Capturing dv video

peter-ilyk wrote on 4/18/2025, 12:08 AM

I know that Vegas Pro 22 no longer supports capture of DV video from a DV camera. But I also still have Vegas Pro 19 and 18 - and they do support capture from a DV camera using firewire. I successfully captured some DV footage from my DV camera a couple of weeks ago. However, when I tried to capture DV footage today (trying both Vegs Pro 19 and 18), I was unable to do so as the software did not "see" my DV camera. Attached is a screen shot of what I get when I go to "File" and click "Vegas capture". Not sure what is going on, but does anyone have an explanation why I now can't capture DV footage from my DV camera using Vegas Pro 19 or 18 (which I could do a couple of weeks ago).

Comments

johnny-s wrote on 4/18/2025, 5:36 AM

I run the VP VidCapture app “outside” of VP, as standalone. Sometimes the capture window doesn’t display the tape content, this is usually fixed by unplugging and replugging the firewire connection.

In the Vegas capture software, under options/preferences disable/un-check “Enable DV device control “.

Some useful links …

https://www.aaproductions.net/dvtransfer.htm#xl_HeadingAnchor:58wwmu6

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/support/article/how-to-import-videos-from-a-dv-camera--97/

Firewire cards article    … https://nerdtechy.com/best-pcie-firewire-card

“TEXAS INSTRUMENTS XIO2200A CHIPSET WITH ADDITIONNAL POWER PLUG FOR A RELIABLE FIREWIRE SIGNAL”.

An article on getting and installing the “Legacy” firewire driver ...

https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/Firewire-1.htm

This article says you don’t need the TI driver if using Win 11, this user says you do need the TI driver in Win 11. https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/scenalyzer-live-and-windows-11--138151/

Some Panasonic camcorders can do without firewire altogether and transfer the DV tape file via USB.

The “Sceneanslyzer” free app can be used in place of the vp app.

Scenanalyzer info …

http://aaproductions.net/scenalyzer.htm

Copying over USB etc …

https://www.aaproductions.net/dvtransfer.htm#xl_HeadingAnchor:58wwmu6

UVC Protocol etc …

https://www.supertekmodule.com/introduction-to-uvc-camera-usb-video-bus-camera-for-beginner/

Put camcorder in Play mode.

Select USB Function ->> Motion DV

These Panasoniv DV camcorders can transfer video over usb but confirm in user manual.

NV-GS25

NV-GS35 + PV version

NV-GS75 + PV version

NV-GS150 + PV version

NV-GS180 + PV version

NV-GS230 + PV version

NV-GS250 + PV version

NV-GS300 + PV version

NV-GS320 + PV version .. verified

NV-GS330 + PV version

NV-GS400 + PV version .. verified

NV-GS500 + PV version .. verified

These Panasonic models cannot transfer video over usb.

They only have USB 2.0 Full Speed.

NV-GS25 + PV version

NV-GS60 + PV version

NV-GS120 + PV version

NV-GS200 + PV version

Last changed by johnny-s on 4/18/2025, 5:53 AM, changed a total of 2 times.

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jetdv wrote on 4/18/2025, 11:38 AM

Try Scenalyzer Live...

http://www.scenalyzer.com/

Steve_Rhoden wrote on 4/19/2025, 5:50 PM

I highly recommend WinDV http://windv.mourek.cz/ Its what i used back in the day for all my DV captures. 100% reliable with not a single dropped frame in sight.

peter-ilyk wrote on 4/19/2025, 8:51 PM

Thank you for all the replies. I have since found a version of Vegas Pro 15 that I still have on my computer and it allows me to capture DV footage from my DV camera without any problems - so problem solved. Pity they didn't keep this with later version of Vegas Pro.

Steve_Rhoden wrote on 4/20/2025, 3:31 AM

@peter-ilyk It makes absolutely no sense keeping it. DV tape usage and DV capturing are long outdated and rarely used by anyone anymore in this digital age. Digital acquisition is far more reliable.... One example.... When capturing from tape, you have to be sitting & waiting during real time playback for it to be captured, while its just a simple drag and drop for digital.

peter-ilyk wrote on 4/20/2025, 9:07 PM

Well I'm not sure that is correct. DV may be outdated but there are lots of people out there (including me) that have lots of DV tapes that they haven't yet transferred to their computers - everything that's a bit old doesn't mean that it is useless. Why should Vegas Pro users have to go looking around for other software (or hardware) to transfer their DV tapes to their computers - when Vegas used to provide this facility and now don't.

VEGASDerek wrote on 4/20/2025, 9:26 PM

Well I'm not sure that is correct. DV may be outdated but there are lots of people out there (including me) that have lots of DV tapes that they haven't yet transferred to their computers - everything that's a bit old doesn't mean that it is useless. Why should Vegas Pro users have to go looking around for other software (or hardware) to transfer their DV tapes to their computers - when Vegas used to provide this facility and now don't.

Nothing is preventing anyone from using their older version of Vegas Pro VidCap to support older hardware and capture media. Old software for old hardware. We had limited engineering resources to support an increasingly unused feature and we needed to make some trade-offs. VidCap was becoming more and more problematic for users and was a support nightmare. Our focus right now is on creating a new capture utility that is appropriate for common current capture workflows.

Steve_Rhoden wrote on 4/20/2025, 11:22 PM

@peter-ilyk Whether you think i am correct or not, DV tapes are old technology that is rarely used and its counterpart ieee firewire connection also follows the same dated path. So you cannot now blame Vegas for that, when we already clearly pointed out to you alternatives that you can easily use, plus you can use your older Vegas versions.

peter-ilyk wrote on 4/21/2025, 1:11 AM

Fair enough - but no one is saying that DV is not old technology -just that lots of people will still have lots of DV tapes that they haven't uploaded to their computers. And not everyone has kept their older Vegas versions (if they ever had the older version that supported DV capture).

RogerS wrote on 4/21/2025, 1:18 AM

You can still download old versions of VEGAS from your account if needed.

3POINT wrote on 4/21/2025, 1:29 AM

I have the same opinion as @VEGASDerek and @Steve_Rhoden. When you still want to do old (20 years ago) stuff like capturing DV's (and burning DVD's) then keep also the old hardware (DVcamera, computer with firewire connection and DVD drive) and the old software to do so. Do not expect that new software and new hardware is still developed to be able to do this. NEW cameras also do not record DV, why should NEW computers and NEW software then be able to capture DV?

peter-ilyk wrote on 4/21/2025, 1:48 AM

I have the same opinion as @VEGASDerek and @Steve_Rhoden. When you still want to do old (20 years ago) stuff like capturing DV's (and burning DVD's) then keep also the old hardware (DVcamera, computer with firewire connection and DVD drive) and the old software to do so. Do not expect that new software and new hardware is still developed to be able to do this. NEW cameras also do not record DV, why should NEW computers and NEW software then be able to capture DV?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I don't agree with you, @VEGASDerek or @Steve_Rhoden. My opinion is just as valid as yours.

3POINT wrote on 4/21/2025, 1:55 AM

@peter-ilyk I don't have a problem with your opinion. When you still want to do old stuff then it's just wise to keep your old stuff.

peter-ilyk wrote on 4/21/2025, 1:59 AM

I do! And if you read my earlier posts (thanking everyone for their suggestions) you would have seen that I found my old version of Vegas Pro 15 and that enabled me to upload my DV footage as I had previously been able to do in days gone by.

3POINT wrote on 4/21/2025, 2:05 AM

@peter-ilyk you're lucky that Vegas Pro 15 was still able to capture DV. The days that I captured DV it was Vegas 5.

Last changed by 3POINT on 4/21/2025, 2:12 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

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johnny-s wrote on 4/21/2025, 3:57 AM

Our focus right now is on creating a new capture utility that is appropriate for common current capture workflows.

@VEGASDerek interesting! Will this still capture/transfer older tapes?

Last changed by johnny-s on 4/21/2025, 4:22 AM, changed a total of 3 times.

PC 1:

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AMD Radeon XFX RX 7900 XT

Intel UHD 630

Win 10

PC 2:

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Intel A770 GPU

Win 11

 

Laptop:

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Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU

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RogerS wrote on 4/21/2025, 4:02 AM

I assume current capture workflows mean digital screen captures.

3POINT wrote on 4/21/2025, 6:09 AM

Our focus right now is on creating a new capture utility that is appropriate for common current capture workflows.

@VEGASDerek interesting! Will this still capture/transfer older tapes?

For DV capturing you need also the appropriate hardware, means your PC should have a firewire connection. To my knowledge this connection is no longer supported and no longer standard present since over an decade in new PC's. Means also, when you expect to be able to capture/transfer DV with future Vegas capture utilities, that new versions of Vegas must be able to work also on older PC's with older OS, like Win7...I don't think that Magix Creative Software is developing that way... @VEGASDerek said explicit for common CURRENT capture workflows, which I also, like @RogerS, understand is for digital screen captures...

Dexcon wrote on 4/21/2025, 7:00 AM

Though I haven't done it for a while, but if I want to transfer MiniDV video to a computer, I drag out a now 22 years old Dell 8300 Dimension computer (Windows XP) which has a Firewire card installed. This is also the process if I want to transfer video from a S-VHS VCR because the MiniDV camera has an S-Video input on it. The NLE used to do the Firewire transfer is a now ancient ULead VideoStudio NLE. I suppose that I could move the Firewire card to a more modern 14 years old computer and do the Firewire transfer via an old Sony Vegas Pro version.

BTW, I have a lot of audio cassettes from the 70s and 80s as well as a lot of CDs from the 80s +, but my now 5 years old car bought new at the time of purchase did not come with either an audio cassette player or a CD player - one-or-the-other used to be included in cars in times past.

Also, my several years old Yamaha Aventage amplifier does not have any S-Video connections and only one composite output which is used to connect to an old computer monitor purely to display the amplifier's menu settings. Much older Yamaha amplifiers used to include S-Video connectors with almost every input.

Times change and tech of all sorts drop old features when those features lose relevance/use with the majority of users.

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VEGASDerek wrote on 4/22/2025, 8:31 AM

@VEGASDerek interesting! Will this still capture/transfer older tapes?

No. Old hardware requires old software (and an old operating system which we no longer support).

johnny-s wrote on 4/22/2025, 9:37 AM

Thanks for clarification.

PC 1:

Intel i9-9900K

32 GB Ram

AMD Radeon XFX RX 7900 XT

Intel UHD 630

Win 10

PC 2:

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16 core CPU

64 GB Ram

Nvidia 4090 GPU

Intel A770 GPU

Win 11

 

Laptop:

Intel 11th. Gen 8 core CPU. i9-11900K

64 GB Ram

Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU

Win 10