Trying to capture both video and audio to Quicktime Pro from DV camera

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Trying to capture both video and audio to Quicktime Pro from DV camera

I want to digitally archive raw footage from my mini-DV camera (canon ZR500) to an external hard drive. I know I can capture all this footage through iMovie. But it creates hundreds of these little .dv files.

I just purchased Quicktime Pro as it looked like it could accomplish this task (just get me one .mov file with the the entire mini-DV tape's footage on it). Although I can record video just fine, the audio from the camera does not record. While I am recording in Quicktime Pro, I can see the audio gauge at the bottom registering the audio input. But when I playback, it is not there. Do I need to hook up the camera with something other than just the standard Firewire?

BTW, I am on a Mac Mini, OS 10.7.3, iMovie 8.0.6

Thanks

Jon

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Jun 1, 2012 10:51 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 1, 2012 12:42 PM in response to jonmanheim

its important to do this in the correct order so the camera will be senced by the Mac and to prevent the Firewire connection from electrical damage:

power down your Mac

connect firewire from camera to Mac

power on camera and insert tape in camera and play back

power up Mac

start QuickTime

File > Preferences > record tab

video source - select the camera you have

sound source - select the camera you have

quality - select device native

the video should show in the QuicTime window

a green line below video will show presence of sound-it will play through the speakers if they are selected in system prefernces

rewind tape and playback

click on red button to start recording

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Answer 2

jonmanheim Author

Level 1

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Jun 1, 2012 2:49 PM in response to Gary Scotland

Thanks. But didn't help. I went through it all step by step. When QT opened initially, the video played, the audio meter showed audio being sensed, AND I could close the camera viewfinder and hear the audio through my speakers. I stopped playback, rewound the tape, started playback from where I wanted to begin recording. However, when I clicked the Record button on QT, it recorded only video. again, the audio meter shows line-in is working. But when I play back on QT, there is no audio. Also, interestingly, i cannot get the audio to come through my speakers anymore when i playback the video realtime through QT. I can only hear the audio through the camera. Any ideas?

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Answer 3

jonmanheim Author

Level 1

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Jun 1, 2012 3:05 PM in response to jonmanheim

Just figured it out. A little wacky. You have to open a new Movie Recording window in QT AFTER playback starts on the camera or audio doesn't get recorded. If you first open a New Movie Recording window and THEN start playback, no audio from QT - either during playback on the speakers or during recording.

Thanks!

Jon

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Answer 4

rlavere

Level 1

49 points

Jun 17, 2012 2:23 PM in response to jonmanheim

Your solution is absolutely correct, "jonmanheim". I struggled with this for two hours tonight before figuring it out; thanks for posting the answer.

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Answer 5

Jul 11, 2013 11:59 AM in response to jonmanheim

Thank you Jon! Yours was the first correct aswer I found in much googling. What a weird idiosynchricity - totally counter-intuitive.

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Answer 6

Patt9

Level 1

18 points

Nov 7, 2015 11:38 PM in response to jonmanheim

Thanks Jon, though I know the help you gave was in 2012, and now it is 2015, it helped me too. You have certainly made my day and allowed me to sleep soundly.

Many Thanks.

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