XL2 to Dell Laptop W/O Tape
 

How can I disable the DV Tape on my XL2 when recording to the hard-drive on my dell. I am using Canon console DV capture software over the firewire connection.

You need to capture without device control from your application. (you did not specify what platform you are using to capture with) I have done this from Final Cut Pro (On my mac). I haven't tried this using Vegas on my PC. It may or may not work depending on your software.

I Generaly use Vegas to capture or "DV-PC Recorder Software" to capture(AVI) for the XL2, from Canon. My question is can I record With Out the Tape in the camera. The Camera is setup for DV Control in the menu system and I can capture to tape and the hard drive at the same time.

I tried recording using Vegas 5 and it works without changing any settings.

1)Turn your dial on your camcorder dial to anything but "VCR" or "Off" (I tried Auto mode).
2) Remove your lense cap :^)
3) Enter capture utility in Vegas
4) Select "capture now" and "stop" when you're done.

I have an XL1s, but it should be the same. I hope this is what you mean.

The Question was about recording with out DV tape installed in the camera. I Did A Test Lastnight And "Yes" I Can Record With Out Tape. Just Remove The Tape From The DV Recorder (Canon XL2) With The Firewire Hooked up to a Laptop (Dell w/100G hd) one can record direct to the hd through a capture program. Note: Camera displays the "RED no tape symbol". The captured AVI Files recorded without any problems. After one hour of test I had no dropouts. I will still Problely run with dv tape as a backup. //RMH

I also need to do this...does anyone know if there's a way that I can "start / pause /start" the capture and keep that in one file rather than having to make a new file everytime i stop?

I am shooting baseball games and taking out the dead time.

Thanks,

Rick

better several clips than one
 

You are better off with several clips than just one: should one get corrupted you are out of luck

Answer to Rick Step: there's a way to do it !
 

But you have to use a Windows PC...

Serious Magic Dv Rack let's you use a PC (laptop works great) as a video monitor, dv recorder, audio volume monitor, vectorscope... lots of options.

I plugged a USB 2.0 drive into mu laptop and recorded without problems. You can pause, but I think it makes a new clip when you do it (I'm not sure...). I agree with Martin that it'S better to have different clips.

The new version supports HDV: i tried the demo and it's amazing !

Give it a try:

http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvrack.cfm