Capturing From Old Video Camera

[Mobebb]

I need to capture family video footage into Roxio Creator 2012 Pro from an old Panasonic palmcorder video camera which uses VHS -C video cassettes. The camera only has phono outputs so I have purchased a phono to USB lead. When I plug this into my laptop however, the camera isn't even recognised. Do I need a special driver or converter for this task? I would appreciate any help as I have 25 of these tapes to archive onto DVD.

[ogdens]

Are you sure there is no Video(yellow) output jack. What is the make and model #.

[Jim_Hardin]

If it only has "phono outlets", HOW are you getting Video to the Roxio Video Capture USB device???

 

It is not the camcorder you are looking for, it is the Roxio USB Device and probably needs to be set to Composite input:

 

[sknis]

Some jack on the old cameras look like stereo phono outputs- half of it is audio; the other is video. To capture audio and video, you need to capture both sides with an Analog to Digital Converter that also plugs into a USB port. Roxio sells one (link) as well as others (example only- not a recommendation). If you use the Roxio one, it will work with this program. If you buy a cheaper one, you would use either the program that comes with the device or Windows Movie Maker. Once you capture the video , then you can edit it with Edit Video Advanced.

 

One thing to check is to make sure that your computer is capable of doing the capture. Go here (link), read the instructions carefully and then attach the resultant text file. Read the instructions carefully. It sounds like you don't have a lot of computer experience so take your time and answer fully.

 

Once we see your computer, we can make other suggestions.

 

Please give us the exact model number on the camcorder so we can look it up and perhaps see about the ports. If it is the one that I'm reading about, you can put that small tape in a full sized VHS player using the adapter and then capture from the VHS player. Looking further, that camcorder does have a composite plug (both audio and video). A standard stereo plug would work with one side being the audio and the other being the video. Both those would go to the analog to digital device one side to the yellow (always the video) the other to one of the audio jacks.

[Mobebb]

oops, sorry that's me using the wrong terminology. They're not phono outlets from the camcorder but the yellow video outlet and the white audio outlet. Should I have a Roxio USB device? My 'media import' screen doesn't show it and I didn't get one with the Roxio software. On my 'Roxio Media Import' screen the drop down menu only shows 'Integrated webcam' and 'Roxio DVD-Rom Emulator (H:)

[sknis]

oops, sorry that's me using the wrong terminology. They're not phono outlets from the camcorder but the yellow video outlet and the white audio outlet. Should I have a Roxio USB device? My 'media import' screen doesn't show it and I didn't get one with the Roxio software. On my 'Roxio Media Import' screen the drop down menu only shows 'Integrated webcam' and 'Roxio DVD-Rom Emulator (H:)

 

Yes, you must have an analog to digital converter to convert the analog signal from the camcorder to the digital format that the computer requires. No, one doesn't come with Creator 2012 except one may with one of the special editions. I gave you examples in my post above (blue text are links). There is no other way around it unless you can feed the Panasonic camcorder to a digital camcorder (called pass through).

 

Perhaps your will need to do a little background reading. Since you are asking, then you don't have an A/D converter that came with your program.

 

Sorry I forget to add this link above so that you can tell us about your computer. Link. There is no use in spending money if your computer won't handle the capture.

[Mobebb]

Thanks for the advice - I have now ordered the Roxio analog to digital converter. Meanwhile I will try capturing from the VCR using the small tape adapter as you suggested. The old camcorder is a Panasonic Palmcorder model No NV-S5B. As I explained in my last post, using the term phono outputs was a slip of the tongue. You can plug in both video and audio jacks. I actually have a lot of computer experience and have used roxio products for about 9 years but am usually capturing from a modern digital camcorder rather than from an analog source. Your link to the computer spec info wasn't live and so I couldn't complete that but here is a brief rundown of the spec of my laptop.

Acer Aspire Ethos 8951G, Windows 7 Home, Intel core i7 , NVIDIA Geforce GT 555M, 8GB DDR3 memory, 1500GB HDD

 

Thanks again for your help.

[Mobebb]

Thanks for the link - now here's the text file with computer info:

DxDiag.txt

[bimicher]

Thanks for the advice - I have now ordered the Roxio analog to digital converter. Meanwhile I will try capturing from the VCR using the small tape adapter as you suggested. The old camcorder is a Panasonic Palmcorder model No NV-S5B. As I explained in my last post, using the term phono outputs was a slip of the tongue. You can plug in both video and audio jacks. I actually have a lot of computer experience and have used roxio products for about 9 years but am usually capturing from a modern digital camcorder rather than from an analog source. Your link to the computer spec info wasn't live and so I couldn't complete that but here is a brief rundown of the spec of my laptop.

Acer Aspire Ethos 8951G, Windows 7 Home, Intel core i7 , NVIDIA Geforce GT 555M, 8GB DDR3 memory, 1500GB HDD

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

If you can capture from a digital camcorder then simply feed the signal from the analog camcorder to the digital camcorder and then capture from the digital. sknis suggested that in a post above. That is how I captured my analog before I got a Roxio capture device.

[sknis]

From the dxdiag information.

 

1) You will have to set you Windows font to 96 dpi; 100%. Anyhtign else will give you problesm using this software. You can change it back when you are doing other things.

2) Make sure your video drivers are up to date. Yours look to be 2 years old. There are probably some updates available from Asus or from nVidia.

3) Do you use that emulated drive? If not get rid of it. If you need it later, you could add it back then.

4) Have you done any maintenance on your computer recently? You have a lot of hard disk space but make sure it is cleaned of junk files and defragged (optimized). Here are some free tools.

 

For the pass through, you will need to use a firewire port. BTW, Nice laptop if you can call it that ( 8 plus pounds) !

[Mobebb]

Yep the laptop is big - I call it 'The Beast' - but I love it. Right here's where I am up to with my analog to digital problems. The Roxio converter is likely to take weeks to arrive and I urgently need a small amount of video footage from the analog tape in order to complete a family video. I tried the analog to digital camcorder pass-through but the old camcorder didn't play well. Using the small VHS tape in the cassette adapter was more successful and I could see the footage clearly on the digital camera's LCD screen. There was a problem however when I tried to connect the digital camcorder to the laptop. If I connected with a USB, the laptop did not recognise the camcorder - if I connected with a firewire, the camcorder was recognised but the footage disappeared off the LCD screen and the Roxio capture button wasn't live. I seem to be banging my head against a brick wall. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for your tips, Sknis, I'll follow those through.