Camcorder Recommendations?

[Eddie K. wannabe]

Does anyone know of a good, inexpensive minidv camcorder that's guaranteed to jive with the "Play DV Out Firewire" PT6 feature. Some of the Sony models look nice, I just want a little verification from a user or 2. I know the Canopus ADVC-100 is a qualified DV bridge but I'd like to get a camcorder that can double as my Video capture and Video Output device/camcorder. Will any Sony Model with Firewire work?

Thanks for all the help.

[Gene Backlin]

"Play DV Out Firewire" PT6 feature

I haven't tried this feature, but I bought my daughter the Sony TRV-30 MiniDV camcorder and use Final Cut Pro and have had no problems using the firewire connection. Final Cut Pro sees the camera and I am able to capture video without any problem.

Take Care,
Gene

[Eddie K. wannabe]

Thanks Gene ahhhhhh Chicago I miss it.........


Yeah you should be able to play a QT movie in Protools out via Firwire to you Camcorder and then hook up a TV to monitor the QT movie. This feature however seems to be a little shady. If you have a chance do me a huge favor and hook up your camera to a firwire port, import a QT movie, select "play DV out Firewire" under the movie menu, (you might have to set your camera to ext.input or something I have no idea) and see if you can monitor the video. Thanks again. I pulled this from the compatiblity section. You need to use a proper QT file for this to work, see below:


Pro Tools 6 supports Firewire Playback of QuickTime DV Movies with all Pro Tools TDM and Pro Tools LE Mac OS X systems.

With the addition of an external DV transcoder (decoder), you can play QuickTime DV Movies out through your computer's Firewire port. These can include QuickTime movies exported from Avid XPressDV. Pro Tools 6 supports the Canopus ADVC-100 for playback of Quicktime DV movies via the Firewire port. This card supports both NTSC and PAL rates, and can record audio simultaneously with video. QuickTime DV performance may vary, depending on the specifics of your system and projects. Additionally, please note that scrubbing to location is unsupported due to Firewire related latency issues.

To digitize Quicktime DV video for use with Pro Tools, any application that can properly create DV25 Quicktime movies can be used. We have tested digitized files from Avid XpressDV 3.5 and Final Cut Pro 3.0, each using FireWire input or analog capture using the Canopus ADVC-100. The Canopus supports composite or S-Video inputs as well as clock locked analog audio inputs via RCA connectors.

QuickTime movie offsets are required when using external FireWire transcoders. The offsets may vary depending on machine and OS. You will need to fine tune your system's offset by entering an appropriate value in the movie sync offset window (found in the movie menu

[donharriss]

I have no problems doing this with an older Canon ZR-30.

[antiphase]

Although Sony makes some great recommended camcorders for the Mac, I would look into a Canon due to their larger selection of recommended cameras that Apple has for use with FCP HD. I got myself a ZR-80 a few weeks ago for 370.00 and it is working great. I can use it with FCP HD, iMovie, iChat, PTLE, bla bla bla....... it's a great little mini dv camera.

[Gene Backlin]

(you might have to set your camera to ext.input or something I have no idea)

I did not want to leave you hanging...It's my daughter's camera and I do not see any setting per say, so I'll hit the manual tonight. All that happens in LE is the menu selection is grayed out, so it does not recognize the camera. I'll do some reading and get back to you.

Chicago I miss it.........

I work in the city and it is nice, however I live about 40 miles south and love to get away from it all. My town is still very old fashoned...hey we are going to get our first gas station and grocery store !

Take Care,
Gene

[AverageJoe]

I just bought a Canon Optura 10 for just over $300 on eBay and it's been working great with my Mac (iMovie). It does have the pass through feature... at least it can be used as a pass through converter for VHS tapes to go into iMovie. I would assume it can do what you need it to.

Canon products are generally very compatible with Macs...