Capturing old school dvcpro?

[pdbowling]

Hello everyone.

I have a really old DVCPro camcorder. So old in fact, that it does not have a firewire output. It has s-video out and component audio.

To maintain quality, I don't want to run it through a mini DV camcorder (am I wrong in thinking there will be a loss?) so I am looking for suggestions on hardware for my Windows XP box to capture full quality DVCPro D200-P footage through s-video and component audio.

Thanks all.
Patrick

[Mug Funky]

you'll need to track down a DVCpro deck... these are getting a bit old by now, and most of them don't have firewire either.

perhaps find a dub or post house and ask if they can transfer it via firewire rather than SDI.

[pdbowling]

Hmm, those decks are really expensive even when they are dinosaurs. I've even seen them on second hand pro hardware sites. Does anyone know what the lossiness of running through a Canopus ADVC 55 or 110 would be? How about breakout box from a different company? I'm thinking that even a grand for a good intermediate device is better and 6 grand for a deck. Suggestions please.

[Blue_MiSfit]

I think you would be better off outsourcing it. Why spend the money on old hardware that will be expensive to maintain, just to allow capture of a few tapes?

~MiSfit

[pdbowling]

Ah, I am sorry. I must have misrepresented my situation. This is my production camera. Not just a few tapes. We are not planning on spending large amounts on a new camera until HD prices have dropped dramatically. We are at production stand still until we get a new capture platform. (We used to run it through our miniDV camera but the firewire port on that one died). I'm really not a fan of MiniDV so I'd rather spring for a direct capture source than for another MiniDV cam that I wouldn't like. Canopus? Edius? Opinions please. I have no idea if say ... a Canopus ADVC 55 will capture well at all and I really don't want to buy it and have it be useless. How about upscaling to the ADVC 300? Suggestions on something similar would be great as well thanks.
Patrick

[JohnnyMalaria]

If you have the miniDV-sized cassettes and it is DVCPro25 (i.e., not 50 or 100), why not try a miniDV cam?

There isn't much difference between the way the data from both formats are recorded. Some miniDV cams will blindly play whatever you have in it (e.g., some NTSC units send PAL material out via FireWire though nothing is seen on the display).

If it does work, you'll need software at the other end that can handle DVCPro. With XP SP2, Microsoft supports it. However, you'll still probably want to convert it to a more common format for use in other programs.

Hence, the analog-DV converter route may be less trouble.

[pdbowling]

Well thanks for all of your input. I've since discovered that they actually make SDI (serial digital) capture cards, so I can hook up to my BNC output instead of the s-video. They are pricey but less than a new camera.
Thanks everyone.