DV Capturing Help!!!

[Aws]

Hey all i got a new camera a Panasonic PV-GS35. It has a USB2.0 port and a Firewire. I only have usb2.0 so currently im using ULEAD Studio to capture the video to AVI Format and it uses the DVSD Codec for video. Here is a quick clip of a capture i did. I encoded the DVSD AVI to 1180kbits XviD. Does the quality look good coming from this camera? My next question is i would rather use Virtualdub to do the capturing but it doesnt see my camera via the usb. And 3rd, would a firewire connection make vdub see the camera and allow me to capture? and also do you think if usin firewire, the quality would be better or this is as about as good as it gets. Im guessing it looks about dvd quality.

Heres the clip.

http://themute.net/tmp/pv-gs35.avi

[halsboss]

I gather that with firewire and using WinDV, what you "capture" is the actual digital signal... not a "capture"/conversion like analogue... ie what you get is what your camera's actually recorded. Oops, if it's a DV camera, that is. Dunno about anything else.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1018745#post1018745

Not sure it that applies to the USB transfer as well but presume it does.

[JoeShrubbery]

The fact that he's getting any video at all through the USB connection surprises me, as AFAIK most DV cameras require video-out either digitally via Firewire or analog through a composite or s-video out, with any USB connection strictly limited to transfers regarding any still-photography capabilities the camera might have as well.

But yes as halsboss said, it looks like you're already getting the original DV bit-identical to what the camera recorded, and as such a switch to Firewire would have no impact whatsoever on the final visual quality.

[bb]

There are camcorders nowadays that support digital video transfer via USB 2.0, but unlike the Firewire connection you have to use proprietary protocols - and proprietary software.

bb

[vassilevsky]

I got a Panasonic NV-GS75 camera. It does have both interfaces: FireWire and USB 2.0.

The USB cable shipped with the camera. But there were no FireWire cable, and my motherboard (Gigabyte GA-7N400) doesn't have FireWire controller(s) either. So for now, I'm using USB2.0.

Here's my experience with the capturing:

I successfully save DV-AVI files with Windows Movie Maker's capture wizard. (So far, this is the most user-friendly and simple thing I've seen.)
I also successfully captured some DV-AVI files with Scenalyzer LIVE. It even saved different scenes in different files — a good feature! (Movie Maker definitely misses this.) But the captured files contained the Scenalyzer logo, as I used a demo version, and the full version costs money.
VirtualDub seemed to see the camera, but worked toooo slowly in the capture interface, and finally said it couldn't get any frames.
WinDV, DVIO, DVapp, Exsate DV Capture Live, WinAVI Video Capture — all don't see the camera. Seems like they're designed to work only with FireWire :(
When I tried to capture with Ulead VideoStudio, it crashed at the very beginning of camera initialization. Several times.

As you can see, proprietary sowtware isn't required in case you have Movie Maker or bought Scenalyzer LIVE. But other free programs don't work :( If I had FireWire, I would have had more programs working and had more choice.
I consider buying a controller.

[Aws]

Yea, well i used Ulead Video studio with the USB2 and it worked great but i wanted to use virtualdub to capture. But it didint see my device, unless im doing something wrong. So i got a firewire cable, and it still doesnt see my device ;(, So far i use Ulead and pinnacle studio to do my capturing.

[setarip_old]

@Aws

Hi!

What version of VirtualDub are you using?

[trolltuning]

In the US you can get a firewire card for around $20. You should be able to install it in under an hour. Then you can use WinDV. In the long run a small price to pay for not having to fight the problems that come with most proprietary software.

[cstrikedish]

Wow, I know a great program named Supervideocap (http://www.mysupersoft.com/), it can be used to capture DV, DC, Webcam, and more. Try it yourself.
Hope it is useful!
jackie