Premier Pro CS3 | Can't capture footage from camcorder

SloYerRoll

Hey all,

I'm doing a parody w/ a friend and can't capture any of the camcorder data to my local machine so I can edit it.

details:
Vista
Adobe Premier Pro CS3 v3.0.0 (374)
JVC GR-DV800U

Connected via USB (Don't need the firewire speech unless it's relevant to this)

I attached the camcorder and Vista grabbed all the drivers needed and it seems to be running fine.

In Premier, I goto:
File>Capture
I then press play on the camcorder so premier to pick up the footage and the capture dialog box continues to have a blacked out screen. (It tells me the capture device is offline, but I know the computer recognizes the camcorder is plugged in etc)

I'm not fluent in premier, but do remember this was the exact workflow I used before when importing on a different camcorder/machine.

Here's a link to the Adobe site of supported JVC cameras, but the list seems limited at best.
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/search_result.html?manuSearchVar=1&modelSearchVar=0&supportSearchVar=0&brand=JVC&dataFormat=&version=CS3&device=cameras&format=NTSC

Any ideas?

ChrisJ

SloYerRoll wrote:

Connected via USB (Don't need the firewire speech unless it's relevant to this)

I'm pretty sure you need a firewire cable to capture video. None of the cams I know of will do it through USB (though that may have changed).

EDIT: For fun I looked at the manual... it does seem to imply that USB is allowed:
jvc.JPG
http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/96/LYT1106-001E.pdf

hgernhardtjr

I, too, have never had success transferring video with USB from a vidcam (JVC and Sony). Stills, yes, from the cam's memory ... not video. Firewire ... instant success and real-time transfer, with full control of the cameras' reverse, forward, etc. from the software (I primarily use Pinnacle) at home. And even my Sony's manual implies USB will work ... but not for me.

darkdragon

If your video camera is tape-media, you need a firewire cable. If it is a hard-drive camera you can use USB.

Tape-based cameras usually also have a memory stick/sd card slot for photos. Those are the thing that you can grab via USB, not the video.

SloYerRoll

Well that answers that. Thanks all.

I just have to go out and buy a new PCI Firewire port. Mine somehow got fried and I had no real other use for it. Fortunately their cheap.

Thanks again.

darkdragon

SloYerRoll wrote:

Well that answers that. Thanks all.

I just have to go out and buy a new PCI Firewire port. Mine somehow got fried and I had no real other use for it. Fortunately their cheap.

Thanks again.

Another tip for you.

Even though Firewire is supose to be "hotswapable" it really is not. A client of mine lost his firewire port on his new computer and the computer's battery by hotswapping a firewire cable.

Follow these steps when downloading footage. It may seem like a pain, but better than damaging your ports.

1. Shut down computer
2. Shut down camcorder
3. Plug firewire into computer
4. Plug firewire into camcorder
5. Turn on computer
6. Turn on camcorder

That is the safest way to go. Some people will leave a firewire cable connected to the PC and then plug in a powered down camcorder with no problems. However, there a lot of instances of a powerd on computer and powered on camera sending too much charge through the cable and frying one or more port.

It might also have something to do with the shielding on the cable itself, so don't cheap out - get a good firewire cable.

Hope this info can help you save your port next time.

ChrisJ

darkdragon wrote:

Those are the thing that you can grab via USB, not the video.

That's why I was really surprised to see the documentation for the camera say it could "transfer still/moving pictures recorded on a tape to a PC". Maybe it just takes a specific Firewire card (which isn't specified in the docs).

darkdragon wrote:

Even though Firewire is supose to be "hotswapable" it really is not.

Maybe I just have good cables? I've been plugging/unplugging my video camera for years without any issues. I do, however, have an analog/digital converter which explicitly states to not hot-swap it... so I don't for that.

darkdragon

ChrisJ wrote:

That's why I was really surprised to see the documentation for the camera say it could "transfer still/moving pictures recorded on a tape to a PC". Maybe it just takes a specific Firewire card (which isn't specified in the docs).

It's funny because a lot of cameras say in the manual something similar to that but it almost never works. Might be a USB2.0 thing and the fact that most USB ports in computers are Not USB2 but are USB2 "compatible". I'm not enough of a tech-head to understand it that deep. I just know that USB doesn't work to transfer from tape because it doesn't keep a steady stream of data flowing, it sends data in chunks - which does not work for realtime capture.

ChrisJ wrote:

Maybe I just have good cables? I've been plugging/unplugging my video camera for years without any issues. I do, however, have an analog/digital converter which explicitly states to not hot-swap it... so I don't for that.

If you have good cables, you will possibly never have a problem. I have never fried a port on my systems, and I have hotswapped too. However, i do know people who have problems with this. Maybe they put the cable in upside down (that will do it), maybe they just have "dirty power", who knows. Just wanted to mention it because the OP mentioned that he already had a card fail on him, and hotswapping is the most likely culprit for that. Non-moving computer parts don't usually fail for no reason.

SloYerRoll

darkdragon wrote:

It's funny because a lot of cameras say in the manual something similar to that but it almost never works. Might be a USB2.0 thing and the fact that most USB ports in computers are Not USB2 but are USB2 "compatible". I'm not enough of a tech-head to understand it that deep. I just know that USB doesn't work to transfer from tape because it doesn't keep a steady stream of data flowing, it sends data in chunks - which does not work for realtime capture.

I build my machine from the ground up. All my ports are USB 2.0. I don't know the technology enough either, but I now know REAL USB 2.0 won't work for DV capture.

darkdragon wrote:

If you have good cables, you will possibly never have a problem. I have never fried a port on my systems, and I have hotswapped too. However, i do know people who have problems with this. Maybe they put the cable in upside down (that will do it), maybe they just have "dirty power", who knows. Just wanted to mention it because the OP mentioned that he already had a card fail on him, and hotswapping is the most likely culprit for that. Non-moving computer parts don't usually fail for no reason.

I'm not sure how your people plugged in firewire upside down. It's pretty much a physical impossibility.

I'm a huge advocate of you get what you pay for, so I'm not sure how I fried my firewire port, but I know it wasn't due to cheap cables That's also why I run an APC 750 smart UPS. Since there is no such thing as clean power on the American power grid. I have a friends dad that's some big wig electrical engineer for the govt. Some of the stuff he showed/told me was truly scary.

darkdragon

SloYerRoll wrote:

I build my machine from the ground up. All my ports are USB 2.0. I don't know the technology enough either, but I now know REAL USB 2.0 won't work for DV capture.

Same here. I didn't add a usb card to my pc though, and can't remember if my ports are really usb2 or not. lol.

SloYerRoll wrote:

I'm not sure how your people plugged in firewire upside down. It's pretty much a physical impossibility.

Cant plug them in upside down, but can try and once the cable makes contact witht he outlet (depending on how crappy each one is) it may send a surge through. I've seen people try really hard to get it to go in upside down though (college kids. hahaha).

Hope it all works out for you getting that footage down. I know how utterly frustrating it can be to not be able to get footage (had a camera that just kept dropping frames, took me 5 hours to get 30mins of footage).

I dont even want to know what the gov't is doing to our power, it's probably worse than we can even imagine.

nofate

I was able to transfer video from my Sony digital tape camera to my 3 year old Dell computer with the supplied USB cable, but there were some spots where the video seems to pause for a couple of seconds. The video is in my sig line below.

In my search for a firewire cable I was quoted over $100 for it. Can this be a correct price (Radio Shack type store) or is someone trying to rip me off? Are firewire cables that expensive?

SloYerRoll

nofate wrote:

I was able to transfer video from my Sony digital tape camera to my 3 year old Dell computer with the supplied USB cable, but there were some spots where the video seems to pause for a couple of seconds. The video is in my sig line below.

In my search for a firewire cable I was quoted over $100 for it. Can this be a correct price (Radio Shack type store) or is someone trying to rip me off? Are firewire cables that expensive?

For a good firewire cable. It can be that expensive. You can find cheaper solutions w/o sacrificing too much quality though. I have a 5' and 25' cable and they cost me $30 and $125.

RadiosShack is generally a rip off though.

[Deleted User]

There was an item on the net a while ago which I read and it explained the problem with USB cables and like a good boy scout, I never made a note of where I read it

But the problem is that there is a suttle difference between a USB 1.1 and USB 2 cables and the cheaper cables are genarally the made to USB 1.1 std, when sold as and used with USB 2 devices can cause problems.

While it always better in the long run to buy quality equipment, a high prices does not necessarily reflect a quality product.

Tim