Problems with analogue-to-DV on-the-fly capture

[Gavino]

I am trying to capture some VHS tapes via the analogue input on a DV camera (Canon MVX330i). I have no trouble recording onto the camera's tape and subsequently capturing on the PC using WinDV, but I'd like to cut out the tape stage and capture directly via the analogue-to-DV converter in the camera.

After configuring the camera with "AV->DV on", and starting the (VHS) VCR rolling, I can see the camera receives the signal from the VCR, but WinDV fails to display a preview or capture anything. Trying to capture with ULead DVD MF also fails.

At first I thought the camera was faulty, but I now find that if I try exactly the same thing with the camera connected to the DV input of a stand-alone DVD recorder, it works just fine.

Any ideas?
Perhaps WinDV is not getting what it expects at the DV handshaking level in order to start capturing?

[mikeytown2]

Good ideas:
VLC
VirtualDub
GraphEdit

So so ideas:
Windows Movie Maker

[smok3]

maybe something to do with the DV timecode?

a. Check if the camera has a free-run TC option for recording the analog in (sort of like a clock)?
b. find a software that doesn't care about the TC or can generate it automagically.

[Gavino]

Thanks for the responses, guys, both helped.

I tried various programs, some of which (including WMM) managed to show a preview window, but then on starting capture they insisted on starting the camera's tape, which stopped it passing the analogue input.

Aha, I (eventually) thought - let's remove the tape - and sure enough the capture worked.
Finally, just to check, I went back to WinDV and found that it too worked just fine if I removed the tape first.
(I could have sworn I had already tried this on my first round of experiments, but I guess not.)

My tentative conclusion is that amongst the info the camera passes on its DV out is - what mode it is in and whether or not it has a tape loaded. WinDV normally looks for timecode but is happy if it knows there isn't going to be any. (Maybe)

Anyway, whatever the explanation, I can now do what I wanted, so I'm happy :)
(Except ... on one attempt, WinDV froze up, so I'm still not 100% sure...)

[JohnnyMalaria]

If removing the tape is a pain, our software will work properly (not start the tape playing) - see signature...

[Gavino]

If removing the tape is a pain, our software will work properly (not start the tape playing) - see signature...
It's not such a pain as long as I remember to do it. :)
Anyway, I'll give your software a shot.

With your DV knowledge, does my diagnosis of the problem make sense?