Direct recording question

[hetzbh]

Hi,

I'm recording many lectures, but I have to record them to tape, import them, edit them and then burn them to DVD. I was wonder if VS 11 (or any other version) could let me capture directly from my MiniDV based camera (Sony DCR HC24E) to VS11 and avoid using tapes? is it possible?

I thought using a program like OnLocation CS3 (previously known as DV Rack), but it's biggest problem that you cannot select different device to record from at once (for example: Mic connected to a computer while video feed comes from MiniDV based camera which is connected through firewire).

Can VS 11 (or any other ULead/Corel product) can help me achive this goal?

Thanks,
Hetz

[BrianCee]

I still use V10 and I can connect my camcorder to my PC by firewire and just switch the camera on in 'camera' mode and without pressing any buttons or having a tape in the camcorder I can record 'live' video in VideoStudio.

Since I can also do the same with my old VHS camera using the RCA connections and a TV capture card I presume you could also use the AV out of a digital camea - if picture quality was still acceptable.

The only thing you may have to do is to find out how to over-ride the automatic camera switch off to prevent the camcorder shutting down if it thinks you are not using it.

[hetzbh]

Thank you for your replying Brian..

But perhaps I didn't explain myself well..

If I wanted to record just from my MiniDV cam directly to my PC, I could have used a tiny free program like WinDV. It does a great job,

But what I'm looking is to record from 2 sources: Video from the MiniDV cam, and Audio from the sound card (since this cam doesn't have any line-in or Mic-in and I don't want to use the Cam's built-in mic, it gets all the noises around).

Thanks,
Hetz

[Clevo]

Thank you for your replying Brian..

But perhaps I didn't explain myself well..

If I wanted to record just from my MiniDV cam directly to my PC, I could have used a tiny free program like WinDV. It does a great job,

But what I'm looking is to record from 2 sources: Video from the MiniDV cam, and Audio from the sound card (since this cam doesn't have any line-in or Mic-in and I don't want to use the Cam's built-in mic, it gets all the noises around).

Thanks,
Hetz

I'm not sure I follow...

Is that two sources at the same time?

[hetzbh]

I want to record the video feed from the MiniDV cam and the Audio from the microphone which is connected on my Thinkpad - all at once.

VirtualDub, for example, let you do that. On their "Capture" menu, there's "Device" which you select your video source, and then in the 'Audio" menu in the lower part, you select the audio device. Thats what I'm looking for in VS..

Thanks,
Hetz

[DVDDoug]

You are right... You do need to get the microphone close to the speaker. But, if these lectures are important, I wouldn't trust a computer!

You are adding more "links to the chain", and there is lots of potential for things to go wrong with the computer or the software-settings. Minor computer problems are not such a big deal when you are capturing from a tape, but there is no 2nd chance if something goes wrong during a lecture.

You might look for a different camera with a microphone input jack. And, you might want to get a wireless mic, if the microphone cable running to the camera is a problem.

...You might even be able to plug-into the house PA system.

Or, you might be able to record the audio to the computer separately, and sync the audio & video together later. It shouldn't be too hard to sync the two audio tracks in the beginning, but they might drift apart. Soundcards/soundchips sometimes have inaccurate clocks... If they drift out of sync, it might be very time consuming to fix it. (In this case, you would have backup audio from the camera's mic, if anything goes wrong with the computer.)