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New member Username: Tiki_expressPost Number: 1 Registered: Oct-10 | Hi, I've had the Sony DCR TRV260 for a couple years. During that time I would make recordings to the DIG8/Hi8 tapes the camera used, then I would play them back onto my Samsung Home DVD unit (attached to my TV). The results were very good quality videos in (I think) 740x480 format---bottom line is they looked great when played back from one of those DVDs to either a TV or a computer. The only drawback to the way I burned my DVDs was very limited editing ability (basically in-line pause/play on the Samsung while the camera continued to roll). I decided it's time to take my raw tapes to the computer, and purchased Sony Vegas 9. Here's the problem/question: When I ingest video through the IEEE wire and capture it with Sony Vegas, the largest file format I seem to be able to capture is 640x480, yet I know when I used my camera-to-Samsung method above, the resultant video was 740x480....so what gives? a) What is the size of the raw video (as recorded on the DIG8/Hi8 tapes)? I've been all over the Sony site, and can't find that info. b) If the answer to (a) is 740x480, why am I only getting it ingested at 640/x480, and is there a way/setting/switch in Sony Vegas 9 to tell it to bring the video in "full sized"? c) My goal here is to ingest all my raw footage and creat a couple of "best of videos", which I would then burn on my computer DVD drive into a copy-a-ble master DVD. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I want the end-result to look great on computers and TVs, and as near to normal/store bought DVD format as possible. If the answer is Sony Vegas doesn't support the format size, just say so. If the answer is the camera only records at 640x480 and my Samsung must have up-rendered it to 740x480, that's cool, I just need to know. Sony Vegas does, I believe, allow for up-rendering to 740x480, but in my mind, that sounds like stretching one sized video into a larger size, and that just don't sound wonderful. Any help/simple answers would be appreciated. Thanks! |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 484 Registered: Dec-07 | Have you tried Windows Movie Maker? According to Wikipedia, Hi8 is 560x480. DVDs are 720x480 or 720x576 |
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New member Username: Tiki_expressPost Number: 2 Registered: Oct-10 | Thanks for the reply. Used to use Movie Maker, but have an uncorrectable file error in it, which was part of the reason for moving to Sonny Vegas 9. 560x480? That sounds like an odd size... |
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Platinum Member Username: PlymouthCanada Post Number: 15448 Registered: Jan-08 | Tiki Express Which video format file you get from the Sony vegas thing? |
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Bronze Member Username: MatthawkinsPost Number: 16 Registered: Feb-10 | What format are your tapes recorded in? Digital8 (digital) or Hi8 (analogue)? Digital8 is 720x480 and over Firewire you should get 720x480 at the other end as an avi file. Hi8 is analogue so the resolution once digitised could be anything depending on the analogue-to-digital process ... but 560×480 is the accepted standard resolution. You can capture analogue at whatever resolution you like so it could be higher. No much point doing it but you could! It sounds as if you are playing the video (either Digital8 or Hi8) via an anologue signal into your DVD recorder which is digitising the picture at the standard DVD resolution for NTSC which is 720x480. This would explain why Sony Vegas is ending up with 640x480. It is just using the analogue-to-digital video capture hardware you've got. If you have Digital8 recordings you would be better transferring the raw data over Firewire. Haven't used Sony Vegas but I'm assuming it can capture over Firewire and that would give you 720x480 with no loss to the anlogue-to-digital stages you are going through at the moment. |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 1 Registered: Mar-11 | I have footage shot in on Hi8 tapes with the Sony DCR-TRV260. (The manual is so confusing that I actually don't know whether it's analog or digital... but I would assume it's analog since it was shot in LP mode?). How do I transfer this footage onto my Mac OS X (version 10.4.11) for future editing? And what would you recommend as a semi-professional editing system (i.e. not iMovie)? |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 551 Registered: Dec-07 | A Digital8 camcorder such as the Sony DCR-TRV260 records digital information on a Hi8 tape. Hopefully, your Mac has a Firewire port, so you can directly transfer the video. |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 2 Registered: Mar-11 | Thanks for writing. Yes, I have a Firewire port and cable. But in which format will the transferred video be and will I be able to edit it? |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 552 Registered: Dec-07 | Don't know. I don't use a Mac. |
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Bronze Member Username: MatthawkinsPost Number: 30 Registered: Feb-10 | The DCR-TRV260 is definitely digital. The manual is probably a bit confusing because it is shared with other models that are analog only! Great idea Sony. In LP mode it somehow fits more video onto the tape (x1.5). I'm not sure if it does this by reducing the quality of the audio or video or both? Anyway I'm sure all you need to do is pull the data over a firewire connection onto your Mac. It will be a flavour of the DV format so will be editable in all the big name editing software. I've never edited on a Mac but I've heard good things about the "Final Cut" series of products ... usually when I've been saying how great Adobe Premiere is on the PC :-) |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 3 Registered: Mar-11 | Helpful. Many thanks. |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 4 Registered: Mar-11 | I have footage shot on Hi8 tapes (analog) with a camera subsequently lost to a thief. I would like to transfer the footage onto DVDs via a Mac, but my current camcorder (a Sony DCR-TRV260) refuses to play these tapes. Any advice? |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 578 Registered: Dec-07 | what do you mean refuses to play? according to page 78 of the owner's manual, the picture does not appear on the screen when the tape is recorded in the Hi8 / 8 system |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 5 Registered: Mar-11 | The tapes I shot with this camera, I am able to play and transfer onto a DVD, using iDVD on my Mac. But I am unable to do this with the tapes I shot with another camera even though they are Hi8 tapes. I was wondering whether there is a way around this problem other than sending the tapes out to be transferred at a cost of $40 a tape. |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 579 Registered: Dec-07 | You still haven't explained what the problem really is, other than that you can't do something. Not in the least bit useful information to go on. |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 6 Registered: Mar-11 | I am sorry. Let's try again. I have Hi8 tapes which I am unable to play in my camcorder (they were shot with a different camera). Although the format is the same (Hi8) - I can fast-forward and rewind them - the camera will not allow me to play them, watch them, or transfer them onto a DVD through my computer via a Firewire cable. This last thing (play the tapes on my camera to transfer the footage onto a DVD) is what I am trying to do (as I successfully did with other tapes - also analog - shot on this camera). My question is: How can I get around this problem? Is there something I can do besides sending these tapes out to a place that will transfer them for me at a cost? I hope this is more clear and thank you for your patience. |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 580 Registered: Dec-07 | You can try buying the same exact model as your stolen camcorder on eBay and see if it will play. I have never heard of a tape not being able to be played at all. Is there some sort of error message? |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 7 Registered: Mar-11 | No error message. I put the tape in the camera, go to the play/edit mode, press play and nothing happens. I don't remember what the stolen camera was: that was years ago. Thank you. |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 581 Registered: Dec-07 | Found a review for the DCR-TRV260. http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/sony-dcr-trv260-camcorder-review.htm It cannot play analog Hi8 tapes. |
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Bronze Member Username: MatthawkinsPost Number: 40 Registered: Feb-10 | Although the tapes are labelled "Hi8" they could contain Video8 (analogue), Hi8 (analogue) or Digital8 (digital) recordings. Sounds like your recordings are either Video8 or Hi8 which your camera can't play. |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 582 Registered: Dec-07 | In jwe's first post, he/she wrote I have footage shot in on Hi8 tapes with the Sony DCR-TRV260 then later posted I have footage shot on Hi8 tapes (analog) with a camera subsequently lost to a thief and that it happened years ago. For me, I thought the discussion was about one set of tapes shot on the DCR-TRV260 which would have digital video, but now, it is clear that we are talking about two different sets of tapes. It is probably safe to say that the original set of tapes have analog information on them. Depending on the number of tapes in question, it may or may not be worthwhile to buy a used Hi8 camcorder. |
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New member Username: JwePost Number: 8 Registered: Mar-11 | That's correct: I shot a number of tapes with one camera that got stolen. Two years later I bought another camera assuming (wrongly, it turns out) that it would be compatible with the first set of tapes because it was the same format (Hi8). I then shot more tapes with the new camera over the next few years. About a month ago I decided it was time to transfer all these tapes onto DVDs and asked about it on this forum because, since the technology changes every couple of years, how am I supposed to know how to proceed (I have other things to do in life than reading information that will likely be obsolete a year from now)? Long story short, I figured how to transfer the newest tapes, thanks to a couple of people who responded to me at the time. But when I got to the older tapes (shot with the old camera) I got stuck. I am writing this for the record, because there is a lesson here: The corporate world expects us, docile consumers, to renew all our toys and accessories every couple of years. Don't even think this camera you just bought is good. Two years from now you will learn it's rubbish. And the rationale behind this? Life is about working more to make more money to consume more and when this planet is forever turned into a dump, don't worry, there are plenty more to migrate to. Amen. |
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Silver Member Username: Ieee488Post Number: 584 Registered: Dec-07 | I am not sure why you are blaming the corporate world. If you had your original camcorder or had bought a Hi8 camcorder when replacing the stolen camcorder, you would not be in the situation you are in now. The blame goes on you for not researching fully the DCR-TRV260 and and the thief --- not Sony. Technology advances. That's what happens. CDs replaced cassette tapes. Blu-ray will eventually replace DVDs. Flat screen TVs replaces CRT TVs. |