Transfer from Camera to PC

[snmichaels]

Hello there, first post.

I'm a digivid novice and am having a problem. I have a miniDV Sony DCR-PC330E PAL Handycam. When I transfer video to my PC using the supplied USB cable and the supplied software, the video quality goes goes down significantly. The image becomes heavily pixelated IMO. Even when I burn to a DVD and watch it, the image is still crap. When I use the AV cables and view on the TV, the picture is greart with no pixelation. I want it to be the same when editing on my PC. I have the camera setting to USB Stream but I don't know if this makes a difference.

I've heard it would be better to use a firewire cable, but will this maintain the picture quality from the camera? At the moment, the only way I can think to maintain the quality is to connect the camera, using the AV cables, to a DVD recorder but then editing becomes a problem.

Any help in this matter would be greatly apreciated. Thank you.

Sami.

[JSPhoto]

snmichaels,

Hmm, the cable used shouldn't dictate what quality the video you see is, the files going to be the same either way. It sounds to me like a video issue with your computer. What video card do you have? How much memory does it have? What resolution is it set for? What resolution are you shooting at?
All of these could have an effect on what you see on the screen. Even the amount of memory the computer has can effect video playback. If your shooting at 640x480 pixels and veiwing it on a 1280x764 screen it will look pixelated, but if vewed at 640x480 should be fine.

JS

[snmichaels]

Well, I've got a 3GHz P4 with a 1GB of RAM so that shouldn't be the issue. The video card is whatever came with the Dell desktop we bought last year. I'll have to check what exactly it is and it's specifications. I can't seem to be able to open the device manager, even though I'm logged in as administrator. How else can I access the video card or find out what it is? How do I change the settings.

I've found something, Legacy Video Capture Device, is that a video card? I found it in the Sounds and Audio Device Properties though. My computer is acting wierd. It's not letting me troubleshoot some things and access others.

I'm not too bothered how it looks on the computer, it's when I try to watch it on a DVD player on the TV that I mind. I tried using the Sony software that came with it and also MyDVD that came free with the computer. Could it be the program? I've got Alcohol 120% to try as well, is there a better one? The resolution on the camera is fine I think, because when I view the video directly from the camera to the TV with the AV cable, the picture is perfect.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

[JSPhoto]

Not sure which is better software wise. With what your saying about it looking fine on the TV with the AV cables it souns like a software issue. I use MyDVD but it came with my computer. I don't remember why but I didn't like the Alcohol software for some reason, maybe it wasn't compatible with my drive.
Check the DVD you burned and compare the file size (dimensions and kb or mb) with what the camera is set for. It could be the computer is changing the file size, don't know why but anything is possible. If you find the size on the DVD and the camera dont match then check software properties and make sure it isn't set to resize images. It could be the software that the camera uses to download the images.
Check the camera makers site to see if there are software updates or any similar issues, sometimes you really need to dig to find an answer.

JS

[snmichaels]

Thanks, I will look into when I get some time. I'll post my progress.

[MJS]

You are trying to transfer moving video and audio files through the wrong cable. You will need a firewire or IEEE 1394 cable to successfully transfer the video and audio. The USB cable is for the stills and using the camera as a webcam.

Sorry about the delay in responding, I've been out of town with the family for the holidays.

Good luck.