Camcorder Stopped Being Able to Read Tapes
Q. I tin can't observe any Windows 7 drivers for our quondam camcorder, and I even so need to convert the concluding few clips on a tape at that place. How do I practice that?
A. I saw this question on our neighborhood's mailing list, but I'm sure at that place are many more like information technology, considering how many digital camcorders were once in wide apportionment.
The sender beginning asked whether everyone else had a camcorder that could play MiniDV tapes like the one in his 2003-vintage Sony. Nobody came forth with 1, so I offered to cease past and take a look.
(I don't usually make firm calls, but neighborship has its privileges.)
My neighbor explained that Sony didn't offer drivers for whatsoever version of Windows newer than XP, and so his Windows 7 laptop couldn't play video off the camcorder's record when connected with a USB cable. And when he tried borrowing an XP laptop and installing those drivers, the reckoner still didn't accept the camcorder.
(This is not a Mac-only workaround, but when my neighbour tried using that borrowed XP laptop'south FireWire port — a rare sight on a PC — the video-editing software he tried wouldn't work with the camcorder.)
When I plugged the camcorder into my MacBook Air with a USB cable, I could run across some still images saved on the camcorder'south Memory Stick storage card, but not the video on the tape.
But the mini-USB port on the side wasn't this camcorder's but possible connectedness to a computer. It also had a FireWire port next to that output.
FireWire is a digital connector developed and somewhat popularized by Apple tree. It's showed up on far fewer PCs than Macs, where information technology's sometimes chosen "1394," after the number of the manufacture specification that defines it; Sony went with the moniker i.Link.
By whatever proper name, FireWire can transfer data faster and more consistently than USB, but in this case its bigger advantage was that Apple's iMovie app on my iMac didn't demand any extra download to recognize the camcorder.
Instead, I needed an adapter cable. The camera had a meaty, 4-pin FireWire port, while Macs accept shipped with three dissimilar, successively faster ports that can talk to a FireWire device: FireWire 400 and 800 and Thunderbolt.
With the right adapter cable running betwixt camcorder and computer, I turned on the camcorder and switched information technology to its "VCR" (as in, playback) mode, opened iMovie and clicked the "Import" push button in its toolbar. An entry for "Sony DV-VCR" appeared in the program's listing of connected cameras; I selected information technology, and a set up of onscreen buttons allow me remote-control playback on the camera.
I rewound the tape, clicked a different "Import" button, and the computer recorded the video every bit the camcorder played it back. Once it was washed, I used iMovie's "Share" option to save the footage equally an MPEG-iv file that should open on any electric current PC or Mac.
And once y'all take a video in a digital course, yous can finish worrying well-nigh cables or drivers; you should be at liberty to convert the prune into any format will piece of work best on your laptop, TV, telephone, tablet, cybernetic eyewear or connected sentinel.
TIP: Endeavor VLC TO OPEN A STRANGE VIDEO OR AUDIO FILE, EXCEPT ON ANDROID
I've recommended the free, open up-source VLC app hither earlier for its power to play DVDs with region codes that preclude playback on most U.Due south.-market computers or DVD players, but it's also bully as an all-purpose audio and video playback tool. The "features" page for this app lists an impressive array of formats that range from obscure to forgotten to fossilized--at the latter extreme, Sony's ATRAC3 audio and Intel'due south Indeo video.
VLC is bachelor for Windows, Os X, Linux and other operating systems; its list of supported platforms is almost equally long as its listing of supported formats. But its Android version remains in beta-test land — and as of Tuesday, the Play Shop still flagged it as incompatible with every Android device I've used.
For watching otherwise-unplayable iOS clips on Android, yous might want to endeavor an option that wasn't effectually the concluding time I considered that problem: RealPlayer Cloud. This combination of app and Web service from RealNetworks (fortunately complimentary of the old RealPlayer plug-in'southward pushy beliefs) automatically converts iOS video to Android-friendly formats and vice versa while besides allowing viewing online and through a Roku app.
Rob Pegoraro is a tech writer based out of Washington, D.C. To submit a tech question, e-mail Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/robpegoraro.
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2014/03/23/how-to-retrieve-and-convert-video-from-older-camcorders/6631023/
0 Response to "Camcorder Stopped Being Able to Read Tapes"
Postar um comentário