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DV Tape capture


Hunter O'Shea

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Hello. I recently purchased a sony dsr 200a video camera. Having shot on mini dv before I am familiar with capturing footage via firewire but unfortunately the port doesn't seem to be working as my editing software doesn't recognize a camera being connected. The camera shoots on dv tapes (the large ones, not mini) and I do not have any other means of transferring the footage onto my computer for editing. I have seen the analog to digital converters but I am concerned about quality loss. Anyone have any experience with this format? 

Thanks!

- Hunter

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Assuming you use Mac/OSX, you should download Vidi to create .mov on your HD. Vidi doesn't stop recording when timecode breaks, like other programs do. But it sounds like you're dealing with analog out from your DV?

I spent a bunch of money and time trying to figure out best way to capture analog (from a VHS source) awhile ago. I settled on Canopus as the most sensible solution. Here are a couple videos I made comparing hardware for capturing VHS. The differences are fairly subtle to a layperson, maybe not so subtle to you. The Canopus beat the top of the (consumer) line JVC VHS deck with IEEE output. 

https://vimeo.com/347814736

https://vimeo.com/347814814

Oh, you're the guy that posted the A-Minima reel awhile ago with home scenes in it. That was awesome. I especially liked the shots of stuff on your dining table...coffee, was it? The time lapse in the car was great, also. That film moved me from wanting an A-Minima to actually buying one. 

Edited by Dennis Toeppen
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The problem with using the analog out of the dsr200 is it only has an s-video output, component would be better. You would notice a step down in quality from firewire. With DV you want to limit any degradation.

Those tiny firewire sockets on cameras break really easily. If it is the port on the camera maybe look at getting a DV deck, they are pretty cheap e.g DSR11. Some of the later hdv/mini dv combi decks have SDI out which is a much more reliable format. 

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