Camcorder File transfer

[JohnE]

Ok dopey question time again.
Have a JVC , hard disk cam corder.
When we were o/s took a heap of photos and video on it, ( yes it takes photos too, magic stuff)
I managed to get the photos of it and copied and burnt to disc, prtty easy almost the same as doing the phtos of a digital camera.

Now i want to get the video off it, using these stupid producer programs , i can only get a frame segment off at a time, a real pain,( with 5 weeks of footage) then the program only lets me do so much, no even enough to fill a dvd disc. I have tried 3 times on 2 computors and stil can;t get it right.

Is there anyway to copy them as they were recorded, straight onto a file or burn direct to a disc. Similar to copying videos.

I have read the instructions, still gibberish to me, none of which works the way it says.


john

[WhiteD3]

John,

I'm assuming that the camera has both a USB and a DV connection. If so, you should be able to plug the USB connection to your PC and see the camera as just another drive, which then you could just copy and paste the files.

[Blknight.aus]

windows vista also comes with a videosuite that if you have a firewire connection you jsut hook it up and it will slave the camera to the software suite you then hit the transfer button and it copies it across in some instances if the camera isnt completely compatable (or its an older tape unit) it will play back the movie as it records it in the format of your choice on the pcs HD.

[jik22]

Really depends on how they store the video, and I'm not familiar with JVC. However, most DV camcorders just use AVI files, which should be visible if your computer mounts the camcorder as another drive. Then, copy the files off (Usually 1 file per recording session, unless they are split because of size) to the PC and edit from there.

The final step is to encode to DVD format, as you want to do all editing in native format first. Windows Movie Maker, and 100 other programs can do all this for you, but I always find it easier to have the source files on the PC, nice and safe, then work with a copy.

[100I]

I have a HDD/DVD unit that I copy straight onto and burn DVD same as the days of VHS. But I can't edit much before it suffers brain drain.
On the PC I currently use windows movie maker and import straight from the device, but this isn't ideal either, it's glitchy no matter what quality settings I've tried so far, maybe my PC needs more ponies.

[JohnE]

many thanks you all make it so simple, I have tried the usb connection a few times, but it only opens up the producer program, for the transfer, but then it may be me too,
I'll work through each suggestion and see how i go,
the main computor has Xp on it,
the laptop has vista
had the same problems with both.

thanks again

john

ps, failing that i'll take it into the local photo place.

[Bassifier]

Is your camera AVHCD?

[JohnE]

thats technical talk,
don't know what that means,
its a GZ-MG20AA model.


john

[Bassifier]

Its the format file it records in, I cant find any infor in relation to that camera and it being AVHCD so I'm guessing its a older model and the problem may lay with a software conflict. Have you reinstalled the CD provided?

[jik22]

many thanks you all make it so simple, I have tried the usb connection a few times, but it only opens up the producer program, for the transfer,

That's probably just the Windows associated action for when it sees that device (Which can be changed, BTW). However, once it fires up the program (Indicating it is seeing the device) just switch back to an explorer window and see if a new disk drive has appeared. If so, have a look on it and see what files you can see, and if you can copy one over to your main drive so we can have a play with it from there.

[JohnE]

ok understand now, copy and paste

was just trying it then realised i had stuffed up all my dvd discs on previous attempts.
will get some more tomorrow and have a crack at it,

my under standing

copy and paste to a file name on computer,
then burn to disc the same way it was saved, ( i don;t want to do any editing or the like)


john

[jik22]

copy and paste to a file name on computer,
then burn to disc the same way it was saved, ( i don;t want to do any editing or the like)


john

Probably not that simple, as the file(s) you'll get off at a minimum will need to be structured into native DVD format (.IFO, .VOB, etc.) but a good burning program like Nero should be able to do that almost as a "drag and drop" job. However, it's also quite likely it'll need re-encoding too, unless you're lucky and the native format is DVD-ready MPEG2.

Whilst you're going to this amount of effort though, it's worth spending the extra few minutes to edit out any junk and put a few menus and chapters in to make playback more user friendly.

[awabbit6]

Hi John,
What is the name of the software that came with the camera? We use Panasonic HDD cameras at school and they come with Pixela to manipulate the video files. The software has a function to allow direct burn to DVD from the camera.
I couldn't find any info on your camera, but the JVC website indicates that most of their cameras have a similar "burn to DVD" function in the software.
I generally manipulate the video to tidy it up first and don't particularly like the software that comes with the cameras.


Paul

[JohnE]

Well had a crack at it, the software that came with it is Power producer, couldn;t do the copy bit, wouldn't work,
eventually got some onto the producer program saved and burnt it and I think I totally stuffed it up.
Put the finished disc into the dvd player and it does nothing, just comes up with little frame icons, it won;t play unless i play each individual one, 'back to the drawing board'.Plus have run out of discs to burn( have ruined a few)
Whats the difference between a DVD-R and a DVD +R disc?

thanks paul, tried to reply to the pm, but got flicked now the subscription monster is playing so hence no pms, when get that sorted out will say hello.

john

[Debacle]

If you know anyone with a Sony Handycam, borrow their picture package software and install that and give it a go. It transfers the video on to your hard drive as an avi file that you then edit and burn.
Pity I dont go down to Lismore for work anymore, I could have let you borrow mine.

[JohnE]

john
thanks for the info,
I won;t let something that should be simple overpower me,
I guess i will have to read all the help files and work out what i did wrong,
i guess since it came with the software it has to work.


john

[awabbit6]

John, I've had a look in the manual for Powerproducer and it states:

"Note: Some camcorders are recognized as external disk drives on your PC, and therefore the Right-to-Disc feature is not available. In this case you should use the Import Video Files function to import the files directly from the external drive (camcorder) to your hard drive."

This will be the reason that you are unable to go directly from the camera to DVD. I haven't found a package that will allow you to go to directly to DVD. I'm not sure that one exists yet.

Paul

[jik22]

Whats the difference between a DVD-R and a DVD +R disc?


The format and the method used to write them. However, once written and "finalised" both formats should be readable by any modern DVD player.