I connect my Sony DCR-TVR140 NTSC through the firewire port, but I suppose it's the same instructions.

Plug the camera in via firewire or USB. Turn the camera on to "VCR". All the rest of the controls are done through Movie Studio.

On the main screen, under the Media Pool tab, the second icon from the left is a picture of a little video camera. Click on that. The "Video Capture" screen will open up on top of the main screen.

Click on the top, under "Video" and make sure that "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR" has a bullet beside it.

Under the [Capture Video] button to the right and under the preview screen is an "arrow". Click on that. That will start the camera playing. Immediately click on the [capture Video] button above it - now you are capturing video from the camera. Hit the square [Stop] button when you are finished.

This will put the captured video clip onto the main page of Movie Studio, where you can drag it from the Media Pool to the timeline.

Welcome to the forum, Monsta!

I don't have much of an answer here, but some points that someone else might be able to answer. (and let me know if I am wrong)

Capturing via USB-1 is not recomended (not enough bandwidth). I looked at your camera at the Sony site, and it looks like it is USB-2 capable, so you may not loose any quality capturing that way.

Your camera records to a DVD disk, right?

My questions are:

1. DVD's are MPEG-2, right? So if you capture via USB-2 the file is still MPEG-2?

2. If Monsta were to capture via firewire, will the file be converted to DV-AVI, which is better for editing over MPEG, right?

3. Can you just drop that DVD in the computer and place the file on the timeline? (But then again I think you are editing with MPEG).


Monsta, IMO you are best capturing via firewire. You will need a firewire card, and cable. Cost is around $40USD and up. (You can even find them at Wal-mart).

Hope this helps.

Jon

According to the specs I've seen, the DCR-DVD300 NTSC doesn't have a firewire connection.

Ian G.

This is where I got my information:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=A1cNPfx_U0ANZ8PPwgUHNrNuzCKJeNSWcuc=?CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_DVDHandycamCamcorders&Dept=dcc&TemplateName=item%2fsy_item_b&ProductSKU=DCRDVD300KITB&ContentItemPage=

(Sorry for such a long link....someday I'll learn how to do clickable links)

That's the one:- i.LINK® Interface (IEEE1394): N/A

The format wouldn't be converted on the fly - you'd have to do that after the video was on hd. Either way, the quality's going to suffer - there's not enough information left in the video stream to allow the sort of editing MS is capable of.

Ian G.

I have to ask the same (naive) question as Stiffler:

Why try to import the video through a capture device if it's already on DVD?

Can't you just drop the DVD into your computer and copy it from there?

(Am I wrong in assuming that's the whole advantage of using DVD as your camcorder's medium?)

There is another thread about this same camera going on in the Vegas forum. The problem with using the files straight from the DVD is that the audio is AC3 encoded and there isn't any good way to get this to open up in Vegas or Movie Studio. Sadly, the camera doesn't have any option for recording the audio as MPEG.

Basically this camera is intended for shooting finished discs in the camera only. It was never intended to be a source of files for editing.

IanG, thanks for correcting me...I just saw i.link, and I ASSumed it had the firewire port.

Thanks for clearing things up, Chienworks (I know there is a thread on this, but I didn't look too deep in the forum).

...but I still have a couple of questions....

You say the audio is AC3 encoded from Monsta's camera (DCR-DVD300 NTSC)? Does this camcorder really record in AC3?

I don't understand what you mean when you say...'the camera doesn't have any option for recording the audio as MPEG'.

If it recording to DVD, what format is it in (audio and video)?

Thanks, Kelly.
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Monsta, read Chienworks last line....

So... can you still exchange this camera for something that will be better for editing your videos like a DV, or a DIgital 8 camcorder? IMO recording to DVD is fine IF, you don't need to edit your videos.

Thanks,

Jon

Yes, the camera really does encode the audio to AC3 before writing to the disc. This means
that the disc is in standard DVD format with .VOB files containing AC3 audio. This is different
from a standard MPEG file which contains the audio in MP3 format. MPEG files can be opened
and used on the timeline, though editing them is a bear. VOB files need to be "ripped" into either
MPEG or AVI format before they can be used. There are some tools available to do this ripping
but most of them are legally questionable due to copyright concerns. However, if you're using
them to convert your own family videos then i can't see how the software itself could be illegal.

>Does this camcorder really record in AC3?

There isn't much choice. For an NTSC DVD the only supported formats are AC3 and PCM (WAV).

Ian G.

What do you guys suggest that I do about the audio. I can't get any vidoes to have audio in MS. This is killing me!