Railfan Technology > Loss of quality when copying videos from camcorder to computer

Good afternoon,

I've recently started shooting with a Sony FX1000 and have had a problem with loss of quality when copying the videos from the camera to the computer.  The Camera has a IEEE 1394 4-pin female connector and the laptop I'm currently copying the videos to has the same IEEE 1394 4-pin female connector.  I copy the videos through the default pop up option and once the videos are copied I put them on a flash drive and move them to my desktop where I have better video editing software (I'm currently working on getting a 6-pin female connector for the desktop.)  When I was watching the video on the camcorder, the quality looked phenomenal but, when I copied the videos and played them on the desktop they were fuzzy and looked terrible.  Not sure if the problem is with the software used to import the videos off the camera or if I'm losing quality somewhere else.

Thanks In Advance,
Tehachapi-TJ Over & Out.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/15 17:28 by tehachapi-dave.

My active experience with Digital video is that few computers can actually play true HD.
 

Are the videos copying to the same format or compressing?  When I digitized my old videos the biggest challenge was storage, I needed to use external HD's.

When I copy videos from my current HD digital camcorder, I can take the SD card out of the camera and put it directly into the computer so when I copy the files they don't change format.  You may want to make sure the program doesn't compress them, if it does, see if there is an option to copy the raw file.

Somewhere in the cameras menu, there should be a setting for firewire transfer.  Make sure it's set to HDV high definition and not down sampling to 720x480 standard definition.  Check the properties on the files that are created to see the resolution and anything related to quality (codec, etc.).  What program generates the capture pop-up, and does it allow you to change presets?  The FX1000 should generate very nice looking video if everything on the camera and computer is set up properly.

-James

Make sure that the FX1000 is set to transfer Firewire in HD, not SD. (I think Sony calls the down-conversion to SD the "iLink DV conversion") The camera and computer should agree that they are transferring HD, not SD. If that isthe case, the loss of quality is indeed probably in the computer. Sometimes a smaller file is a tip-off. A file off an HDV tape will be about 18 GB for a full tape (63 minutes).

Check and now everything on the camera is correct.  The Laptop only recognises the camera as a device and I can't import any videos off of it.  Also on the camera, there is no firewire option, only i.LINK, not sure if this is important but, figured i'd add the info.

Tehachapi-TJ Over & Out.

Have you tried downloading the Sony software for this camera to your computer. The options can usually be found in that software program.

Gary

Posted from iPhone

tehachapi-dave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Check and now everything on the camera is correct.
>  The Laptop only recognises the camera as a
> device and I can't import any videos off of it.
>  Also on the camera, there is no firewire option,
> only i.LINK, not sure if this is important but,
> figured i'd add the info.
>
> Tehachapi-TJ Over & Out.

i.LINK is Sony's name for IEEE 1394, and Firewire is Apple's nickname for IEEE 1394.

I'm assuming you're using a Windows Laptop? The "pop up option" you're referring to must be Window's default plug and play copying the video to your PC, which means your 720p video is ending up as 480p video. Even Macs will "downgrade" your videos, if you have an older Mac OS X which doesn't support native editing of HD videos.

You might want to provide the thread with information on your PC, to narrow down where the problem might be. For example, which version of Windows are using?

When it recognizes the computer as a "device" - is there any way to view the files directly on the device?  I.E. Using "My Computer" or "Windows Explorer" and being able to explore the camera's folders to find the video files - and then just copying them directly to the computer when it's plugged in?

Jim Lipnitz
Morrisville, PA
Big Jim Video Productions

bigjim4life Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When it recognizes the computer as a "device" - is
> there any way to view the files directly on the
> device?

The FX1000 is a tape camera; there's no file system.

Oops!  I didn't realize that.  Well, there goes that idea.

James

clem Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bigjim4life Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > When it recognizes the computer as a "device" -
> is
> > there any way to view the files directly on the
> > device?
>
> The FX1000 is a tape camera; there's no file
> system.

Jim Lipnitz
Morrisville, PA
Big Jim Video Productions