Video Capture Always Too Dark

Using a new Canon ZR-500 and a new firewire card and cable, I played my little movie into XP's Movie Maker. Unlike the bright and correct video in the camera, the video shows up on the computer as very dark. At first, I thought the problem was Movie Maker, but I got the same result with two other programs. So, I figured it had to be the cable. Nope. Same dark result with another new DV cable. Playing the video into the TV was perfect, just as in the camera, so the camera and tape did not seem to be the problem. It had to be the common link between camera and computer, I mused ... the firewire card! Alas ... no cigar. Same problem with a new card ... dark video recorded on the computer. So, now, I am completely at a loss. I have no clue. And I can't understand how all these people on MySpace and YouTube can do it so easily ... record a little video with normal brightness and contrast. What am I doing wrong?!

 

How did you save the file? AVI or WMV?

 

Also, have you tried WinDV? It is a free program.

 

I saved it as both, in different programs. Thanks for the WinDV tip.

 

There's a big difference between .avi files and .wmv files. The .avi files are the way to go.

 

Okay. Thank you, again. And ... WHY are AVI files better?

 

They are basically lossless compression when capturig. WMV files are good for Youtube.

 

AVI files are not always better, because AVI is not actually a format but a container that contains video and audio streams. What is important what compression is used.
On miniDV the used compression is DV, so if you capture to DV-AVI (which is what WinDV does and also MovieMaker if you apply the correct settings) the quality of the video file will be exactly the same as the original on tape.
If you capture as wmv, the video is compressed using wmv compression, which has a much higher compression rate as DV-AVI (at least in settings that are commonly used), In generl: thehigher the video compression, the lower the quality.

 

I stand corrected, sort of. I only capture as DV-AVI. That is the comparison that I intended to make. Quality vs junk.

 

Thanks, Gramps. I suppose you can use AVI on YouTube, as well.

 

oh my god!! its like u read my mind. i've been looking for this problem everywhere. i have a samsung dvd camcorder and whenever i play it back on my laptop its so dark compared to what i "thought" i recorded. I called samsung regarding this problem and they told me that when you record something and you change the brightness of the lcd screen, it only changes the brightess of the lcd not the video (stupid). so i asked him how i can see the ACTUAL video on the camcorder and they told me that the most reliable way to look at ur video is throo the viewfinder. If you dont' have a view finder change the lcd screens to their default brightness and they'll give you ur final results.