G.,

Actually, as it happens, there is a free downloadable source of detailed information on capturing video with Vegas Video 3, which I think would also be applicable to Vegas 4. You can download a free sample module from the "Digital Video and Audio Production" book as a PDF at:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/Products/NewShowProduct.asp?PID=684

As it happens, this free sample module includes a detailed description of the process of attaching a camcorder to your computer, setting up Vegas for the capture, and actually doing the capture. And it gives you an idea of what the book is like.

If you did choose to purchase the "Digital Video and Audio Production" book for $49.95, it comes with a LOT of extras, including a fully operational Vegas Video 3 Limited Edition and course materials for the book. Of course, the LE version cannot do everything that the full version of Vegas can do, but it can do a LOT, including giving Premiere "a run for the money." And you can do most of the stuff in the book with LE. The books tells you when it describes something beyond Vegas LE's ability.

Sonic Foundry has been offering an attractive upgrade price of $199.95 from the LE version of Vegas 3 to the full Vegas Video 3. Of course we don't know yet where that would put you with respect to an upgrade to Vegas 4. In my opinion, the book and the included software are an incredible bargain as they stand, with or without any successive upgrades.

Incidentally, I like the book, and I am still working my way through it, using my full Vegas Video 3, learning every step of the way, and making notes in the book as I go. I guess I am kind of hard on a book. It is wire bound with full-sized 8.5x11 pages, which makes it easy to handle. I hope they produce a new edition of this book for Vegas 4.

Vegas' good features are explained in the following 5-page review by Charles White:

"Vegas Video 3: Digital Video Editing Hits the Jackpot"

Deras Flynn's review of Vegas Video gives additional information:

"Sonic Foundry Vegas Video 3"

-- Seeker --

Hi -

I have the TRV310, and can say that it (and VV3) are quite able to have long and fruitful conversations with each other. VV3 (using firewire, as I'm sure you know) is able to capture from the 310, and print-to-tape is also flawless. All device-functions are controllable from VV3. No problems at all to report. I have a 1.2Ghz sony laptop with a WD120Gig HD, by the way.

Oh wait, there is one problem with the quality of the images caught by the camera, but I think I've isolated it down to the nut that holds the camera .......

R

Funny, I have the exact same problem with the camera nut :)

Thanks for the response. I have had plenty of experience with camera hookup, control and capture with the 310, a Pinnacle DV200 card, miro DVTools and Adobe Premiere 5.1c. But I have just gotten tired of Premiere's propensity for "illegal operations" first and render speeds second, so have finally decided to upgrade to a new firewire card and VV3.

Just wanted to make sure that VV3 talked the 310's protocol OK. and you and seeker have indeed confirmed that. Thanks folks, I appreciate it. :)

At the risk of sounding like Oliver Twist asking for another bowl of gruel, maybe I can hit you with one final Q? When installing the new firewire card (probably a SIIG, though I am still shopping) should I use the card's driver or pull a driver from the VV3 CD before I install the software?

Thanks again for the help,

G.

Ummmmm, can't really help ya there, I must say. Decisions about messing with drivers and such are a bit over my head. Mine was literally all "Plug-And-Play" and it worked first-time. Perhaps someone else with more computer-savvy can help.

I was fortunate enough to 'luck-into' my current setup. To run my other toys, had to get a laptop that still sported a serial-port (seems most new machines have gotten rid of 'em), so that pretty-much limited me to Sony. Wasn't even thinking about going mobile with editing at the time, but when I moved from the big desktop machine, everything was waiting for me.

I, too, am a happy refugee from the P*nnacle world and all its associated problems (yes, I remember the flood of Illegal-Operations). Even went so far as to have the computer-shop do a complete new WinXP re-install for me when I got hooked-up with VV3, just to be sure I didn't contaminate anything.

"Come To The Light ....."

G.

You may not need to use a "packaged" driver. As I recall, my Win98SE operating system had a driver for my card, which shows up as a Texas Instruments TSB12LV23 OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Controller. But if your card comes with a driver disk, it should be OK to use it. Although check with the manufacturer's website to make sure they haven't posted an updated driver for the card.

Sometimes boxed hardware spends enough time in the warehouse and on the shelves for a new driver version to come out with optimizations, bug fixes, or whatever. So your driver could be obsolete "out of the box." Also, make sure whatever 1394 card you get is OHCI-compliant.

What the chip on the FireWire card does is fairly simple: basically it just streams the data directly from your camcorder to a hard drive file with no real processing. The AVI file just contains the DV data stream. The AVI file format is kind of a "catch all" format, and it can contain all kinds of audio and video data interleaved.

-- Seeker --