67 Three DV/HDV-capturing scenarios Adobe Premiere Pro offers tools to take some of the manual labor out of the cap-
turing process. There are three basic approaches:
t You can capture your entire videotape as one long clip.
t You can log each clip’s In and Out points for automated batch capturing.
t You can use the scene detection feature in Adobe Premiere Pro to automatically
create separate clips whenever you press the Pause/Record button on your
camcorder.
To do this exercise, you need a DV camcorder. Most DV camcorders have an IEEE
1394 cable that you hook up to your computer’s IEEE 1394 connector. If your com-
puter does not have an IEEE 1394 connector, it is recommended that you buy an
IEEE 1394 card.
You can work with HDV or with a professional-level camcorder with an SDI con-
nector and a specialized video capture card. Adobe Premiere Pro handles HDV and
SDI capture with the same kind of software device controls used with a standard
DV camcorder. SDI requires an extra setup procedure.
If you have an analog camcorder, you need a video capture card that supports
S-Video or composite video connectors. The only option with most analog cam-
corders is to manually start and stop recording. Most analog capture cards do not
work with remote device control or have timecode readout, so you can’t log tapes,
do batch capture, or use the scene detection feature.
Capturing an entire DV tape To capture an entire tape, follow these steps:
1 Connect the camcorder to your computer.
2 Turn on your camcorder, and set it to playback mode: VTR or VCR. Do not set
it to camera mode.
Use AC, not a battery When capturing video, power your camcorder from its AC adapter, not its battery.
Here’s why: When using a battery, camcorders can go into sleep mode, and the bat-
tery will often run out before you’re done.
#
Note: Different
manufacturers have
different brand names
for their IEEE 1394
cables. Apple calls
this connector cable
a FireWire cable while
Sony calls it I.LINK.
#
Note: Windows
might note that
you’ve powered
up your camcorder
by displaying a
Digital Video Device
connection message.
Mac OS may start a
default associated
application, such as
iMovie.
