Help with Hi8 capture thru DV to PC

[David Rix]

Hi,

I am capturing Hi8 to PC using my NV GS400 DV cam as the conduit. Video via s-video and audio via min jacks.

From DV to PC via USB. I tried Firewire but I had some problems.

I use Virtualdub 1.9 or 2 or NCH Debut and capture what I can good quality with very few dropped frames.

It has been suggested I use ScenalyzerLive however see it has so many options of what I know nothing about so am not sure if it is worth trying.

Any suggestions please other than, 'get a decent USB card' of which are too exy for me at the moment.

Thanks

[Patrick Tracy]

I see basic USB capture cards from US$11.99 to US$39.99.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by David Rix

...From DV to PC via USB. I tried Firewire but I had some problems...

Firewire was the best method for this. Most (all?) cameras did not support USB for video file transfer. I’d recommend you go back to FW. What wasn’t working?

[David Rix]

Thank you for the replies.

I have a couple of those cards and whilst the picture looks okay, the colour is not. Green and red here and there.

I'm not sure what happened with the fire-wire connection. It would connect then in a few seconds disconnect. I tried 2 cables wit the same result. At one time it showed up in Device Mgr (Win 10 1909) the didn't at all.

Imaging Devices in Dev Mgr.

Tomorrow I will give it a try and see if it stays there,. and post again.

Thanks again.

BTW I am thinking of buying another economical DV that has fire-wire so I can do the same in case this one falls over. Any suggestions of a unit?

[Paul R Johnson]

The Sony's pop up quite often, and a few JVCs - just watch the Sony's as many suffer from blown Firewire sockets - where then 6 pins do their thing with sending DC to the wrong pin on connection-disconnection. I always use a 4 to 6 and 6 to 4 adaptor at one end - to remove the DC feed.

[David Rix]

Thanks for the reply.

All the Sony's I saw were a bit pricey so I bought this M700i Canon which has a DV out too and is supposed to be near brand new... $120.

I suspect that the DV socket is a bit bonky too as sometime it shows in Dev Mgr and other times not. I think I have it okay now so can try my transfer again.

I did notice that sometimes the transfer goes well and then it will freeze on the receiver but the source is still going and the receiver will catch up. Other times it will roll a bit. Using Virtualdun 1.911 and 2 but haven't touched any options, just default setting.

I have Power Director 365 and the latest Magix Video Pro X 11.

Any suggestions please?

BTW. What did you mean by using that 4-6 adaptor please?

[Don Palomaki]

The USB port on the camcorder is for transferring stills from the memory card. It is not for video.

The DV terminal (aka:Firewire/iLink/IEEE1394) is for video.

In general Win 7 and later may need to use the so called "Legacy" IEEE1394 driver. The one Microsoft installs by default does not work reliably for video transfer from the Canon and many other gear items.

That driver shipped with Win 7 but you manually have to select it. With Win 8.x and Win10 you will need to download it from Microsoft and install it manually (Use the Win 8.x download for Win 10.)

DV required a reasonably fast drive to handle the 25+ Mbps data stream. Capture to the system drive (typically drive C) was problematic as were 5400 RPM drives, antivirus software examining the data writes, and running much in the way of multitasking.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/
has a wealth if information for people who are serious about digitizing and restoring old consumer analog video formats such as Video8, Hi8, VHS, S-VHS, Beta, etc. Be aware that they have a high standard of quality and definite opinions on what software and hardware works best.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by David Rix

...BTW. What did you mean by using that 4-6 adaptor please?

I believe what Paul was referring to is this:
6-pin firewire carries power on 2 of the pins. This connector is common on PCs and their FW cards. The 6-pin connector is very robust. All (almost all?) camcorders and decks use a 4-pin connector, which doesn’t carry power.

Connecting 4-pin to 6-pin devices with common adaptor cables, or 6-pin to 6-pin is thought to sometimes blow the firewire port on a camera. A best practice is to *always* start with computer and deck/cam powered down, then connect, then power up. The same in reverse when ready to disconnect. The exact reasons for blown FW ports are hard to determine - FW power? Static? Sunspots? Powering down was a common approach to reduce risk.

Some folks use a stack of adaptors to strip the power from firewire - another approach that P was referring to.

[David Rix]

Great explanation Thanks.

Where would I begin to look for adapters?
Is this the type of thing?

Plug it into the cam then a regular firewire to PC?

https://www.connectivitycenter.com/f...3634a6317a606d

[Don Palomaki]

I would use a standard 4-pin to 6-pin cable a not hang an adapter such as in the above link on the firewire port. It adds weight and increases the risk of damaging the port.

[Paul R Johnson]

I'd better clarify - My cameras with firewire use 6 pin chunky connectors, as does the DV recorder - so my use of adaptors just removes the DC component. They do flex and stress the sockets, so they're cable tied.

[Don Palomaki]

As I recall, the IEEE1394/FireWire/i.Link power specification is not very tight, so a 6-pin-to-6-pin connection might cause issues with some gear. Some devices such as part of the Canopus ADVC line can be IEEE1394 port-powered, but sometimes that fails due to insufficient power at the PC.

From Wikipedia:
"The 6-conductor powered connector, now referred to as an alpha connector, adds power output to support external devices. Typically a device can pull about 7 to 8 watts from the port; however, the voltage varies significantly from different devices.[28] Voltage is specified as unregulated and should nominally be about 25 volts (range 24 to 30). Apple's implementation on laptops is typically related to battery power and can be as low as 9 V.[28]"