Video Capture from Camcorder

[Madman]

Stumbled across our very old MiniDV camcorder that I found has some extremely special memories on it. I was trying everything to go from it's USB output to a capture of some sort, but it doesn't seem like that is the way to do this.

Does anyone know what I need to transfer the entire tape over? It would be an extremely special Christmas gift if I could.

Thanks for any help.

[Fattyffat]

Think that’s all you might be able to do. Have you tried using OBS to capture it?

[Madman]

Yeah, but can't figure out how to set USB as the capture source.

[zamler]

What is the exact model of the unit.

[Fattyffat]

Do you know if your camcorder has a FireWire port? If so, you can buy a FireWire cable and then connect that to your computer. You might need an adapter since most computers dont have a FireWire port.

Read this thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder...tapes/gh5agqz/

[getbak]

There are a few companies around town who offer this service. I believe Costco and London Drugs will do it as well, but you won't likely get it back before Christmas.

You could also try to find something like this: https://www.pinnaclesys.com/en/produ...d-recorder-hd/ -- They used to sell them at Best Buy, but I don't know if they still do.

It plugs into the A/V ports on the camcorder and converts the video signal to a digital signal through a USB you can connect to your computer. It also comes with a decent basic video editing software if you need that.

[Madman]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Its a JVC GR-DV800U - I found the manual online, but its of no help other that to suggest you can output to a PC. Further searching leads me to see that this method won't produce the results I am hoping for.

No firewire.

I think the suggestion of finding someone professional is likely the best solution honestly, that way its done 100% correctly and will be perfect for the gift.

Appreciate all the help.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by zamler

What is the exact model of the unit.

Seconded; post the Make/Model of the unit and that'll tell us what sort of connectivity it supports. It might require a model-specific driver be loaded for video capture, I bet if you plug it in and look in Device Manager, there's a shiny new 'Unknown device' sitting there.

Also make sure you're plugging it into a USB 2.0 port (black connector in the port, no SS logo). Some older USB 1.1 and 2.0 devices do not play nicely when plugged into USB 3.0 controllers.

EDIT: I saw you added the model number. I am having pretty much zero luck finding drivers for this camera that aren't on some sketchy "we promise this isn't a virus, honest! *cough* " website. Doesn't help that the manual I found shows this camera is from circa-2003 which was the Windows XP era. Softpedia has some JVC USB Sync driver that says it'll work on Windows 8.1 x64 but I don't know if that's the same thing.

You might be better off finding a digitization service that can help given the age of the device.

[Wormius]

Does the computer recognize it when you plug in to a USB port?

[getbak]

Yeah, if it's a one-off thing, it's probably not worth buying any special equipment.

Here's London Drugs info: https://www.londondrugs.com/film-video-transfer.html

$38 plus the cost of media. I think they send it to Vancouver and it depends on how many are in the queue in front of you to determine when you'll get it back. Someone local will probably do it faster, but it will cost more.


Keep in mind, if they burn it as a playable DVD, that's great if you just want to hand the disc to someone to play in a DVD player, but if you want to put it on YouTube or edit the files at some point, a playable DVD needs to be ripped and that's a pain in the ass if you've never done it before (or even if you do it infrequently).

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Does the computer recognize it when you plug in to a USB port?

No, nothing in device manager either.

Found this guy who looks like he can do it for me: www.tevideo.ca

[bossy22]

https://calgarycustomphotoservices.c...nsfer-services

[Swift]

Originally Posted by Madman

No, nothing in device manager either.

Found this guy who looks like he can do it for me: www.tevideo.ca

Damn, I never realised how expensive this is. I've got some VHS tapes lying around (just stuff recorded off the TV) and have toyed with the idea of having them digitized and uploading old commercials/programmes to YouTube, but never actually looked into the cost of doing it. $45 for the first 2 hours, and then $25 per hour after that? Well that's never happening.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Swift

Damn, I never realised how expensive this is. I've got some VHS tapes lying around (just stuff recorded off the TV) and have toyed with the idea of having them digitized and uploading old commercials/programmes to YouTube, but never actually looked into the cost of doing it. $45 for the first 2 hours, and then $25 per hour after that? Well that's never happening.

What exactly would you expect as a fair price for that service? Seems pretty reasonable considering the special equipment needed and the time involved

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Swift

Damn, I never realised how expensive this is. I've got some VHS tapes lying around (just stuff recorded off the TV) and have toyed with the idea of having them digitized and uploading old commercials/programmes to YouTube, but never actually looked into the cost of doing it. $45 for the first 2 hours, and then $25 per hour after that? Well that's never happening.

Well, you could buy all the equipment and software, learn how to use it all properly, and do it yourself. It can't be more than what, several hundred bucks plus whatever you value your time at?

$45 for the first two hours is a steal IMO. If they're cherished family memories, absolutely worth it. Uploading old TV shows you recorded onto YouTube, eh, I can see why you'd be apprehensive to spend any money on that.

[Swift]

Man why is everyone on this board quick to jump to "argument mode"? I've literally never looked into the cost of doing it, just occasionally daydreamed about getting old VHS tapes digitized out of curiousity. I agree that the price of getting old home movies converted is worth it. However, the cost of getting about 60 hours of random TV recordings digitized on a lark is prohibitive to me. So the price is expensive for my purpose, but not a comment on the value of the service provided by the guy doing it.

[8sPOT]

My Dad did this via Costco a few years ago. Had countless camcord style tapes put into about 8 DVD's. Pretty cool as there was no way to watch those videos otherwise.