PC Pals Forum

Technical Help & Discussion => Software, Hardware & Website Recommendations => Topic started by: Camstop on November 19, 2002, 13:38

Title: MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 19, 2002, 13:38
I've just bought a panasonic nv-ds30b mini dv camcorder and would like to know what software to use for pc editing.

I am a complete novice with any camcorder, but i do know that the 30b has a dv in so that you can upload edited recordings.

The vendors tried to sell me pinnacle studio, but they wanted another £80 or so.

any help would be most welcome

Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: daveeb on November 19, 2002, 13:48
hi camstop, in the short term you could use windows movie maker (assuming you have windows ME or XP).
this will allow you to create short movies from raw footage.  :)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 19, 2002, 13:48
Hi Camstop,I havent used any camcorders so am unaware as to what format they use  ???
Are they mpeg 1 or 2 or AVI or DivX by any chance ?
I have a few programs which do various editing functions with some of those formats,can you tell me which one/s they use please  :-*
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 19, 2002, 14:05
hi

daveeb

it's win 98 that i'm using

sandra

i don't really know sandra.

i think that i may need a dv board with a fire-wire cable and pinnacle studio software or something similar.

what's the best to get and from where

thanks for any help.
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 19, 2002, 14:13
Sorry Camstop,I misunderstood (AGAIN ,DOH ! )
I thought that you already had the film uploaded and needed to edit it before writing it to a cd  :-[

I will see if I can find out for you  :-*
ULEAD do stuff for stills maybe they do similar for yours  :)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 19, 2002, 14:48
I just found this site,it may be worh a look at.
May not solve your immediate problem but I think you could find it useful later.It has an ASK ME bit though so they may have the answer  :-*

http://www.adamwilt.com/DV.html

Does this mean that you will be changing your name to Camcorder now  ;)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 19, 2002, 15:14
There is a link from the site I mentioned earlier that gives a review on Pinnacle Studio.See it here

http://www.simplydv.co.uk/studiodeluxe/studiodeluxe_index.html

Part of it would suggest to me that you are paying for something that you dont want/need as it is for adding stuff from analogue tapes to your PC,unless you need this feature I think you would probably find a cheaper option by getting a PCI card with TV in and connecting that way assuming your DV Camcorder has suitable outputs.What outputs has it?
Then you could get the cheaper software instead of the full package,you may even have usb out which would mean that you wouldnt need any additional cards  :-*

The part of the review that I formed this opinion from is this bit :

Introduction
Where this all-in-box package compares with the much cheaper digital-only Studio DV package (which includes Pinnacle's Studio 7 capture and editing software), is that the Pinnacle card allows the conversion of the incoming analogue signal to a DV-compatible file format. This allows users to mix analogue footage with material captured from a DV or Digital-8 camcorder using the bundled Studio 7 editing software. Thanks to the supplied breakout box and multi-pin cable connector, there's no need to make all connections direct to the computer, enabling instead the S-video / analogue / audio connections to be made from any point within 2 metres distance. Couple these features with the Pinnacle Express disk authoring and burning program, and you have what could well be the ideal all-in solution.
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 19, 2002, 15:22
thanks sandra

i'll have a look at those links and post back. ;)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: daveeb on November 19, 2002, 15:23
camstop, if you're on a tight budget you could get a cheap firewire card which may come with some basic video editing software. i would guess you could get one for around £30. i'm not sure what software there is out there.  if you splash out a bit more e.g. pinnacle as you said you'll get the decent software and card in one.

once you've captured, i think it'll be avi format, you'll need to convert to mpeg 1 or 2 to write to     (s)vcd or dvd.

i'd recommend looking on www.vcdhelp.com it will answer everything you might need to know.
 ;)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 19, 2002, 15:59
Dont go spending too much cash on software just yet though Camstop,I am on the lookout for some at a very good price  ;)
If I can get it you will only need the hardware  :-*
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 19, 2002, 16:19

you guys are grrrrrrate  ;D

you couldn't pay for better help  ;)

looking forward to your reply sandra  8)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Simon on November 19, 2002, 17:13
you couldn't pay for better help  ;)


No, but Sandra offers other services you could pay for!!   >:D >:D >:D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 19, 2002, 17:30
You offering to be my pimp Simon   O0

Not that I do that kind of thing  :o
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Simon on November 19, 2002, 17:38
CUT!! Take two:  Back to topic before getting in deep poo!  ;D ;D
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 19, 2002, 21:57
Thanks for the help  ;)

just ordered a pinnacle fire-wire capture card with software from ebuyer. ;D

sorry sandra i couldn't wait any longer for your software but it comes with the card anyway and it doesn't look too bad at under £36 + vat I HOPE ???
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 20, 2002, 02:05
No problems Camstop,sorry I wasnt as quick as e buyer  :'(
You would probably need the firewire card anyway as you never said if it had USB or just the firewire out  :-*

Ps. I will e mail you tomorrow  ;)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 21, 2002, 16:12
Pinnacle arrived at 8am today  ;D

not bad for ordering on-line from ebuyer at 9pm on monday

so i installed the card, then the software, watched the demo and looks great.  ;D

tried to download from my dv cam to my pc and no joy.

so to cut a long story short, i need to upgrade win98 to something a bit newer like xp.  ::)

Do i have to buy xp or can i upgrade or can i just borrow my mates version or any other ideas SANDRA  ;) ;)

any advice welcome  ???
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 21, 2002, 16:30
just looked at a post that may well answer all my questions.  :o

the post is should i install win xp and is a good help to my predicament.

ps/ thanks to iespell for help with that last word.  ;)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 21, 2002, 16:35
It says that it will run on 98 but needs  minimum specification of 500 AMD or equivalent and 128mb ram preferably 256.
At least for my version of Studio 8  ;)
Which program did you actually,get the DV10 one?
Does your PC meet these specifications ?
Can you give any more details as to what is happening when you try and upload ?
Is it giving any error messages ?

 :-*
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 21, 2002, 16:52
hi sandra

my system is athlon 1.4, 256ddr ram

i got the studio dv clip package, with studio 7 software.

the problem is that when i plug my fire-wire cable in to my camcorder it asks for a driver. so i put in the disk and no driver found, then i try win98 c/d and still no driver found.

so i went to the pinnacle forum and from what i can see win98 doesn't support fire-wire but win98 se does.

some versions come with software to enable win 98 to work with fire-wire but i don't know about one at that price.
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 21, 2002, 17:02
I think it will definitely be worth upgrading to 98SE then,at least.Unless you definitely want/need XP it may be a needless expense as you may find that other stuff you have wont work with it.
You never said whether firewire was the only output option from your camcorder,would USB not do it,or has it not got USB out?
I havent been able to try my version yet,but am hoping to get it sorted in the next day or so  ;)
Do you know if Studio 8 is supposed to work ok for the drivers for your setup as it may be worth you trying Studio 8  :-*
You could try a search on   www.driverguide.com
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 21, 2002, 17:31
i think the fire-wire is the only one to use.

and yes you can upgrade to studio 8

yes i would upgrade to win98 se if i could source it  ;) ;) ;)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Simon on November 21, 2002, 17:52
Camstop, if you can locate a 98SE disc, the information on that other post won't apply.   ;) ;)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 21, 2002, 19:24
i cant find a copy of win98 se.

would you recommend i try xp home, as it would last a while, or is it a lot of hassle with non compatibility.
xp was out before i got my current pc, and the other bits, umax scanner and Epsom 740 printer i guess should be alright. ???


sandra

i may go for 8 but i'll have to get it up and running first.
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Simon on November 21, 2002, 19:36
If you were considering XP Home, Camstop, as you now know from reading the other thread, you would have to purchase it, in order to also obtain the unique licence.  Unique, that is, to each machine it is installed on.

I know I keep mentioning them, but until someone finds somewhere cheaper, I would point you in the direction of www.redstore.com, where you can get XP Home (OEM) for around £70.
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Camstop on November 21, 2002, 19:43
i have 2 pc's on the go at the moment and possibly a 3rd within a short while.

can i install xp on them all from the same copy?

                      O0
                         >:D
                (medallion man)
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Simon on November 21, 2002, 19:53
Nope.  Bad news, mate!  Microsoft XP licences are for one machine only!   ::) :(
Title: Re:MINI DV CAMCORDER SOFTWARE
Post by: Sandra on November 21, 2002, 20:16
Check your e mail and PMs Camstop  ;)