Sony Handycam

Sorry,
I would have posted in Video and Photography but there was no "New Post" button there.

I have a Sony DCR-IP1 Handycam and want to transfer video to my PC. Somebody gave me this Handycam a while ago, and I just found a docking station DCRA-C100 for it on Ebay. They are hard to come by. I needed it because it has a standard usb connection on it. I knew Sony had some kind of proprietary software for this camera. I think the pc does not recognize the camera as hardware device, but as some kind of software driver. Initial look into it seems like I need some kind of video editing software. I think it is called Movie Shaker. I went to download.com and a search turned up a couple hundred video editing software.
Any recommendations or knowledge on a program I can use that will recognize the camera when I plug it in to my usb port?

thanks!
Dan

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-li ... RIP1&LOC=3

Everything you need to know assuming the link works.

Windows Movie Maker came with my new PC, and I think its a free download from Microsoft.

Dann757 wrote:Sorry,
I would have posted in Video and Photography but there was no "New Post" button there.

Fixed that, if there is anything that doesn't seem right let me know.


When you plug it in and go to "my computer" is the cam listed?

It should just see it as a storage device like as you would a still cam. If it's not listed you probably need the diver. You shouldn't need any special software to get it to your computer. You should be able to browse it like a drive and copy the video over, the format it has listed is about as standard as it gets so you won't need anything special to edit.

--------------------------

Having said that, the specs say:

MPEG - 352 x 240 - 150 sec - With 16MB card , MPEG - 144 x 96 - 1200 sec - With 16MB card

Truthfully unless you're going to use this as throw away cam like strapping it to a helmet and go riding in the woods on a quad I wouldn't bother. The first set specifically "MPEG - 352 x 240 - 150 sec - With 16MB card" would be the minimum for DVD. You can pick up cheap mini-DV camcorder for about $200 that is superior to that by many magnitudes.

Thanks for replies. I installed the driver, the camera doesn't show up at all. Maybe I got a bad docking station from the guy??? The docking station has a usb port, with an on/off switch, a micro-mv port, dc in, and an audio/video port with a connection I haven't been able to locate. It looks like a "c". The dock looks to be in good condition, maybe I should take it apart to look inside. I emailed Sony to see what they have to say.
Here I go throwing good money after bad again, even though my rich lady friend/customer gave me this camera last year. Don't see much of her any more.
You're right, camcorders aren't hard to come by....

Can you connect the cam directly to the computer?

Dann757 wrote:You're right, camcorders aren't hard to come by....

With HD all the rage now the mini-DV cams can be had at bargains.

Well this is 144 * 96:


352 * 240:


720 * 480 which is standard for a regular mini DV camcorder:


AS you can see the first one is unusable and the second choice is not much better. 352*240 is absolute minimum for DVD, it's also used for what is called a VCD, you can burn a special CD that will play as video disc in most DVD players or stuff about 8 hours of video onto one DVD.

Sony got back to me, said it might not show up if the pc is networked, still it just doesn't show up. I tried it on my other gaming pc which isn't networked, nothing. I took the dock apart, it looks very clean and intact.
Pic is of the cable needed to connect directly to pc, haven't been able to find it anywhere. Maybe the usb cable i got new is bad. I sent for a firewire cable, worth a try.
You're right,I saw a Samsung on Ebay for under $200, records to dvd. Hate to be defeated with this!

I've never seen that cable, isn't there a usb port right on the cam? I'm surprised it has firewire.

Dann757 wrote:You're right,I saw a Samsung on Ebay for under $200, records to dvd. Hate to be defeated with this!

Tape is king, get mini-dv tape. It's superior to DVD camcorders, HDD or flash cams in nearly every way. The advantages of DVD(or HDD and Flash) camcorders is you can play the DVD in a DVD player and/or transfer to computer is faster and that's about it. It's slightly more convenient but you give up a lot for that convenience.

Mini-DV is higher quality, easier to edit, has a lot more possibilities where software is concerned and will give you better results especially if you plan on doing a lot of editing. DVD cams store video as MPEG2 and unless you have the right software and set it up right quality will suffer. Plus I will add mini-dv tape has a proven track record of reliability, DVD discs are susceptible to failure right off the bat. Really depends on the quality of the disc but cheap brands can fail immediately and that "name brand" disc could very well be cheapest junk on the market.


More here on DVD media: http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/index.htm

Richard, thanks for all the interest. Thats a pic of the usb cable I got. The dock has from left to right, the usb port with on/off switch, a port that says microMV ( which I think the firewire cable goes to), dc in, and the odd cable says audio/video. The camera itself only has that odd c shaped cable port and dc in., and the receptacle for the dock.
Haven't quite given up. I installed the Sony driver, but my lack of knowledge about usb stuff makes it hard to follow through.

PS-- here's the Sony advice: ( and my usb info- I thought one of the usb lines should say Sony???)

Removable Disk does not appear in the My Computer window when connecting to a computer using a USB connection.
Solution


Follow the steps below to troubleshoot this issue:

IMPORTANT:

Some computer operating systems may require you to be logged on as an Administrator or with administrator rights.
If the computer you are using is connected to a network, it may be necessary to temporarily disable the network connection or connect the camcorder to another computer that is not on a network.

Ensure the USB cable is connected properly to the camcorder.
Ensure the other end of the USB cable is connected directly to the USB port on the computer.
NOTE: Connection through a USB hub is not supported.

Disconnect any other USB devices (except for the mouse and keyboard) from the computer.
Turn off the camcorder for 30 seconds.
After 30 seconds, turn the camcorder on again.
IMPORTANT:

If you have a camcorder with USB Streaming capability, you may also need to turn on the USB Streaming feature in the camcorder menu. However, not all camcorders with a USB connection support USB Streaming.
After being turned on, some camcorder models require you to select USB CONNECT or COMPUTER on the LCD screen.
If necessary, consult the instruction manual of your camcorder for further information. Manuals are available online in the Manuals/Specs/Warranty section of the Sony® eSupport Web site.

If the issue is not resolved, restart the computer.
If the issue is still not resolved after restarting the computer, try connecting the USB cable to another USB port on the computer.
If the issue is still not resolved, try uninstalling and reinstalling the USB driver.
If the issue is still not resolved, it may be necessary to replace the USB cable.
The troubleshooting steps listed above should resolve your issue. If you have completed all of the steps and the issue is not resolved, then it is recommended you try connecting the camcorder to another computer. If the issue does not occur with another computer, then the USB ports on the first computer may not be configured properly or software may be installed that is interfering with the connection. In these situations, you may need to contact your computer manufacturer.

Dann757 wrote: a port that says microMV

Not sure what that is I'll venture to guess proprietary Sony crap. Firewire is also known as IEEE1394 and Sony calls it I-Link on their mini-dv cams and other devices but they are all the same. Some cams may label it simply DV but that is in regards to the format of video which is DV. Usually cam side you'll have a 4 pin firewire port, your computer will usually have a 6 pin port as such generally you'll need a 4 pin to 6 pin cable to connect it. 6 pin carries a small amount power that can be used to power some devices but since the camcorder has it's own power it's not needed.

It's rare to have firewire on that type of device because they don't need it and USB is better for transfer of data where error control is possible because it is faster. Firewire has a slower transfer rate than USB2 but USB has issues with sustained high bandwidth data transfers and can be troublesome which is why they use firewire with tape cams since it needs to be done real time, there is no buffer or error control. If the data rate drops for even a split second during transfer you'll drop frames. The tortoise and the hare is actually great analogy.

Note that the 4 pin ends and ports look similar to a small USB port:



What I do know is 99.9% of the time you plug a mini-DV cam into a computer, turn it on and you can open about 50 different programs to start transferring it. It's well established standard supported by everyone.

The camera itself only has that odd c shaped cable port

That might be for a S-Video cable or a proprietary S-Video shaped cable. S-Video only carries video and it's analog. If it's proprietary it can carry all kinds of things but you'll need the right cable. It has a round shape but can look like a C in some configurations:

http://www.google.com/images?q=svideo&s ... US249US249


----------------------------

This is USB:


It's the only thin I would use, have you checked manual or menu? As the the Sony directions indicate there might be option in menu...

Thanks. I see Sony has the original CD with all the software on it-- but it's $29.95. I dropped $60 on the docking station, which is hard to come by and which Sony wants over $100 for. Me and my crazy attempts to save money.

Can you take the docking station back? $60 is more than 1/4 the way to much nicer cam. For that matter most still cams with video nowadays would just as good as that thing.

Dan, I got that cable. The half-circle end plugs into the Camera where it says "A/V", and the other end splits out as a S-Video and RCA plugs for Video, L&R audio. I use this end to hook up to my TV or DVD recorder. Want to borrow it? Or bring the camera here and test it?
I just noticed my Mini-DV camera ALSO has a Firewire Connection, AND a Network connection. I am wondering if you need to create a Network connection for yours, thru the USB connection.
BTW.... My camera is a JVC GR-DX300U.

DVC500 at last wrote: The half-circle end plugs into the Camera where it says "A/V", and the other end splits out as a S-Video and RCA plugs for Video, L&R audio.

The trouble with that is a few things, firstly you need a DVD recorder or capture card to get it into digital format. Secondly you're throwing an unnecessary conversion to analog into the mix. Lastly there will be a upconversion from the low resolution video on the cam which is generally not a good idea.

You already starting with poor quality video that is roughly slightly less than that of VHS. The specs I saw didn't state the framerate which is another issue but it should be NTSC 29.9FPS. I'm assuming it's actually VCD compliant which allows for video on CD's. To maintain what you have you'd want to transfer the file itself to computer. You can then use software like Ulead Video Studio that is designed to work with MPEG for editing. You could output it as VCD compliant and create a VCD disc or transcode to MPEG2 with minimal loss. The only thing that will reencoded from the original video file assuming using VCD is where you have made edits so you'll lose nothing from the original video.

While on the topic the same principal applies for DVD cams, HDD cams or DVD recorders all of which record as MPEG2. MPEG was never designed to be edited. Whereas you can apply multiple edits to mini-DV with negligible loss you can't do that with MPEG.

There's some examples here: AVI-DV to MPEG vs. MPEG to MPEG