Camcorders woes... FOAK help!?

Hi all

Remember my attempts to record bike trips?

Got a Canon MV5i, works great with a Sport Cam attachment.

BUT...

How do I get the tapes to mpeg on the PC?

I've tried the software that came with it, which purports to save to avi
file then says file type unknown. I've tried Pinnacle Studio 9 which
doesn't see the camera either on DV/AV or USB.

If anyone can help, I'd be very grateful.

Cheers all

 

If you're running XP, doesn't Windows Movie Maker do this?

 

Not running XP bu Windows 2000 so do not say use XP

 

Could you say that again in English please?

 

I think the first step is to see if the PC sees the camera.

When you plug your camera into the PC, does it recognise it? Do you see
it in the Device Manager? If not, get the PC to search for new devices,
when it's plugged in and on "film transfer mode" (or whatever it's
called).

(I use Pinnacle Studio 8 and it works fine for me.)

 

Yes, but only if you want to save them as WMV format.

 

Sadly that's probably your problem - Win2K is very fussy about what it will
and won't acknowledge is connected to the system. Took me forever to connect
an infra-red jobby to talk to my mobile phone when using W2K. Took seconds
to do the same thing on XP.

If you don't want to upgrade, you probably need to find the W2K drivers /
service pack to deal with cameras. If you're lucky, some video capture
software may include them, but most will probably rely on Windows having the
drivers in the first place.

Try downloading the trial version of Sony Vegas Movie Studio or 'full' Vegas
from http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/vegasfamily.asp - if that
doesn't sort it, you can be fairly sure Windows will need sorting, rather
than the capture software.

 

Well Hells Bells. All I need is a Firewire cable, it seems.
The ArcSoft crap that came with the camera will allow me to view but not
capture my taped video.
Cameramate ProPix EVE (Easiest Video Ever ... yeah right) allows me to
view and capture but the frame rate is terrible and the resulting movie
has no sound. Sigh.
Pinnacle kept asking me to connect the IEEE 1394 and I thought "WTF is
that?" The cam didn't have a Firewire cable in the box!? So I'm gonna
buy one and cry a LOT if that doesn't work.

 

You should have said the magic word "IEEE 1394". Half of ukrm would
have stood up then.

The good thing with Pinnacle is that it captures very easily and with
the firewire cable (costs next to nothing), you'll be sorted.