How do I capture? is a DV cam or not?

More confused then before.

1) I have an 5 year old Canon ZR Mini DV recorder. With it I have a docking station that offers V/A and S plug. No USB or Fire Wire. It does a have a mini DV terminal connection to connect it to another DV cameras for recording/playback. I tried NVE 3, Virtual Dub, Win DVD Creator, Win DV and I did try as my last attempt fire wire, but no go, not even close, my OS does not even recognize the camera. Can you advise how I can capture these videos onto my DVD's, later I will try to incorporate those video clips into my dvd slide shows. Each tape is no longer then 35/45 minutes.
2) Capture my VCR tapes to DVD's, that should be fun!!. I can't wait for that high blood pressure.

Build in 2004
Win XP Pro SP1
40G HD
AMD Processor 1666
Asus A7V8X-X Motherboard
VGA Card: AG200T8-D64 with Xarbe 200 CPU
Belkin 3 port Fire Wire PCI

Thanks,

Chris

 

Get a capture card with S-video in. Plug in the cam, and use whatever software came with the card to capture.
Hauppauge PVR-250 would be a good choice here.

 

Thanks,
I just got done talking to Cannon people, tech tells me fire wire will work I just need a capture card, he also said something about OHCI to be used with that camera, do you know what that is?.

 

Open Host Controller Interface. (Google it).
Firewire will work if you have a capture card with firewire on it. They're quite expensive, and not worth it. You can capture using S-video, direct from the cam to your computer. All you need is a cap card with S-vid on it (as I recommended above).
With S-vid, you don't need to worry about OHCI either.

 

Thanks for your help,
if not in stock, is there any other quality capture card I can ourchase.

Chris

 

All you need as an open PCI slot. Check This link out.
http://www.newegg.com/app/SearchProductResult.asp?DEPA=0 Someon mentioned there to expensive well there any where from 9.50 to 50 bucks. It does not have to be capture card with firewire on it. Sounds like you already have some capture software all you need is a PCI firewire card, I've used these and they work fine.

Good Luck

Spacedust

 

I did purchase and installed a Belkin fire wire card, but my camera was not even recognized, I did try several small capture programs but no go. Would I need some kind of drivers or codes.

 

Yes, you need the firewire drivers for your OS, and you need the camera drivers, which Canon should provide, so your computer knows it's a camera on the other end of the wire. This is where OHCI comes in to it, and it sounds like a ton of work, and crap, and I would be back on the phone to Canon to get some support to set it up. If they're not willing, grab a capture card with S-vid and go. It's going to be a lot less painful.
There are a ton of capture cards, but only a few than have HARDWARE mpeg-2 encoding. You can get at $20 capture card, but you'll probalby only capture at a low resolution avi, and possibly lose quality.
The avi will then have to be encoded to mpeg-2 properly, adding between 2 and 40 hours of time, depending on the encoder used and the quality you want, and the running time of the capture.
It will then have to be authored and burned to dvdr.
With a hardware mpeg-2 encoder capture card, you're saving between 2 and 40 hours of work. The mpeg-2 capture will be ready to author and burn.

 

The Tech at Connon said no way, no drivers, all I need is Fire Wire port and capture software, I asked him what kind of software will support this DV camera, he did not know but is willing to work wth me.

I will pick 2 capture cards tonight and will see what will happen.

Thanks
Chris

 

If your camera doesn't have firewire, how is this supposed to be accomplished?
Am I the only one confused here?
Then you're going to pick a capture card...um...why?
If firewire will work, you don't need a card.
If firewire won't (I still don't see how a cam with no firewire out will work with firewire in), then you are going to use composite or S-video in. So you'll need a card.
Every capture card comes with some software to capture with.
WinDV is a nice DV cam capture software, and it's free.

 

This is what Canon tech told me before: "It does a have a mini DV terminal connection to connect it to another DV cameras for recording/playback"
Another tech tonight told me I could use fire wire, I did try and lets just say it was a small step forward. I was able to capture with Nero 6, Windvd, Windows, DVIO, the quality was very poor, color spots flickring all over the place. WinDVD was the same + the video was jumping all over. Did not try VirtualDub as it looks to be over my head. I am still considering to purchase a capture card, or should I?
I want to know what is next and cleaup the video.

Thanks to all for youe input

Chris

 

Get VirtualVCR, based on virtualdub's capturing bits.
It's very simple to set up, free.
Good guide on the site too.
http://virtualvcr.sourceforge.net/
This is probably your best option: http://windv.mourek.cz/

The nice thing about a cap card, is you can watch and record live TV, cap from your cam, a VCR, or anything that has s-video or composite (RCA) outputs (even audio from a CD player).

 

I will get that Vvcr and try it, I just don't get it, same poor quality reults using 4 diffrent applications. I thought it was just about trnsfering DV to a puter. I think I will also pick that Capture Card.

I will post later

Chris

 

I did load the Virtual VCR and got an error message 800040005, and was unable to see anything, I did try few diffrent setting but being new to all this and being midnight who knows what the hell I did. OS is recognizing my Canon ZR. If it is already in a digital format then all I have to do is trnsfer, yes? So why such poor quality in my preview windows and playback when possible. Could it be also my fire wire or a new Belkin PCI card?

Thaks for staying with me on this one,

Chris

 

If you're getting anything on the computer, then the cam and card are working.
Try WinDV, as it's designed specifically for cap from DV cam.
The problem is that most software doesn't recognize firewire as a legit input. The software is looking for S-video, Composite, or TV Tuner input.
Can Canon not recommend some firewire DV software that will work? (Sorry, sounds like shoddy support from Canon on this)...
Let's go back to Nero for a minute.
Nerovision Express should capture, but we need to definitely change some settings to get good results.
Can you get to this screen, and make the settings the same as shown?

 

Only template is available to me with DVD and DV??

 

DV is fine. It will take more work, but the quality will be there. DVD would be better.
Set bitrate as high as it will go (at least 8000kbps) or Quality setting of HQ, set aspect to 720x480.
DO NOT touch the computer during capture.
Turn off screen savers.
Turn off anti-virus.
Turn off system restore.
Make sure you have LOTS of room on the capture hard drive. I mean 100 gig or more if possible. A 40 gig hard drive just won't do, as you won't be able to capture more than a few minutes.

 

Sorry maybe I was not clear, on that sreen the only thing that I channge it the template. I am unable to get into Qaulity, Bit Rate and Resolution.

By getting a Cap card or something on that order, would that make things easier since I am just transfering DV and a good card could incode it or the software could.

 

A good hardware card would make things much easier.
You could then choose bitrate, and all sorts of quality settings, as well as watch, and capture live TV, VHS tapes, audio cassettes, whatever.
Again, I recommend the Hauppauge PVR-250 as a wise investment if you plan to capture lots of stuff.
A soft card that uses software to encode will add significant time to your projects. Anywhere between 2 and 40 hours per 2 hours of capture. You will also have to have a very fast computer, and should have a second hard drive to capture to.
With a hardware card, you can capture on any old 486 even.
I know there are other hardware cards around, but I cannot recommend any that will match the performance of the Hauppauge.
There's a couple of them on ebay right now, going for about $50 US.

 

No stock on pvr's 250 in any stores in the area, it will take me few day's + to get one, all they have is a PVR 250 usb,I hate when that happens. I hope you don't mind me picking on your tech base.

With PVR 250 I wil no longer need a bigger HD, yes?
Any other software suports that card?
What software do you use?
This is a wrong place for it, but, how do you capture a screen shoot, like the one you sent me.

I will back when my card gets here, I am sure.

Thanks,

Chris