Help! Hacking an old camera for DV In/Out

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I have a fairly old Panasonic DVS camera that for some reason pre-dates the idea of DV out as well as DV in. BUT...I know there is a way to hack said camera using a PC (which I do not have) and a (serial?) cable of some kind. Anyone else tried this?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

What out ports does it have? Just RCA?

(and by DV in/out you mean IEEE394/firewire right?)

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

What out ports does it have? Just RCA?

What's RCA?

(and by DV in/out you mean IEEE394/firewire right?)

yes. It has firewire, but only for DV out.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

You only need one Firewire port on the camera - it should work both ways.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:57 (twenty-two years ago)

It doesn't, really!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

The one port is only enabled for DV out.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

And when I try and export from FCP, I can control the camera remotely, but what I get on tape is just squiggles and white noise.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd say your problem is either

a) the port itself
b) the wire you're using, or
c) something you've set in FCP (since the program itself should be fine)

But all FW connections should be two-way.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Also, are you certain all your stuff is format-consistent? Your error sounds suspiciously like a problem I've noticed when PAL or NTSC tapes get put into un-equivalent format players.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:45 (twenty-two years ago)

a) the port itself

Could be, but it exports fine.

b) the wire you're using

I don't think so-I have a small army of FW cables culled from my last job.

c) something you've set in FCP (since the program itself should be fine)

Maybe, but this still happens with default settings.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Some kind of explanation from Google Groups:

Another factor is that being in Europe, camcorders available over here
have DV-in disabled (otherwise they count as VCRs and are subject to a
higher rate of import duty). As long as it's got DV-out, and once I've
got a decent PC-based non-linear editing setup, I suspect this won't be
as much of a problem as I at first thought. I don't need to make lots of
copies of edited tapes so I can probably get away with dubbing straight
from PC to VHS or SVHS without needing a digital edited master. Having
said that, I'm off to the Chicago next week, so I wondered how easy it
was to get hold of non-crippled PAL versions of the above camcorders
over there, and how much I might expect to pay for one?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I am using all PAL, UK-bought tapes and camera.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 20:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Non-crippled PAL in the US? Hmm...might be a problem there. Still, I guess it's worth a try. Didn't know that about the DV-in being disabled - that sucks - you have to buy a deck just to digitally record your edits???

― Girolamo Savonarola, Tuesday, 18 November 2003 21:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha! If only it was that easy - I can get PAL footage in, edit it, but I can only get it out if I had a PAL deck...and I now live in the US, anyway. For good. Welcome to my life.

I will get a NTSC camera when I can afford it (ha!).

That said, I would prefer to just hack this camera (it IS possible), and pay for NTSC transfers as and when I need to - I am just trying to get a reel together in time to apply for schools in February.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 21:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I know that Sony has a deck that can do both PAL and NTSC.

But...it's $1500. Definitely not worth it. Maybe conform to NTSC while editing, and then borrow a friend's low-end miniDV camera to record? Hey, it'll work for now, I guess.

If you're not planning on going back to a PAL location, why not just sell your PAL camera and use the money on that to buy an NTSC model? Still, you'd have all those PAL tapes. Hmm.

I might be in a somewhat similar boat soon myself, though, as I'm going the other way. But it would take a LOT to separate me from my good ol' camera. So I understand if selling it is not an option. I guess I've helped as much as I can, though. Best of luck hacking it!

― Girolamo Savonarola, Tuesday, 18 November 2003 21:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Again, it's appreciated. I don't think I'd get much for my camera, so I will probably hold on to it. Plus-yes, everything I have ever shot is stored on PAL mini-dv tapes.

Maybe conform to NTSC while editing, and then borrow a friend's low-end miniDV camera to record?

I've never attempted this-is it difficult? If not, it would seem like the best solution.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 22:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I've never attempted this-is it difficult? If not, it would seem like the best solution.

Um...well, you see...

OMG! Look, over there! A giant pink elephant with wings!

*runs away*

...

Seriously, I don't see why you can't set your project settings for standard NTSC DV - you'd still probably capture as PAL, IIRC, but you'd export as NTSC. On the other hand, it might need to render this each time, so another idea would be to capture as PAL, convert the whole tape's file to NTSC standard, then play with that.

Yyyyyyyyyyes.

I think.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Wednesday, 19 November 2003 00:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Your blind faith in this odd practice still inspires me.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 19 November 2003 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

That's why I'm a director - I get people to have a modicum of confidence in me even when I don't! ;)

― Girolamo Savonarola, Wednesday, 19 November 2003 03:01 (twenty-two years ago)

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