DV Question

[torifile]

Is there some way to record from a DV camera directly to a computer? I've got to tape therapy sessions and then convert them to quicktime files for streaming and I was hoping to cut out the record/import step.

TIA.

[HOM]

Sure. If you fire up iMovie and set it to camcorder mode you can record the live feed without going to tape.

One thing to keep in mind is that some cameras will not pass a live feed through to the computer if there is a tape in the camera.

[torifile]

Great! Now I need to figure how to get a non-DV feed working too and I'll be golden (any ideas?). Thanks.

[curiousuburb]

Non-DV inputs will need to get converted from analog to digital.
Unless you're using an ancient PowerMac AV model with capture card, you might want to look at an external Formac box to do the on-the-fly conversion.

[Eugene]

One thing to keep in mind is that some cameras will not pass a live feed through to the computer if there is a tape in the camera.
Even more common is the tendency for cameras to shut themselves down after a few minutes when there is a tape loaded.

[torifile]

Non-DV inputs will need to get converted from analog to digital.
Unless you're using an ancient PowerMac AV model with capture card, you might want to look at an external Formac box to do the on-the-fly conversion.

Any recommendations for a Formac? How much do those things run anyway? Thanks.

[HOM]

Formac sells theirs for $299 (http://www.formac.com/p_bin/?cid=solutions_converters_studiodvtv), but that also includes a TV tuner card. There is the Pinnacle version for $249 (http://buy.pinnaclesys.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry10?V1=639865&PN=1&SP=10023&xid=51106&CID=0&DSP=&CUR=840&PGRP=0&CACHE_ID=123468), but it doesn't come with the TV tuner. Canopus has one for $219 (http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=382624). eBay has listings (http://search.ebay.com/dazzle-hollywood-bridge_W0QQsokeywordredirectZ1QQfromZR8) for the discontinued Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge.

Any and all of these would do exactly what you want.

[Gurubarry]

Just buy a Cheap DV Camcorder . The imovie will sort it all out for you . ;)

[Bones3D]

I had one of these prior to it getting fried by lightning a couple months back. It's just the white plastic unit and a firewire connection. (There are no cards involved.)

Formac sells theirs for $299 (http://www.formac.com/p_bin/?cid=solutions_converters_studiodvtv), but that also includes a TV tuner card.

[torifile]

Just buy a Cheap DV Camcorder . The imovie will sort it all out for you . ;)

Can't do it for the therapy room. We've got some kickass 360 degree rotating robotic cameras that I'm trying to get the stream from. It'd be damn cool if I could do it because then I could make the case for getting us a REAL computer rather than these celeries we've got now (I'm using my powerbook.... screw that).

[torifile]

Ok, I'm in need of some more assistance on this.

I'm thinking we're going to buy a Mac (probably an eMac) and hook it up to our video feed via one of the boxes listed above (probably a canopus advc55). I've got a few questions:

1) Can this box be used to feed the stream directly into iMovie 4?
2) Is there a file size/clip size limit to what iMovie can handle?
3) How big will the file be?

I know that iMovie can't import a clip larger than 2 gigs, but how about direct recording? We're going to be recording LONG assessments (as in 4-6 hours) so the stream recording will be huge. Is this going to be a problem? We're then going to want to burn these to DVD from time to time. Will this work?

[Xaqtly]

1) Yes.
2) I don't know what the upper limit is, but it's way more than 2 GB, I routinely capture 30-40 GB of video at a time in iMovie.
3) 4-6 hours would equal maybe 60-90 GB of disk space.

iDVD has a maximum limit of 2 hours for a DVD, so you wouldn't be able to use iDVD to create a DVD of one of your 4-6 hour sessions. DVD Studio Pro would work though, because it has more compression options and would let you squeeze the whole thing onto one DVD.

[curiousuburb]

IIRC, there are still some issues with iMovie losing sync the longer the vidcapture is.
Perhaps this was fixed in the last rev, but the workaround was capturing the video in several smaller chunks rather than expecting a >2GB file to maintain audio and video sync through its entire duration.

Small bites are generally safer than trying to eat the whole enchilada in one mouthful.

edit: Xactly, do you notice a loss of sync with longer captures?
Maybe the fix is stable now and I'm out of date. If so, disregard.

[Mr Beardsley]

Its been my experience that iMovie splits things up automatically. I think it starts a new clip every 10 minutes. Its been a while though so don't take that as gospel truth. I thought the sync issue was part of the DV conversion. If you look at the Canopus boxes some of them come with audio lock which is supposed to keep things in sync on long clips.

[Ebby]

Just another option, but you could also use Quicktime Broadcaster to record and compress the DV stream to another format other than DV. You could save a ton of room on your drive if you don't have to edit it.

[Xaqtly]

Xactly, do you notice a loss of sync with longer captures?
Maybe the fix is stable now and I'm out of date. If so, disregard.

So far so good... I've done a few captures that were > 1.5 hours long and they didn't go out of sync.

And yeah, iMovie starts another clip every 9.x minutes, but it's seamless.

[torifile]

Thanks guys! Now i need to price them out and hopefully (keeping fingers crossed) we can order it tomorrow.