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DV
Camcorder questions
Aug
1, 1999
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Q:
I'm thinking of getting a low-end digital camcorder
which will work with my Mac G3/Firewire. It'll
mainly be used for personal projects, and I need to
get it for less than $1,000. I'd like to be able
to:
1)
Output Quicktime movies from G3 to
VHS.
2)
Input from VHS as well as the
camcorder.
3)
Outputted video need not be "broadcast quality,"
but should be "demo quality".
There's
a Sony consumer model (DCR-TRV 103/110) which is
for sale in the $800s range...Would that work?
There are three RCA plugs (video, and audio
L&R)... what's stumping me is... are these for
in, or out? I need both!
-CW, MA
A:
All DV camcorders in the consumer space that I'm
aware of have analog video out (i.e. they have RCA
audio and RCA and S-Video video output) as well as
Firewire. Firewire allows you to transfer the video
from the camcorder to the computer and back,
providing you have appropriate software and a large
enough hard disk on your computer. To get output
from the computer to VHS you'll have to go through
the camcorder; Firewire to the camcorder, analog
connnection to the VHS recorder. It should
definitely be "demo" quality.
The
tricky part is if you want to get video from a VHS
source onto the computer. You have three choices;
1)
Use an analog capture device such as the Iomega
Buz ~$300
2)
Use an analog to Firewire converter such as
Sony's DA-MAC1 ~$400
3)
Get a camcorder with analog-in
capabilities.
While
there are pros and cons for each, probably the best
option for you would be to get a camcorder that has
analog inputs. Not all do, but the DCR-TRV103 does.
Other models that do include Sony's TRV-900 and
Canon's Elura, which are both miniDV
cameras.
I
don't have any direct knowledge of the TRV103. It's
based on Sony's new Digital 8 format. These cameras
use Hi8 tape instead of miniDV tapes to record,
though the data should be the same. The Digital 8
format was introduced about three months ago. The
advantage is that they also play old Hi8 analog
tapes, so you get some backward compatability.
A
note on price; you might want to check out
www.cameraworld.com, which has the TRV 103 for
about $100 less. I've bought from them before and
they are pretty good.
One
note of warning, Apple's had a bit of a problem
with their Firewire connection to some newer Sony
camcorders. They've been working on fixing this
problem, so if you have the original G3 FireWire/DV
drivers you might have to upgrade them. Also,
depending upon the Firewire editing app you use you
might need to do some QuickTime juggling (i.e.
EditDV doesn't work with QuickTime 4.0 I believe,
etc.)
Q:
What should I get to connect a DV camcorder to a
PC? Which hardware and software is best? -
SS
You've
stumped me. I can't personally recommend any of the
solutions that are currently available for the
Windows platform. However, you should find
everything you ever wanted to know at the
"The
Silver List of Open System DV & IEEE-1394
Non-Linear Editing Solutions for
PCs"
which contains lots of useful
information.
Hope
this helps! Good luck.
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