Faster-than-realtime MiniDV transfer to PC
 

I need a way to transfer minidv content to a PC, and I am looking for a way to make this process faster than transfering from a camcoder via FireWire.

Is there a minidv player that will help transfering uncompressed to PC? Something that would fit in a 5.25 drive (like a CD Rom Player)? Or maybe a rack mountable player?

Is it even possible to transfer faster-than-realtime minidv content uncompressed to PC?

Thanks.
<jason:vince/>

I don't know of any MiniDV deck that reads the tapes at a faster speed than the speed they were recorded at.

Not sure what you mean by transferring the content from a MiniDV uncompressed. DV video is compressed video. When you transfer it from MiniDV tape to a computer, you are transferring an exact bit for bit copy of the data, as it was recorded onto the tape by the camera.

Jason,

I use the Sony GV-HD700 to transfer video from miniDV to the computer. It's also a recorder, and portable, and has a nice screen. It works good but doesn't read my tapes that were shot with Canon's 24F mode. For a rack-mount unit you'll pay a premium (upwards of $10,000).

I doubt there's a way to capture miniDV faster than real-time, which is why many people are migrating over to solid state media.

B&H has the GV-HD700 in stock at $1,054.

Mark

Hi

Back good knows when there was sony(not very sure) deck and avid(really dont know for sure). The only fact I remember was it worked 4 times realtime.

Anyhow googleing dint help me a bit so I think this is long gone...
Just use cheap computers in parallel for on shared storage should give you same effect if you have many tapes.

Hope this helps a bit...
-Kaspar (Always prefers non linear media) Kallas

If you're looking for full resolution, complete video capture, the answer is no: there is no way to capture MiniDV footage any faster than real-time.

On the other hand, the shareware tape logging software Scenalyzer will do a fast-forward index of a DV tape, with scene breaks and JPEG screengrabs. You can then use this to create a batch list for capturing just the clips that are of interest. Depending on what you're doing, it can be a great timesaver.