Hi
You said
P-Menu>Menu>USB-PLY/EDT> USB Stream or STD-USB or Pictbridge (I do select USB stream)
I do not think you should be selecting USB Stream when connecting via firewire.
What other options do you have?
Trevor
Capture properties forced by source? (vs8)
Moderator: Ken Berry
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Ken Berry
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Banji -- I happen to have a Sony DCR-TRV480E too, which I bought in order to be able to play my 8mm analogue tapes back over firewire to capture on my computer. I have NEVER before tried hooking up a VCR to either that camera or the TV/capture card on my computer. So I decided to try. I just so happen to have disconnected a fairly simple LGFC930W VCR from my lounge room, so this was relatively easy. It is about 2 years old and has stereo audio.
Anyway, with the camera off, I first connected the firewire cable into the 4 pin plug on the camera with the other end already plugged into the computer. I did NOT have a tape in the camera.
I then took my RCA-to-AV cable which came with the camera (yellow/red/white RCA plugs one end, and black stereo plug at the other end). I plugged the RCA cables into the yellow/white/red Video OUT plugs on the back of the VCR and then the stereo plug into the AV plug of the TRV-480. I then started the camera, adjusting it down to PLAY/EDIT mode. I then went into the menu and enabled DV-AV OUT. I made no other adjustments in the camera Menu.
In the mean time, Windows XP Pro SP2 recognised that the camera was connected, and as it usually does, asked me what I wanted to do with it. This included 'Capture video with Video Studio 9" plus Movie Maker, plus Nero, plus Movie Factory 5, plus Workshop 2. (I found this curious as it did not mention VS10 which I also have installed.) Anyway, I said for it to do nothing, and manually opened VS10+ and went to the Capture > Capture Video tab. The program took a few seconds, but then recognised the camera: "Source -- Sony MSDV', and the format for capture defaulted to DV. At that stage the camera LCD and the VS10+ preview screen were both showing as blank, deep blue.
I then started the VCR, using a tape I had recently recorded of a TV program. A moving video image appeared in the camera LCD and on the VS10+ preview screen as well. I pressed the Capture button in VS10+, and capture started. I captured a few minutes, stopped the VCR and VS10, and fast forwarded the tape in the VCR, then captured another sequence. Both captured clips play back perfectly with audio and video in VS10+. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the quality is -- better than direct DVD-compliant mpeg-2 captures using my TV capture card, which I was already pretty happy with!
Anyway, for what it is worth, the properties of the captured video was as follows:
Microsoft AVI Files - Open DML
Frame Rate 25 frames/second (I live in a PAL country)
Data Rate 3515.63 kbps
DV Encoder Type 1
24 bits, 720 x 576, 4:3
DV Audio - PAL
48,000 kHz 16 bit stereo.
(It is also Lower Field First)
So, as you can see, I had absolutely no trouble in connecting the VCR to the camera and using the latter as a pass-through. And I repeat that this was the very first time I have ever done this.
I am thus unable to offer any specific advice as to what you may be doing wrong -- except perhaps the USB setting you played with and which Trevor has already mentioned. Apart from that, the only thing I can think of is that perhaps your RCA/AV cable may be defective. I am assuming that the VCR can connect to a TV via RCA cables and plays correctly over the video channel?
Anyway, with the camera off, I first connected the firewire cable into the 4 pin plug on the camera with the other end already plugged into the computer. I did NOT have a tape in the camera.
I then took my RCA-to-AV cable which came with the camera (yellow/red/white RCA plugs one end, and black stereo plug at the other end). I plugged the RCA cables into the yellow/white/red Video OUT plugs on the back of the VCR and then the stereo plug into the AV plug of the TRV-480. I then started the camera, adjusting it down to PLAY/EDIT mode. I then went into the menu and enabled DV-AV OUT. I made no other adjustments in the camera Menu.
In the mean time, Windows XP Pro SP2 recognised that the camera was connected, and as it usually does, asked me what I wanted to do with it. This included 'Capture video with Video Studio 9" plus Movie Maker, plus Nero, plus Movie Factory 5, plus Workshop 2. (I found this curious as it did not mention VS10 which I also have installed.) Anyway, I said for it to do nothing, and manually opened VS10+ and went to the Capture > Capture Video tab. The program took a few seconds, but then recognised the camera: "Source -- Sony MSDV', and the format for capture defaulted to DV. At that stage the camera LCD and the VS10+ preview screen were both showing as blank, deep blue.
I then started the VCR, using a tape I had recently recorded of a TV program. A moving video image appeared in the camera LCD and on the VS10+ preview screen as well. I pressed the Capture button in VS10+, and capture started. I captured a few minutes, stopped the VCR and VS10, and fast forwarded the tape in the VCR, then captured another sequence. Both captured clips play back perfectly with audio and video in VS10+. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the quality is -- better than direct DVD-compliant mpeg-2 captures using my TV capture card, which I was already pretty happy with!
Anyway, for what it is worth, the properties of the captured video was as follows:
Microsoft AVI Files - Open DML
Frame Rate 25 frames/second (I live in a PAL country)
Data Rate 3515.63 kbps
DV Encoder Type 1
24 bits, 720 x 576, 4:3
DV Audio - PAL
48,000 kHz 16 bit stereo.
(It is also Lower Field First)
So, as you can see, I had absolutely no trouble in connecting the VCR to the camera and using the latter as a pass-through. And I repeat that this was the very first time I have ever done this.
I am thus unable to offer any specific advice as to what you may be doing wrong -- except perhaps the USB setting you played with and which Trevor has already mentioned. Apart from that, the only thing I can think of is that perhaps your RCA/AV cable may be defective. I am assuming that the VCR can connect to a TV via RCA cables and plays correctly over the video channel?
Ken Berry