maybe off topic : Canon MV300i "pass trhrough question"

[waldok]

Hi,

I hope it is not too much of topic here since my post won't refer to any software. I'd like to know if any of you DV freaks found any way to use the Canon MV300i (or equivalent Canon device) as "pass through". I mean I'd like to plug my old 8mm analog camcorder to the analog input of the Mv300i (RCA plugs) and output this analog video from the MV300i to the PC through the firewire digital output.
Problem is as soon as I plug in the firewire cable, CAnon MV300i puts itself in "DV-IN" mode and analog input is deactivated.

Any help will be greatly appreciated here. Is there a way ?

Waldok:cool:

[atreides93]

Doesn't the manual tell you how to do this? On a JVC miniDV camera I was borrowing, I had to go into the on-screen menu and tell it to enable analog input. then i put it in "Play" mode, and it took the analog input, converted it to digital, and passed it through the firewire port to my PC.

I'm getting a new miniDV camera today, its a Canon ZR60 so i'll check it out and see if it behaves any differently than the JVC.

[SiliconSoul]

can u please update everyone on how it works... i have a ZR30 but its been used alot! but still works good.

[waldok]

The manual won't say a thing about it. It is meant to work that way apparently : once you connect something to the DV in/out port, analog input is automatically deactivated. Hence my question, is there any known trick to avoid this ?

Waldok:cool:

[atreides93]

Ok, my ZR60 does analog pass thru. Apparently the less expensive model (ZR40) does not.
anyway its easy, i plug the DV cable into my firewire card on the PC and the other end into the firewire port on the ZR60.
Then I plus the analog mini plug into the ZR60 and into my VCR's outputs.
Then I go into PLAY mode, and in the menu I go under VCR settings and i set the analog in to ON.
and it works!
i transferred two VHS tapes to my computer using adobe premiere 6

[noize00]

hello

i use a canon mv500i but it should be the same for you.

click on the "menu" button (beneath the lcd screen) then "vcr setup" then towards the end you'll find "av->dv out", put it to "on" and that's all.
when you'll get back to the main menu you should now see "av->dv" at the bottom of the screen instead of "dv in".

if you can't do this, well, it's possible that your camcorder doesn't have any pass-through capabilities..

hope this helps,

noize00

[waldok]

Well, it seems I don't have this av in -> dv out option in my menus...
Too bad...I guess I'm screwed on this one.
MV400i is not able to do this I guess.

thanks a lot for your help though.

Waldok:cool:

[steve_g]

How do you get the DV across firewire into your PC?
I have an MV5. It defaults to DV in, but as in Noize00's reply, you should be able to select this.
Some cameras in some countries had the DV-in disabled (local rules about licences on VCRs!), but that doesn't sound like your problem. However, you should be able to find a fix for this on the web!

Otherwise, record your analog onto a DV tape, then capture the tape onto your PC. 2 steps, but it works!

[waldok]

Thanks steve_g.
My camcorder has DV-IN/DV-out enabled from factory. By the way it is the MV400i, not MV300i as I wrote before.
But, there is an internal switch that won't let you use DV-Out only. Once you plug your firewire cable in the DV plug on the camcorder, it automatically considers you will be using DV-in AND DV-out. Then Analog-in/out doesn't appear to be active anymore.
In this 400i model, there is no such menu as Noize00 described (believe me, I've been browsing through all of the menus, there aren't that many ).

As far as the Web is concerned, I've been looking for this information for months without any luck.
As you say, I have to stick to a 2-pass process, i.e plug my analog camcorder to the analog-in and record on DV tape, and then use the DV-Out to transfer to PC. I don't like having to do this, but that's the only way for the moment.

Unless someone has a tweak ?

Waldok:cool:

[BlueCup]

Just as a fluke, have you tried doing it with no tape in your camera? That is how I have to do it with my TRV-120.

[steve_g]

my Canon manual specifically says to remove the tape before doing pass-through.
With it in, it tries to use the tape.

[waldok]

Guys, I must admit I never even thought about it...
I can't remember now if there was a tape or not in the camera.

I'll check this. Thanks a lot for the tip. I'll let you know.

Waldok:cool:

[waldok]

No, it won't work for my MV400i. If no tape in inserted, analog in is not activated, the screen just blinks and keeps asking for a tape. So no passthrough possible I guess.

Thanks for your help though

Waldok:cool: