Importing footage to PD9 from old analogue camcorder (av cables)

Dreece47

Newbie Location: Adelaide, Australia Joined: Dec 18, 2010 01:24 Messages: 19 Offline

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Jun 05, 2012 00:47

Hey guys, I hope this is the right place to post this. I want to import footage from my parents (really old) camcorder onto my PC using powerdirector. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to the best way to do this. The camcorder has a yellow and a white av cable and I want to know the best way to connect this to my PC (obviously it has no av port). If anyone has any suggestions it would be highly appreciated.

Cheers

I also forgot to mention, I have a Pansonic Blu ray recorder and I have successfully connected the camcorder to the recorder with the av cables. When I simply watch the footage on the camcorder through the blu ray recorder it looks quite good. However, when you record the footage to the hardrive and then go and play it back it seems that the quality is reduced. Would using an av analog to digital usb cable from the camcorder to my PC and then import it through powerdirector yield better results? Basically I really want to preserve the footage from all the tapes in the best quality I can but I don't want to take them to a business specialising in this as it is too expensive.

Cheers

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jun 05. 2012 01:33

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jun 05, 2012 11:07

Of course the quality looks reduced, because it probably is.

When you are playing the video through the BluRay recorder, it is very likely up converting to 1080 to play on the TV.
But when you play back the recording, you see the native SD video (720x480 NTSC or 720x576 PAL).

It is likely that your BluRay recorder will do the best job of digitizing the analog video. If you can get the video from the BluRay Recorder to PowerDirector, that may be your best and cheapest method.

The other method would be to use a USB Capture Device in Powerdirector's Capture Module.

I do not recommend a USB device that costs less than about $40-50 USD.
The cheaper devices just do not work in Powerdirector, at least well.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Dreece47

Newbie Location: Adelaide, Australia Joined: Dec 18, 2010 01:24 Messages: 19 Offline

Jun 06, 2012 00:12

Quote: Of course the quality looks reduced, because it probably is.

When you are playing the video through the BluRay recorder, it is very likely up converting to 1080 to play on the TV.
But when you play back the recording, you see the native SD video (720x480 NTSC or 720x576 PAL).

It is likely that your BluRay recorder will do the best job of digitizing the analog video. If you can get the video from the BluRay Recorder to PowerDirector, that may be your best and cheapest method.

The other method would be to use a USB Capture Device in Powerdirector's Capture Module.

I do not recommend a USB device that costs less than about $40-50 USD.
The cheaper devices just do not work in Powerdirector, at least well.

Thanks for the reply Carl. In your opinion, do you think using a video caputre usb would result in better video quality. I have looked around online and am thinking about getting this product
http://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Video-Capture-Device-10020840/dp/B0029U2YSA

I am happy to pay for a device that would allow for the best video quality possible. The one above allows you to convert the video into mpeg4 or H.264 files.

However if you think that using my blu ray recorder will yield equal video quality then i am quite happy to do it that way. Any advice is appreciated

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jun 06, 2012 12:14

Thanks for the reply Carl. In your opinion, do you think using a video caputre usb would result in better video quality. I have looked around online and am thinking about getting this product
http://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Video-Capture-Device-10020840/dp/B0029U2YSA

I am happy to pay for a device that would allow for the best video quality possible. The one above allows you to convert the video into mpeg4 or H.264 files.

However if you think that using my blu ray recorder will yield equal video quality then i am quite happy to do it that way. Any advice is appreciated

I know nothing about that device, however the description sounds good.

If it can convert Analog Video to H.264, that would be great. But I bet the conversion is done in software after the video is captured.

Truth, you can only get so much out of Standard Definition Video. SD video was never any more that 'Broadcast Quality' and that was only with Broadcast Equipment. Not with consumer equipment.

There is only one way to find out which would gives the best results, that would be to try both methods and see which one you like the result best.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.