Setting up capture

Connecting a camera

A DV camera is connected to a computer via a firewire cable (also known as IEEE 1394 or i-link).
In general, your camcorder will have a 4 pin connector. Your computer can either have a 4 or a 6 pin connector. The cables are called 4 to 4 or 4 to 6.

"4" pin connector "6" pin connector

Switching the camera on

To capture images from tape, switch on your camera to "Play" or "VCR".

If this is the first time that a DV camera has been connected, it may take some moments for Windows to install the new hardware. Watch for progress in the Windows system Tray.


Selecting a Capture Device

The lower part of the DV import module contains several settings. Clicking the headings expands each setting to view the details.

Select your camera from the Select capture device drop-down list. When the tape is played an image should appear in the DV import video display.


If the device or camera that you are using does not appear in the capture device list, it is possibly because of one of the following reasons:

Camera not switched on. (Remember cameras auto switch off after a short time if unused)

Camera not connected to the computer.

Camera not properly installed by Windows.

Hardware fault with firewire cable or camera or capture card.

Camera not capable of exporting video to a computer.

Choosing a Capture Location

The Capture Location setting both displays the current Windows folder where video will be stored and allows you to select a different location. To change capture location:

1.   Click the Change capture location link. The following dialog box appears:

2.	Select a folder from the list or click the Make New Folder button to create a new folder in the currently selected folder.

All your capture locations should be included in the Library (see Defining your library) if you intend to use the Categories system (see Organizing your library). Otherwise the captured clips will not appear in the Items List of the Library module.

When creating new capture locations, make them sub folders of one of your existing Library monitored folders. That way the new location will automatically be included in the Library.