartins]

Once Again The Forum Standed for his marks! Thanks for the help on this questions:I´ve realised that i must rob not one but two World Banks or invite Mr George Bush for dinner so i can try a fund on my new hardware
Thanks
BTW if anyone is wiling to sell 2nd handed vcr for those tapes in good condition send me some lines by email.

[ronbo613]

Hello-There has got to be a company in Lisbon that can convert those tapes into a format you can use. Call a TV station and ask one of their technicians. Ron B