DV passthrough (live recording via DV, Firewire)

Question

Level 3

900 points

DV passthrough (live recording via DV, Firewire)

Can iMovie '08 capture "live passthrough" video from a DV camera? I need to record a 2 hour event unattended so I can't record it to miniDV tape as the tape would run out after an hour. Instead I want to connect the camera to my computer and record straight to the MacBook. I have iMovie '08 and FCE 4.0 and it seems FCE (my preferred video editing app) can't do this... so I am now looking to iMovie. Can it do what I want?

And second, can a MacBook C2D 2.16 GHz do this or is it something where a faster video card would be necessary?

Black MacBook C2D, Mac OS X (10.5.1), 2 GB RAM, 2.16 GHz; iPhone 8GB; iPod Mini

Posted on Dec 16, 2007 10:04 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 16, 2007 10:08 AM in response to Joel Nelson

I suspect that depends on the camera itself.

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Answer 2

Joel Nelson Author

Level 3

900 points

Dec 16, 2007 10:14 AM in response to Winston Churchill

The camera definitely supports it. (Sony DCR-HC42) Final Cut Express won't import the "live" video; it only wants to play back the tape. If there's no tape in the camera, it fails.

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Answer 3

PT

Level 7

20,894 points

Dec 16, 2007 10:17 AM in response to Joel Nelson

Have you tried it with iMovie HD version 6?
Patrick

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Answer 4

Dec 16, 2007 10:21 AM in response to Joel Nelson

im6 did with my xm-2 but I haven't tried it with im08. Have you tried using Quicktime ?

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Answer 5

Joel Nelson Author

Level 3

900 points

Dec 16, 2007 10:38 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Good idea; I have QT Pro so I will take a look at that.

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Answer 6

Bakari

Level 2

481 points

Dec 21, 2007 2:12 PM in response to Joel Nelson

I was interested question too. I just did a test and it seems as if you can record with the camera attached to your computer and set up with iMovie '08. You click the Open Import Window, wait to make sure your camera is recognized in the Camera/Record Mode. Click the Import button, select where you want to save the event. After you click OK, the recording will start. You click Done to stop the recording. I'm still experimenting with it, but that seems to be how it works.

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