Sony handycam as webcam ??

Hi all
Thanks for previous advice. I bought a Sony dcr-hc37e and it is excellent and I am well pleased with the way it records the gigs we play.
My question is this. Can I use it as a webcam ?? I currently use isight but the quality is relatively poor. I tried to use the sony this morning and it seemed to connect ok but no picture at the other end. Is it possible ?? and are there a few buttons top press to make it work ??
Many thanks
Tony

Hello Tony,
Sue asked us to take a look at your question, so here goes. Summary first:
Because of the title of your question, I will not give detailed responses concerning your iSight's quality. You may find help for that here. If you want more help with iSight, you might want to post your specifics in iSight Discussions.
Regarding your Sony "handycam" question, I cannot find a user's manual for your DCR-HC37E, but it would seem that it should work.
Under the "More features" section of the page linked above, you will find that your camera offers "i.LINK™ (DV output)". This is Firewire DV, and both iMovie and iChat expect Firewire DV input signals.
More specifically: if you can successfully use your camcorder as a video source for live recoding with iMovie, you should be able to use it as a webcam for iChat. Both my Sony's (DCR-TRV17 and DCR-TRV70) work fine.
Some Sony models later than mine (and some Canons, too,) did not work, but I believe the newer Sony's like yours are Mac-friendly again. You can tell whether your Sony works just by trying it.• You will need a Firewire cable that has the correct ends for both your Mac and your Sony camcorder's DV Firewire port.
• Use your camcorder's Firewire output, not the USB port.
• Set your camcorder's output to DV (digital video), not to PAL or NTSC.
• Disable any "battery-saver" or "tape-saver" setting that powers down your camcorder after a brief time. Some models require that you keep the camera plugged into power rather than using the battery. Others require that you take the tape out or open the LCD viewer door. Check your owner's manual for help on this if needed.
• If you can record live video from your camera into iMovie, you can try it next with iChat AV using the same camera settings and connections. It should work.Try this and let us know whether you can get things going.
If you still cannot get it working, or if you want to use your camcorder as a webcam with some other application that is giving you trouble, give as many specifics as possible. We can offer more focused suggestions based on your detailed response.
Cheers,
Jim

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I have
Windows 7 RC
Sony handycam DCR-TRV19
Sony iLink cable
Full Windows Live package installed
and have had similar results.
With the Sony cable (verses a 4 pin to 4 pin cable) I do get DV IN on the camera when I connect.
But in device manager it does not show up under IEEE or as an Image Device :-(
That's as far as I have gotten. Hoping someone can find the little nugget to get this going.
Hi
Here are a couple of links that may help.
Sony eSupport - Digital Camcorders
Sony eSupport - DCR-TRV19 - Support
Hope this helps.
Thank You for testing Windows 7
Ronnie Vernon MVP

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camper
G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Get a nice Sony miniDV camcorder. It is not too expensive; it is small and easy to carry around to shoot your video. Most importantly, it will be instantly compatible with iMovie. You don't have to install any software, just connect it via FireWire (Sony calls this iLink) and you are good to go!
I have had several Sonys and love them. You don't need one with fancy editing capabilities because you will edit your movies in iMovie. Just be sure that it has AV In and Out so you can import and export back to the camcorder.
My current version is the small DCR HC-26. There are newer versions of that HC-30something and 40something. Look at the specs on Sony's website
Some of them require the use of a dock to import and export. I am not really fond of that feature. I like just connecting directly to the camera.

Sony Handycam DCR-HC26 not recognized by iMovie'08

System: iMac PPC G5, 2GB DDR SRAM, running 10.5.8
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Firewire: 4-6pin, tried 2 cables.
Alert message: "No camera connected. To import video please connect a camera."
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Anyone have any help to offer? If I have the time I'll try to dust off the (home) machine that I used a few years ago (not sure which iMovie that was) and see if that works...
Thanks in advance!

Hej Sixten
May be You find help here.
*NO CAMERA or A/D-box*
Cable
• Are You sure that You are using the FireWire Cable - USB-Cable will not work for miniDV tape Cameras
FireWire - Sure not using the accompany USB-Cable but bought a 4-pin to 6-pin (or 9-pin) FW one ?
• Test another FW-Cable *very often the problem maker*.
Camera
• Test Your Camera on another Mac so that DV-in still works OK
• Toogle in iMovie pref. Play-back via Camera (on<->off some times)
• Some Cameras has a Menu where You must select DV-out to get it to work
• Camera connected to "charger" (mains adaptor) - not just on battery
• Camera set in Playback mode - NOT Recording mode
Does Your Camera work on another Mac ?
Sorry to say it is to easy to turn the 6-pin end of the FW-cable 180 deg wrong.
This is lethal to the A/D-chip in the Camera = needs an expensive repair.
(Hard to find out - else than import/export to another Mac ceased to work
everything else is OK eg recording and playback to TV)
A/D-box
• Is the dip-switches set right ?
• Set to same standard as recorded/editing eg NTSC 29.97fps or PAL 25fps
• Try resetting it
Connections
• Daisy Chaining most often doesn’t work (some unique cases - it’s the only way that work (some Canon Cameras ?))
Try to avoid connecting Camera <--> external HD <--> Mac but import directly to the Mac then move
the Movie project to dedicated external hard disk.
• FireWire-port - Can be re-setted by - Turn off Mac and disconnecting Mac from Mains/Power for 20-30 minutes
Mac
• Free space on internal (start-up) hard disk ? Please specify the amount of free space.
(Other hard disks don't count)
I go for a minmum of 25Gb free space for 4x3 SD Video - and my guess is 5 times more for 16x9 HD ones
after material is imported and edited.
• Does Your Mac have a FireWire Port
• White MacBooks - don't
• MacBook-Air - don't
if not then a few Mac’s has a PCM-CIA slot and there are FW-Cards that makes a FW-port this way
else - NO SOLUTION
Only option as I get it is either
• Use another Mac to Capture material (to an external USB2 - Mac OS Extended formatted hard disk - or -
• Change to another Camera that can be used with Your Mac (no there are no miniDV tape Cameras that can)
• If Your Mac-Book has a PCM-CIA Card place - then there are FW-port-Cards and then
You can import via this - but I've not seen this on more modern Macs. My PowerBook G4
has one and this FW-Card-port works greatly.
SoftWare
• Delete iMovie pref file may help sometimes. I rather start a new account, log into this and have a re-try.
• Any strange Plug-ins into QuickTime as Perian etc ? Remove and try again.
• FileVault is off ? (hopefully)
• Screen Saver - OFF
• Energy Saver - OFF
Using WHAT versions ? .
• Mac OS - X.5.4 ?
• QuickTime version ? (This is the heart in both iMovie and FinalCut)
• iMovie’08 (7.1.?), 09 or 11 ?
• iMovie HD 6 (6.0.4/3) ?
*Other ways to import Your miniDV tape*
• Use another Camera. There where tape play-back stations from SONY
but they costed about 2-4 times a normal miniDV Camera.
• If Your Camera works on another Mac. Make an iMovie movie project here and move it
over to Your Mac via an external hard disk.
(HAS TO BE Mac OS Extended formatted - USB/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange WILL NOT DO)
(Should be a FireWire one - USB/USB2 performs badly)
from LKN 1935.
Hi Bengt W, I tried it all, but nothing worked. Your answer has been helpfull insofar as all the different trials led to the conclusion that there was something wrong with my iMovie software. I therefore threw everything away and reinstalled iMovie from the HD. After that the exportation of DV videos (there has not been any problem with HDV videos) to my Sony camcorders worked properly as it did before. Thank you. LKN 1935
from Karsten.
in addition to Bengt's excellent '9 yards of advice' ..
camera set to 'Play' , not rec/computer/etc.?
camera not on battery, but power-line?
did your Mac 'recognize' this camera before...?
a technical check.
connect camera, on, playback, fw-connected...
click on the Blue Apple, upper left of your screen ..
choose 'About../More..
under Firewire.. what do you read..?
More
• FileVault - Secure that it’s turned off
• Network storage - DOESN’T WORK
• Where did You store/capture/import Your project ?
External USB hard disk = Bad Choise / FireWire = Good
If so it has to be Mac OS Extended formatted
----> UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange is NOT Working for VIDEO !
mbolander
Thanks for all your suggestions. What I learned is that I had a software problem. I had something called "Nikon Transfer" on my Mac that was recognizing my Canon camcorder as a still camera and was preventing iMovie from working properly. After uninstalling Nikon Transfer and doing a reboot, everything worked great.
I never liked the Nikon Transfer software anyway--I guess I'll get a cheap card reader and use that to transfer photos in the future.
*No Camera or bad import*
• USB hard disk
• Network storage
• File Vault is on
jiggaman15dg wrote
if you have adobe cs3 or 4 and have the adobe bridge on close that
or no firewire will work
see if that halps
DJ1249 wrote
The problem was the external backup hard drive that is connected, you need to disconect the external drive before the mac can see the video camera.
MaryBoog wrote
Maybe your problems is solved in the meantime, but for all others this might help as I had the same problem, also have the Sony HDR-HC7, but the 7e (Europe, PAL). I found this link today and it works perfectly
//support.sony-europe.com/tutorials/dime/videotransfer/vtransfer.aspx site=odwenGB&sec=DVH&m=HDR-HC7E
What I exactly did.- put camera in play mode - open guide - choose connection guide - choose comp./printer (where to transfer movie to) - select connection.- i-link (on my camera) but equal to firewire - OK - choose HDV - choose NO for conversion of i.link.
Settings are shown then (VCR HDV/DV.- HDV and i.link-conv..- OFF), press OK, OK, END.
Switch camera off. Connect firewire cable to camera & Mac. Switch camera on, in play/edit mode.
Open i-movie, choose import from camera. On screen below the camera connection is shown.- DV (HDV). Now you can import, automatically or manually.
This worked perfectly for me. Took me 2 days to find out. Could not find any clear thread explaining what I had to do on the camera and the manual was not clear either.
Yours Bengt W

Importing a Video from Sony Handycam

I have Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 / Premier Elements 8.0, and when I've been importing videos from my Sony Handycam (HDR-CX7), the Adobe software is downloading the entire video, but it seems to be putting an incorrect duration on the video. For example, the imported video is 5 minutes, but it shows up in Elements at 1.5 minutes. If I start from the front, it will play the first 1.5 minutes. If I scroll to the end, and rewind back 30 seconds, it will play until the 1.5 minute total again. If I watch the video in Windows Media player, it will play the entire 5 minute video. Anybody have a solve for this, or an explanation on why its happening?

I'd suggest asking this in the Premiere Elements forum, which is here:
http://forums.adobe.com/community/premiere_elements
There are a lot more video mavens there than here and you'll probably get more responses. Good luck!

I used to be able to download files from the Harddrive of my Sony Handycam, but now it won't let me import them while going through "log and transfer." I have tried to update my settings, but this doesn't seem to work. Any help would be much appreciated

I used to be able to download files from the Harddrive of my Sony Handycam, but now it won't let me import them while going through "log and transfer." I have tried to update my settings, but this doesn't seem to work. Any help would be much appreciated

Hard Drive: The Hard Drive is on my camera (Sony Handycam)
Just needed some info on what is going on with your particular system.
Knowing the exact camera model will also assist us.
If this camera is standard AVCHD you should be able to connect with USB to Mac with FCE open and use Log and Transfer without all the fiddling around converting etc.
What FCE does during ingest is convert files to AIC. (Apple Intermediate Codec)
FCE cannot read the individual files in the BDMV folder, that's why all the converting is required when you use that method.
BTW: regards formatting drives/cards/memory on cameras; it is wise to use the actual device to format rather than a computer. This is a prime cause of read/write goof ups with solid state media. This applies to still or video cameras.
Keeping the COMPLETE card/memory structure in tact is vital for successful transfers.
Try here for some trouble shooting tips:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12682263#12682263
Al

How do I get a small (Sony handycam) DVD out? from my iMac

In order to see if the iMac would import Sony Handycam DVD (small size) I put in such a small DVD... it's still there, it not recognized, and it will not come out. What can I do?
/Lars

This happened to a family members macbookpro. A mini-cd inserted, couldn't be mounted or ejected by the drive.
I cut a rectangle from a cereal box about two inches wide and 6 inches long. About an inch and half from one end in the middle I cut a notch and bent it down a little.
I................I
I................I
I.....I__I.....I
I................I
I................I
I................I
I................I
I................I
I................I
I................I
I................I
I................I
I_________I
I then inserted it slowly into the drive notch down and slowly pulled out. I did this few times and caught the mini-cd and removed it. The drive has worked flawlessly for several years
A few days after this happened I was in BestBuy and an Apple rep was there displaying new Apple products. I asked him about it and he said they have a tool that vacuums it out.

How do I import video from sony handycam

how do I import video from sony handycam?

Mark,
Did you find out how to import your video from sony handycam ?
I have a sony TRV-22E handycam, and have a mini-USB wire.
Do I need to buy a fire-wire or is there a way I can use this mini USB wire to import video into imovies?
Appreciate any help on this !!

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina) and a Sony HandyCam DCR-HC48 video Camera. The Sony only exports video via Firewire, which is not available on the Mac. Is there a firewire to USB or to HDMI adapter?

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina) and a Sony HandyCam DCR-HC48 video Camera. The Sony only exports video via Firewire, which is not available on the Mac. Is there a firewire to USB or to HDMI adapter?

tyler57,
it would be better to direct that question to Gary Loftis, since my MacBook Pro doesn’t have a Thunderbolt port.

Uploading Video from Sony Handycam

Hey everyone!
I am looking for some help to upload video from my sony handycam. It is one of those dvd systems. Anyway I can watch what I have on the dvd using the dvd player through a usb port, however i cannot import the clips in to either imovie or idvd. Any reasons?
Thanks for those of you that are going to give this a kick at the can.
dale

Hi Dale:
Welcome to discussions.
If you can't return the camera for a DV Tape camera with a firewire, then start here:
Using Mpeg (DVD) footage
http://danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6010.shtml
:)Sue

Sony Handycam DVD camera

Seasons Greetings to everyone
I received a Sony Handycam DVD camcorder today. It is very nice (from what I can see - it's my first) but I don't see a way to download the data on the disc to my iBook for use in iDVD. It uses the mini-discs and I know I can't use them in my computer. I thought there would be a USB cord to attach between the two devices (like I have for my digital camera) but there isn't one.
I really want to be able to use the editing features of iDVD. Do I need to get a new camera, a new cord or am I just missing something!!??!!
Thanks - and goodnight!

Hi Aunt Kack:
That is a nice camera, but it is not the camera you want if you are using iDVD or iMovie.
You will need to convert your footage into a format that the Mac can use.
Using Mpeg (DVD) footage
http://danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6010.shtml
some helpful tools:
MPEG StreamClip:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
Apple MPEG2 PlayBack Component:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
DVDxDV
http://www.dvdxdv.com/
So, really, I would try to return it and get a DV camera that uses a firewire.
Sue

Sony handycam as webcam ??

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