Recording Directly To Computer

[lilrichie]

Hey Guys,

Recently i have become involved in some band nights which are held locally and would like to know if the following would work.

We have a Canon Mini DV camera which uses either an SD card or Tapes to record but would like to set-up a workstation at the events to connect the camera directly to and record live instead of using tapes, is this to any one's knowledge possible and if so what software would do it!

Many Thanks
Richie

 

[Multimedia]

Easy To Do With iMovie

Hey Guys,

Recently i have become involved in some band nights which are held locally and would like to know if the following would work.

We have a Canon Mini DV camera which uses either an SD card or Tapes to record but would like to set-up a workstation at the events to connect the camera directly to and record live instead of using tapes, is this to any one's knowledge possible and if so what software would do it!

Many Thanks
Richie

What Mac? You can do this with iMovie by simply connecting the camera to your Firewire (FW) port with a FW cable.

But it's going to eat 13GB an hour. You should record to tape at the same time as a backup and archive medium. Hooking a large external FW drive to the Mac would be a better approach. You can build a big 400GB drive for only about $140 buying the drive during one of Fry's sales and putting it in a FW case.

 

[lilrichie]

What Mac? You can do this with iMovie by simply connecting the camera to your Firewire (FW) port with a FW cable.

But it's going to eat 13GB an hour. You should record to tape at the same time as a backup and archive medium. Hooking a large external FW drive to the Mac would be a better approach. You can build a big 400GB drive for only about $140 buying the drive during one of Fry's sales and putting it in a FW case.

Brilliant, that is what i want. I am going to use a MacBook 2.0ghz with 1GB of ram and a external disk as you said.

Thanks for your reply.
Richard

 

[gnasher729]

Brilliant, that is what i want. I am going to use a MacBook 2.0ghz with 1GB of ram and a external disk as you said.

Thanks for your reply.
Richard

Make sure you have a DV tape with you. Some DV cameras won't let you record onto the Macintosh unless there is a tape in the camera - there is no logical reason why that tape has to be there, but it doesn't work without it.

 

[lilrichie]

Thanks for the replies guys, i would just like one more slice of information.

If i record in IDVD would i be able to take it back to the studio and edit it in Final Cut Express? OR should i record it in Final Cut Express in the field and transfer it back in the studio.

Rich

 

[Mydriasis]

Why not record directly with QuickTime in the native format and edit it in FCE later? I would not use iMovie, because then the footage can't be used by other programs unless you use twice as much HD space.

I would still use a tape though! Better save than sorry, and its a much more comfortable storage format. But, alas the quality isnt native.

 

[lilrichie]

That is a very good idea, what format will Quick time record into tho and will that work in FCE

I will still use a tape as a spare because if something happens i can always import the footage off the mini dv.

 

[Multimedia]

Doesn't iMovie Capture Native DV Same As QuickTime Pro Does?

Why not record directly with QuickTime in the native format and edit it in FCE later? I would not use iMovie, because then the footage can't be used by other programs unless you use twice as much HD space.

I would still use a tape though! Better save than sorry, and its a much more comfortable storage format. But, alas the quality isnt native.

I think the capture in iMovie is the same as the QuickTime Pro capture isn't it? Why do you think they are not portable (can be used in all DV ready programs) native DV files captured in iMovie?

If i record in IDVD would i be able to take it back to the studio and edit it in Final Cut Express? OR should i record it in Final Cut Express in the field and transfer it back in the studio.

You don't capture in iDVD. Since you have FCE then capture with that so you can log the files as you capture them too. No point in not using FCE if you have it. You started out saying how to record with the computer. You didn't say you had Final Cut Express. Had you said that to begin with I would have told you to capture with Final Cut Express NOT iMovie. We miscommunicated due to missing information on my end.

Always record with tape at the same time. That is your archive medium and backup.

 

[Mydriasis]

Well yes, you can view the package contents of a iMovie Project file in the finder. But how will you access those files from FCE, without moving them to a different spot? Maybe there is some easy way, but I dont know it. But why use the middle man iMovie, its just as easy in Quicktime?

EDIT: nevermind, stupid comment! I figured it out. Please ignore what wrote above. (I need more sleep)

 

[trudd]

Why not record directly with QuickTime in the native format and edit it in FCE later? I would not use iMovie, because then the footage can't be used by other programs unless you use twice as much HD space.

Not quite. You can drag the clips from an iMovie project directly into FCP. Just make sure you don't move/delete the iMovie project file, as all the footage is contained within.