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-   -   USB capture: playback deck, video card needed? (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-capture/10541-usb-capture-playback.html)

BOBcat76 04-18-2020 12:53 PM

USB capture: playback deck, video card needed?
 
I'm new here and have so many questions.
1. Am I going to be disappointed importing 8mm tapes with my TRV 460 vs a sony deck?
2. I'm trying to patch a diamond one touch vc500 USB to connect my camera and Windows 10 isn't seeing it as a USB
3. What might be a beginner's bare minimum video card choice?

lordsmurf 04-19-2020 03:31 AM

I prefer Hi8/Video8 cameras to VTRs/decks.

I dislike the VC500, far too many odd issues are reported, likely do to many mid-production changes. Each variant should have been VC501,502,etc, not recycled the VC500 name.

The card used depends on OS. For Win10 -- noting it's a terrible OS for capture, WinXP/7 best -- the ATI 600 USB clones work nicely, as do certain Pinnacles.

BOBcat76 04-19-2020 10:04 AM

USB CApture,playback deck and video card
 
Thank you for the help. I'm hoping to find the right drivers today and resaech video cards!

lordsmurf 04-20-2020 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BOBcat76 (Post 68097)
and resaech video cards!

Don't forget to check the Marketplace subforum. ;)

BW37 04-20-2020 12:34 PM

@BOBcat76: You refer to your TRV460 as your playback device. Was it also the camcorder that you shot the video on or did you purchase it to play back older 8mm tapes? The reason I ask is that the TRV460 (full model name DCR-TRV460) is a Digital 8 (D8) camcorder. Any tapes "shot" on that camcorder will be recorded in digital form on the tape. These can be (and usually are) "captured" differently than true "analog" 8mm tapes which would be recorded in either "Video 8" or "Hi8" format.

The good news is that your camcorder can play back all three formats so it should work as the "player" for all 3. It also has the desired "TBC" function for improving playback (for capture) on the analog, Video8 and Hi8 tapes.

Digital 8 is a "DV" digital recording recorded on a standard Hi8 tape. The data itself is the same as that recorded on a miniDV camcorder. These digital recordings are usually transferred to a PC using a "Firewire" connection, technically known as IEEE 1394a or 1394a for short. This standard was given different names by different manufacturers, "iLink" for Sony.

So if your recordings were made on your TRV460, you can transfer them to a PC via a 1394a port. These were fairly common on PC's in the 2000's but are uncommon today. But you can usually add a "firewire card" to a desktop PC and then use software to transfer the digital data to the PC. This is actually much less complicated that capturing analog tapes. Let us know if some or all of your tapes are D8 or if you have a mix of analog and digital tapes to transfer/capture to your PC.

Also, if you are going to capture analog tapes using a USB device, I do not believe that the video card you use will matter. Any modern PC will have an adequate video card. Actual video cards discussions on this forum are mostly about the choice and set-up of ATI (brand) "All in Wonder" (AIW) video cards. These are combined display and capture devices and are highly regarded for their capture abilities. However, they only work on a PC running Windows XP. So if you don't want to acquire or build a Windows XP "capture PC" IMHO, you don't need to worry about your video card.

BW

BOBcat76 04-20-2020 06:50 PM

Thanks for your reply. No, all video recording of interest for now was shot on an Olympus VX-801 (1986) and then a Ricoh R-830 later.
The first problem I should mention is the Sony TRV460 is from Ebay replacing a dubious TRV that arrived in trouble or started showing one of the infamous error codes about transport errors. I followed some of the sony legends on how to try to fix it, but its lifetime was measured in seconds. Now that I got the 460, i thought I might be in business, but when I turn it on, the touch screen commands are hidden in an unreadable green screen and guessing on playback functions is a bust. It didn't come with a remote, but I wondered if I got one could I duplicate/override the touch screen. I guess if the touch screen isn't working and not just very hard to see, no remote will make it work. Do you think that "no function" is even more likely than very green screen? My Diamond VC500 "one touch" is defying detection by my computer, and my windows 10 device manager is giving me no options to find other ways of detecting it's USB location. Other than that, perfect!

BW37 04-21-2020 12:32 AM

That's really bad luck. 2 for 2 bad from eBay. I've had mixed luck as most do. I bought a Canon miniDV that worked great for a couple hours and then "the smoke escaped" as it went belly up quite spectacularly. I have no idea what happened but I disassembled it to find a darkened, smelly little circuit board. There are a number of discussions about eBay problems and some notorious sellers on this forum. Ideally you want a to find a unit you can test drive before you buy. That's hard and especially hard to do these days.

If you haven't seen it there is a list of recommended 8mm playback devices here:

I think the lists are mostly correct though it appears the CCD-TRV67 is actually mono, not stereo.
Many of the manuals are still available from Sony so you can look them over to know what you are supposed to be getting... Search for the "model# manual" and Google should direct you the manual download page if it's there. Your 460 manual is available but doesn't specify the exact remote once included.

I think the correct remote is the RMT-831 or possibly the RMT-835. Lots of these are available on eBay for about $10, but I don't know that this would do everything you will need. My guess is that you'll need access to the menu structure via the touch screen to turn on/off the TBS, etc. Maybe a through reading of the manual might help to understand if it's possible.

Otherwise, some eBay searches for items on the lists.

Hi8 Stereo w/TBC

Hi8 Mono w/TBC

Digital 8 that play analog w/TBC (all stereo??)

(Deleting some of the items in the last parens might get a you few more hits.)

Picking the device and right seller on eBay is a trick. We each probably have our own "method" of winnowing down the options within our budget. For the highest confidence, I tend to look for "complete packages" even including the original packaging. Then I look really close at the pictures and descriptions for obvious signs of abuse. Finally I look at the sellers rating and equally at what else they are typically selling and what they have for sale at this time. For my 8mm stuff I ended up buying a D8 "package" for about $160. It works as well as I hoped - so far... But of course, there are no real guarantees. YMMV. Maybe some other forum experts will add their recommendations on how to improve your chances of success in the eBay sweepstakes!:depressed:

If I were to do it over I would probably have gotten a Hi8 stereo unit because occasionally the D8 units have trouble recognizing the tape format and changing to match. I also looked for a top loading model just to make tape handling easier (I hope).

I can't help much about the VC500 issues since I've not used one. Windows 10 can fight you in part because it won't load some drivers and then sometimes it won't let you change drivers once you have gotten some to load. It can probably be done but Win 7 is less of a problem. Again, maybe some of the forum stalwarts that use the VC500's will add their thoughts.

To search the forum, e.g. for VC500 posts, try using the "Google search box" at the top of the search options. It is much more effective than the "Advanced search".

BW


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