[Aldryk]

Hi Guys.

I got my Sony PC55 camcorder. and already succeeded to capture movies to my computer, but only through the USB connection.
When i try to connect it to the FireWire card in my computer, nothing happens! the computer does not recognize any new hardware...
I tried to change firewire card, firewire cable and even tried to use on a different computer. same result on both cases. no recognition.

Is sopmeone here familiar with this camera? is there a local problem with my docking station of the PC55? or is there some feature in the camera i need to set beforehand?

I must also state, that i tried to see if Adobe Premiere (and another program called Vegas) can recognize the cam. but no such luck.

Help would be much appreciated.

(also, when i capture with USB, the movie is good, but in low resolution. if i find a way to capture using FireWire, will i see an improvement in the resolution of the film?)

Thanks

[linskyjack]

First thing is you need to check and see if the firewire card in your computer is functioning properly. Right click My Computer/Properties/Hardware/Device Manager/IEEE 1394 host controllers/Right click on the controller and see that the device is enabled and that it is working properly. Also, make sure that you have an OHCI complient card---it should say that in your device manager window.

If that doesn't help, then try using a different firewire cable from your camera to your computer---firewire cables are notorious.


By the way, what you see in your NLE, either Adobe or Vegas, will not be of the highest quality---You will need to render the video to whatever format you want (wmv, mpeg, etc) and either print it back to tape or disk etc. If you you want a higher quality when you are editing, you can change the settings of the preview window in both Vegas and Premiere---from draft quality to high quality, but you will take some hits in terms of previewing real time fx, transitions etc.

[Aldryk]

Hi linskyjack.

Thanks for the reply.
I have attached an image for the OHCI device. is that what you meant? or should i look for something else?

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5054/image14zb.jpg

Everything seems to be working fine, except for my camcorder which is not recognized by the computer....

Waiting for further assistance

P.S. what did you mean by rendering to a specific format?
I meant that by capturing the video from the camcorder in the first place has implication on the resolution, no? and that resolution varies is i capture from USB or Firewire?

Thanks.

[linskyjack]

Yes, thats what I meant. I assume that when you plug the camcorder in, it doesn't show under My Computer---Devices with Removable Storage. I am also assuming that you have the camera set to the VTR mode when you turn it on (not the regular recording mode) and that you have already tried connecting with another fire wire cable.

Capturing the video has no effect on quality---You are merely feeding a data stream onto your hard drive. It won't look great when you edit it----because the NLE is more concerned with smooth operation then quality of the image. It will look fine when you decide how you want to output it---For instance you can print back to tape, convert to mpeg and burn to a DVD, convert to wmv for web playback.

[Aldryk]

Everything you said in the first paragraph is correct.
I just got off a chat with one of Sony's representatives saying i should have my unit checked as no indication is shown on the lcd screen when connecting it to a firewire port.

Refering to your other paragraph - are you saying that feeding video information eby USB or by FireWire is the same, quality-wise??
FireWire (except for speed process) has no better quality in feeding the video to my computer (before i edit or save it in any kind of file) ?
If that is the case, than i would be happier to use the USB (which is easier to handle in my opinion. I only started the frenzy of Firewire because i was told by a friend that if i connect it to my computer by firewire (and not USB) than my quality will be much improved...

[linskyjack]

Yes---all you are doing is sending data along the cable and therefore there is absolutely no difference in what you get. USB sends the same data as Firewire----Quality only comes into play after you have edited your video and you are ready to compress it into a delivery format. I repeat, whether or not you transfer your video via firewire or USB makes absolutely no difference in terms of quality.

Remember, your video will never look as good when editing, using your preview window as a reference------but it will look damn good when you output it. Most editors (ie. Vegas, Premiere etc) give you a choice of many different formats to save your completed project too-----If you want to approximate th equality you will get on output, set your preview window to best, all though you will take a hit in real time previews and the overall speed of the NLE.

If you are going to get into editing consider the following:

1. Have a seperate drive to capture your video on---nothing else but video on that drive.

2. Make sure your drives are set to DMA

[Aldryk]

Thanks for the response.

A few things i dont quite understand though:
1. "whether or not you transfer your video via firewire or USB makes absolutely no difference in terms of quality" - so in what sense there is a different? only in speed? resolution?

2. if i capture at 640x480, can i see it properly on DVD? or do i need higher resolutions? (not sure i have a higher resolution than that).

3. "all though you will take a hit in real time previews and the overall speed of the NLE. " - not sure what you meant here... whats NLE again? and what hit are you talking about?

4. not sure i want to get into editing... just want my vacation videos to be converted to DVD so we can sit at home and watch them, without pixelation or bad quality.

5. what is the best output to save such movie to get high quality? DV? AVI? MPEG?

6. Whats DMA and how do i know if mine are?

Thanks, and sorry for my ignorance

[linskyjack]

1. Speed----nothing to do with quality.
2. 720x480 is the normal size of DV---thats what you should capture at. What capture utility are you using?

3. Non-Linear Editing---essentially the editor---Premiere, Vegas, Moviemaker etc. Lets say you capture video, then you want to add transitions, some special effects etc-----And lets say you want to preview those effects before finalizing. You will take a slight hit on the speed of the preview--thats it---If you set Vegas preview window to Preview Auto---it should look pretty good. Again, this is just for looking at the results of your work---and has nothing to do with the quality you will get on output.

4. That should be no problem-
5. If you want to output to DVD, mpeg-----If you want to output back to your camcorder, you are essentially saving in avi. If you want to output to your video will be playable on your computer----use wmv or .mov (for apple).

[Aldryk]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

1. Speed----nothing to do with quality.
Understood. Thanks.

2. 720x480 is the normal size of DV---thats what you should capture at. What capture utility are you using?
I have only 640x480 as my highest resolution..
I capture using Vegas or Moviemaker... do you have any recommendation for a better capturing prog, depending that my highest resolution is 640x480?


3. Non-Linear Editing---essentially the editor---Premiere, Vegas, Moviemaker etc. Lets say you capture video, then you want to add transitions, some special effects etc-----And lets say you want to preview those effects before finalizing. You will take a slight hit on the speed of the preview--thats it---If you set Vegas preview window to Preview Auto---it should look pretty good. Again, this is just for looking at the results of your work---and has nothing to do with the quality you will get on output.
Understood.



4. That should be no problem-
5. If you want to output to DVD, mpeg-----If you want to output back to your camcorder, you are essentially saving in avi. If you want to output to your video will be playable on your computer----use wmv or .mov (for apple).
So basically i need Mpeg for DVD, but to choose DV for quality? (thats the option in Vegas for example - "DV Mpeg" or something)

[linskyjack]

I hate to tell you this, but after researching your camera I can only tell you that the chip will only support the 640x480 resolution you mentioned and therefore isn't of the highest quality (small is good, but in this case, small limits quality). Having said that, this is what your work flow should be----


1. Capture the video---
2. Edit in moviemaker--
3. Under the file menu, chose Render As----and pick the format you want---if you are going to DVD then pick mpeg----(its one of the choices under save as)

[Aldryk]

Thats what i thought...
Only after buying the camera, the negative feedback about its quality started...
I will do as you said...

Thanks alot for all your help!

[linskyjack]

Yeah---its a gimmicky camera but you should be able to get reasonable images from it---