program for GY-HD100 video capture at DVinfo.net

Jeff Troiano · December 29th, 2010, 02:15 PM

Hi, some guys I know are spending 3 months in the Virgin Islands, filming a thing. They are going to be sending footage back to where I am at (have that system setup). Someone gave them a JVC GY-HD100 to use for this project. At the last min, they realized they don't know how to get the video off the tape, so they can upload to me.

I don't know a thing about this camera, so I was hoping someone could recommend a capture program they can download, or buy someplace, that will allow them to capture from tape, and create a file. They only have a simple laptop (not sure the specs, but probably a few years old), and not the benefit of an editing system.

Thanks for any help,
Jeff

Sareesh Sudhakaran · December 29th, 2010, 10:19 PM

I'm not sure you're on location or in a studio.

If studio:
Any professional NLE can detect and capture HDV from the camera, via firewire.

If location:
Adobe On Location was built for just that. In addition, if you want fast manageable clips, and if you can afford it, Cineform does well with On Location but is not really necessary.

Just remember: Never remove/insert the firewire cable while camera is switched on.

Bob Hart · December 30th, 2010, 12:42 AM

Jeff.

Make sure the firewire on that camera is working and you can capture to a computer before it leaves. JVCs are very vulnerable to failure with that firewire port. Historially, JVCs and Macs once had a particular animus. They were frying each other's firewire ports.

There is an accessory, a short jumper cable which isolates the power circuit on the cable and leaves only the data circuit. That largely reduces the risk.

In a humid environment there is probably less risk but if your room is airconditioned and the air bcomes dry enough for carpet sparks and a comb to make you hair stand up, then take care to earth the computer to the camera via metal points on the casework of both before connecting the firewire.

Before both appliances are connected or disconnected, each and every time, they should also be powered down and the mains wall outlet switched off as well, not just softswitched as destructive potential might just remain. If both appliances are powered from a common mains outlet or double adaptor, leave both connected plugged in as this will help maintain an earth bond between the two. If they are separately plugged into differnt ower outlets, then unplug both as the outlets might be on different phases with unbalanced potential possibly present on the earth pin.

I cannot emphasis the warning on NOT hotswapping the firewire enough. It was touted as a hotswappable standard. It is most definintely NOT hotswappable. Do NOT yield to even one hasty temptation to yank the cable whilst any of the appliances are powered. Whilst the promises of many are negotiable, this is one failure that is guaranteed to occur.

Additionally in a used JVC, the shield around the firewire port is not supported by the casework as it would be in the splitcase construction of the laptops the part was originally designed for.

As a result, normal mechanical loadings imposed by the weight of the cable and a few wriggling pulls now and again to unplug are enough to open the structure and allow the conductors to become intermittently connected. Push in and draw out this firewire plug from the socket directly. Do not wriggle it in or out if it is tight. It soon won't be.

Okay, you fear the thing suddenly letting go and the camera going airbourne or sliding off the coffeetable. Practice a two-handed grip, fingers of one hand on the plug, gripping one hand with other other and using the keel of that hand agsinst the casework of the camera for controlled wedging actio which should controllably draw the plug directly out without sideloads.

If in the field, you find an unreliable or intermittent connection, and discover the shield which also clamps round the plug has spread and become loose, you may find you need to prise both sides of the shiny shield inwards until the fit to the plug is snug.

Some do this rather crudely with ratnose pliers when haste prevails because a shot is being lost and a DR-100 is being used as a recorder. It may be safer to use a pair of jewellers flatbladed screwdrivers and maintain an balanced squeezing pressure with both eased in between the casework and the sides of the shield at opposite points.

Make sure that the "arrow" end and "heel" end of the shield is also restored to position so that the conductors do not short across to their neighbouring strips because the plug is able to wobble or end-float along the sides.

Be aware that bending the shield to restore it to acceptable tightness on the plug imposes mechanical strain on the tags and printed circuit material on the main board and could cause expensive failure there if you cause too much of a sideload or do it too many times.

Another half-assed fix is to cut strips of plastic from 1litre icecream tubs and ease two or three layers of these in with tweezers around the shield between the shield and the casework. This provides a little more mechanical support for the shield. It is not possible to slip in single thicker pieces of plastic strip due to the rolled edge of the shield which overhangs.

Probably better than all this bush mechanicking is to have a proper serviceman get things right. However, proper servicemen charge by the hour and are not always vigilent in these things, preferring to swap out subassemblies rather than go looking for elusive little troubles which set major failures off.

Bob Hart · December 30th, 2010, 01:05 AM

Furthur to Sareesh's suggestion, I think he may also be referring to the ability of some NLE's to capure "live" from the camera firewire directly to a computer whilst the subject is being filmed, which eliminates the need for later capture from playback.

Most NLE's do have a playback capture ability for the JVC. Some will reliably slave the camera to onscreen mouseable controls. Others can be less reliable and the camera playback may need to be initiated manually from the camera itself and the "capture" or "record" function of the software triggered separately by the mouse control

Cineform's HDLink is an application which in standalone mode, can capture an m2t file from the JVC playback. It offers the choice of converting to a cineform CFHD file on the fly. You would want to select "capture" only especially if your computer is older and not up to doing the capture and conversion on the fly.

You also want "capture only" because the CFHD files are larger and you also need the cineform software at the other end to play CFHD files.

There are other softwares which can capture but I do not know them myself. Some hopefully more competent than I will add them in this discussion.

December 29th, 2010, 02:15 PM	#1
Jeff Troiano Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Nashville TN Posts: 480	program for GY-HD100 video capture Hi, some guys I know are spending 3 months in the Virgin Islands, filming a thing. They are going to be sending footage back to where I am at (have that system setup). Someone gave them a JVC GY-HD100 to use for this project. At the last min, they realized they don't know how to get the video off the tape, so they can upload to me. I don't know a thing about this camera, so I was hoping someone could recommend a capture program they can download, or buy someplace, that will allow them to capture from tape, and create a file. They only have a simple laptop (not sure the specs, but probably a few years old), and not the benefit of an editing system. Thanks for any help, Jeff

December 29th, 2010, 10:19 PM	#2
Sareesh Sudhakaran Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 1,385	I'm not sure you're on location or in a studio. If studio: Any professional NLE can detect and capture HDV from the camera, via firewire. If location: Adobe On Location was built for just that. In addition, if you want fast manageable clips, and if you can afford it, Cineform does well with On Location but is not really necessary. Just remember: Never remove/insert the firewire cable while camera is switched on. __________________ Get the Free Comprehensive Guide to Rigging ANY Camera - one guide to rig them all - DSLRs to the Arri Alexa.

December 30th, 2010, 12:42 AM	#3
Bob Hart Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PERTH. W.A. AUSTRALIA. Posts: 4,476	Jeff. Make sure the firewire on that camera is working and you can capture to a computer before it leaves. JVCs are very vulnerable to failure with that firewire port. Historially, JVCs and Macs once had a particular animus. They were frying each other's firewire ports. There is an accessory, a short jumper cable which isolates the power circuit on the cable and leaves only the data circuit. That largely reduces the risk. In a humid environment there is probably less risk but if your room is airconditioned and the air bcomes dry enough for carpet sparks and a comb to make you hair stand up, then take care to earth the computer to the camera via metal points on the casework of both before connecting the firewire. Before both appliances are connected or disconnected, each and every time, they should also be powered down and the mains wall outlet switched off as well, not just softswitched as destructive potential might just remain. If both appliances are powered from a common mains outlet or double adaptor, leave both connected plugged in as this will help maintain an earth bond between the two. If they are separately plugged into differnt ower outlets, then unplug both as the outlets might be on different phases with unbalanced potential possibly present on the earth pin. I cannot emphasis the warning on NOT hotswapping the firewire enough. It was touted as a hotswappable standard. It is most definintely NOT hotswappable. Do NOT yield to even one hasty temptation to yank the cable whilst any of the appliances are powered. Whilst the promises of many are negotiable, this is one failure that is guaranteed to occur. Additionally in a used JVC, the shield around the firewire port is not supported by the casework as it would be in the splitcase construction of the laptops the part was originally designed for. As a result, normal mechanical loadings imposed by the weight of the cable and a few wriggling pulls now and again to unplug are enough to open the structure and allow the conductors to become intermittently connected. Push in and draw out this firewire plug from the socket directly. Do not wriggle it in or out if it is tight. It soon won't be. Okay, you fear the thing suddenly letting go and the camera going airbourne or sliding off the coffeetable. Practice a two-handed grip, fingers of one hand on the plug, gripping one hand with other other and using the keel of that hand agsinst the casework of the camera for controlled wedging actio which should controllably draw the plug directly out without sideloads. If in the field, you find an unreliable or intermittent connection, and discover the shield which also clamps round the plug has spread and become loose, you may find you need to prise both sides of the shiny shield inwards until the fit to the plug is snug. Some do this rather crudely with ratnose pliers when haste prevails because a shot is being lost and a DR-100 is being used as a recorder. It may be safer to use a pair of jewellers flatbladed screwdrivers and maintain an balanced squeezing pressure with both eased in between the casework and the sides of the shield at opposite points. Make sure that the "arrow" end and "heel" end of the shield is also restored to position so that the conductors do not short across to their neighbouring strips because the plug is able to wobble or end-float along the sides. Be aware that bending the shield to restore it to acceptable tightness on the plug imposes mechanical strain on the tags and printed circuit material on the main board and could cause expensive failure there if you cause too much of a sideload or do it too many times. Another half-assed fix is to cut strips of plastic from 1litre icecream tubs and ease two or three layers of these in with tweezers around the shield between the shield and the casework. This provides a little more mechanical support for the shield. It is not possible to slip in single thicker pieces of plastic strip due to the rolled edge of the shield which overhangs. Probably better than all this bush mechanicking is to have a proper serviceman get things right. However, proper servicemen charge by the hour and are not always vigilent in these things, preferring to swap out subassemblies rather than go looking for elusive little troubles which set major failures off. Last edited by Bob Hart; December 30th, 2010 at 12:52 AM. Reason: error

December 30th, 2010, 01:05 AM	#4
Bob Hart Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PERTH. W.A. AUSTRALIA. Posts: 4,476	Furthur to Sareesh's suggestion, I think he may also be referring to the ability of some NLE's to capure "live" from the camera firewire directly to a computer whilst the subject is being filmed, which eliminates the need for later capture from playback. Most NLE's do have a playback capture ability for the JVC. Some will reliably slave the camera to onscreen mouseable controls. Others can be less reliable and the camera playback may need to be initiated manually from the camera itself and the "capture" or "record" function of the software triggered separately by the mouse control Cineform's HDLink is an application which in standalone mode, can capture an m2t file from the JVC playback. It offers the choice of converting to a cineform CFHD file on the fly. You would want to select "capture" only especially if your computer is older and not up to doing the capture and conversion on the fly. You also want "capture only" because the CFHD files are larger and you also need the cineform software at the other end to play CFHD files. There are other softwares which can capture but I do not know them myself. Some hopefully more competent than I will add them in this discussion.