Video input

Knothead wrote on 12/17/2006, 11:59 AM

Hi, I am new to this program and trying to learn more about it. I was wanting to mix some video with still photos, but I haven't been able to figure it out. I purchansed the Vegas' Movie Studio + DVD Video Editing software and made good progress, but not with the video part. Do I need some other hardware to hook up a digital 8mm camera or a DVD player to my computer? Can I pull video off of a CD in my computer? Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!!

Comments

ScottW wrote on 12/17/2006, 3:49 PM

You would normally need an Analog to Digital converter, something like the Canopus ADVC 110 or a step up, the 300. Some of todays mini-DV camcorders offer a pass-thru for analog to digital via firewire. I have an 8mm Digital8 tape player that has firewire in/out, but not sure how common it is on 8mm cameras.

--Scott

Knothead wrote on 12/19/2006, 2:51 PM

Thanks Scott, I will check and see what is avaliable here. I have tried to input video from a DVD in my computer disc drive and it sort of worked, but it also locks up the program sometimes. Have you got any experience trying that?
Knothead

skinned_knee wrote on 12/20/2006, 1:45 PM

you might find an older 8mm camera that supports this on eBay for a good price.

I had an older Sony Hi-8 that did passthru. The cam got wet, killed the camera, but the pass-thru still worked perfectly. Sold it on eBay (fully disclosing it's condition) - so I'm sure there are others out there that might have cam problems but a functional pass-thru.

Tim L wrote on 12/20/2006, 2:05 PM

Knothead,

If you do indeed have a "Digital 8" camcorder, your camcorder records essentially the same thing as a miniDV tape, except that it records it on an 8mm tape. With a Digital 8 (Sony) camcorder, you should have a port labeled "DV" or "iLink". This is the same thing as a Firewire or IEEE1394 port. You should be able to capture directly from your camcorder to your computer, though you might need to add a Firewire card to your computer, if it doesn't already have one. (They should be very inexpensive -- maybe about $20-25 or so online?)

Anyway, once you get firewire working, you should be able to use the Vegas Movie Studio "external capture" program to capture video from your camcorder tapes. Transfer is in real time -- one hour of video will take one hour to copy to your computer -- but the file on your computer should be an exact, digital copy of the data on your tape.

The captured video will be a DV .avi file, and will occupy about 13 GB per hour. If you have trouble, search this forum for more about Firewire or 1394, etc.

Tim L

Knothead wrote on 12/23/2006, 4:29 PM

Thanks for all the help. My Sony camer is just a Hi 8mm and not digital. I never seem to have the right piece of equipment or the right software. Thanks again.
Knothead