Getting video from cam

[robpendragon]

I had no problems making a video from photos with Premier 4.0 But I'm having huge problems trying to get videos from my camcorder...it's a Hitachi DVD/HDD video camera. The video comes up as mpg on my computer & will play with PowerDVD program but I can not get it to open in Premier. It's driving me crazy with all the money I spent between the camcorder & premier. I have people coming from the UK this week & the wife wants lots of footage, anyone help?

[Chuck Engels]

Premiere Elements is a DV-AVI editor for MiniDV camcorders primarily, not DVD or HDD camcorders. You can switch to a program like Sony Vegas or MyDVD and it will make capturing your video easier, with Premiere Elements you will need to convert your files to DV-AVI. You can use the free program MpegStreamclip or another program like VideoRedo which is not free.

[robpendragon]

ok, I can put a mini dvd in the camcorder & try that. Is it easy to get the video off the disc into premier?

[Byron Gale]

Premiere Elements is a DV-AVI editor for MiniDV camcorders primarily, not DVD or HDD camcorders...

ok, I can put a mini dvd in the camcorder & try that. Is it easy to get the video off the disc into premier?
Rob,

Just want to make sure you got the distinction - Chuck said "MiniDV", and you said "mini dvd". They are completely different things.

MiniDV is the little tape used in digital camcorders. Those camcorders record in a format called "DV-AVI", as opposed to MPG. Premiere Elements was designed to edit DV-AVI files.

Sorry if the point was already clear... :o

Byron

[Chuck Engels]

Not Mini DVD, MiniDV Tape ;)
Premiere Elements is more of a professional editing program and prefers to capture from a MiniDV Tape camcorder over Firewire. Your camera is a consumer level camera and needs consumer level software to make editing easier, like the programs I suggested.

[robpendragon]

Thanks guys, the mini dvd works, I was able to make video & upload it to Premier & edit.

[Chuck Engels]

Rob, You may still have problems when burning the DVD.
I recommend you do a test and see how it comes out.
Chances are you will have some ghosting and artifacts on the DVD due to improper field order. Maybe not, but it is best to check now before you spend a bunch of time editing.

[robpendragon]

Thanks again Chuck:) I thought Elements Premier was the consumer version & regular Premier was the pro.

[Chuck Engels]

Compared to other video editing programs, like MyDVD, VideoStudio, and others, Premeire Elements is much more on a professional level with all of its features and capability. It also is primarily a DV Tape editor, not DVD or HDD which is also the choice of professionals. If you look at the high end, professional cameras, they all use DV or MiniDV Tape.

[robpendragon]

I guess I was greatly mis informed then by the people who I purchased the software from & from Adobe for marketing it in such a way. I mean right on the box Adobe sells it as a consumer product by stating "Create fun movies in as little as 15 minutes" & "Adobe Elements 4-the newest version of the best selling consumer video-editing software". HD, blu ray & DVD"

[ATR]

I hope that I am cutting to the issue and can get your project moving in a positive direction. Let us try.


First I did some homework on the type of video camera that you are using:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/23/hitachi-hybrid-dvdhdd-camcorder/

It would appear that this camera gives you the choice to record to a mini DVD disc OR record to the camera’s hard drive. True, these are not prefer tools for Premiere Elements workflow, but.... I do not see how getting involved now with a discussion of miniDV tape is productive, since you do not appear to have that option, and we need to deal with the “what is” rather than “what would be better”…..unless of course you are rushing out to buy another camcorder???

Comment 1: Have you been recording to the camera’s hard drive, downloading to your computer, and trying to get the files into Premiere Elements 4? How? If this has been the case, what is the format of the file that you downloaded from your camera’s hard drive? MPEG, MPEG2, or other? Also, at Premiere Elements Welcome Screen Setup have you selected the Preset “PAL Hard Disk, Flash Memory Camcorder” or something else?

Comment 2: Have you been recording to a mini DVD disc? If so, has that disc been DVD-RAM or DVD-R? From what you wrote it does not sound like you have been. If you have not, try it.

1. Place you miniDVD disc containing your recording as finalized DVD-VIDEO in the DVD drive of your computer. Make sure your DVD drive supports (recognizes) DVD-RAM if that is what you use. Otherwise, use DVD-R if that is what your DVD burner supports.

2. Open Premiere Elements 4 using your PAL DV Standard or Widescreen preset. In Get Media, select “DVD, Digital Camera, Mobile Phone, Hard Drive Camcorder, Card Reader”. When you do that the “Adobe Media Downloader” will open. Go to Source and select the drive into which your mini DVD is inserted, followed by selecting “Get Media from” that drive. From the files that open, select the VOBs that contain your content. Click Get Media. Wait for all your selected material to open and be conformed in Premiere Elements. You may be able to get away with just that and you continue with your plans. Depending on the quality, you might want to convert those VOBs on the Timeline to DV AVI via File/Export/Movie and then use instead the DV AVI version of those VOBs for your project.

Comment 3: If necessary, you could use the program already suggested MpegStreamclip (free download) to convert your VOBs to DV AVI before bringing them into Premiere Elements 4.

Let us know what is happening, and we will try to develop strategy to get you ready for the weekend video shoot.

ATR

[Chuck Engels]

Rob did say that he got the video into Premiere Elements using the Mini DVD.
I was just suggesting that he test burning a DVD before he goes much further to make sure there are no field order issues, which is very possible considering the source. Best to find out now about any future problems with the finished product.

The talk about MiniDV Tape vs DVD or HDD is kind of a side bar and ATR is correct, it doesn't help now that you have the camera that you have Rob. My only point is that Premiere Elements is not the best software for that type of Camera, you may be happier and have better results with something else. Still, other people are using Premiere Elements under similar conditions and are perfectly happy converting files, reversing field dominance, and whatever else it takes to be able to edit with it. Premiere Elements is a very good editing program and contains many professional features, people like it a lot and are willing to go the extra mile to use it :)

[robpendragon]

Comment 1: Have you been recording to the camera’s hard drive, downloading to your computer, and trying to get the files into Premiere Elements 4? How? If this has been the case, what is the format of the file that you downloaded from your camera’s hard drive? MPEG, MPEG2, or other? Also, at Premiere Elements Welcome Screen Setup have you selected the Preset “PAL Hard Disk, Flash Memory Camcorder” or something else?

When downloading to the computer it saves as MPEG.....I selected "Pal Hard disk" when trying to get media directly from the camera, but is says device off line.

[ATR]

Does your camera have a port for a Firewire connection (aka iLink)? If so, are you using it? Or, are you using a USB connection when using PE4 to capture from your camcorder?

Does your Hitachi allow you to record to the hard drive in any other format besides mpeg?? Maybe DV??

What model Hitachi do you have?

Sorry, before I was so busy typing my response that I did not see your report on ripping VOBs from DVD. So, that part seems under control.

If I have misread or misinterpreted any of your reports, please correct me.

ATR

[robpendragon]

Sorry, had to go to a doctors appointment:D No firewire connection just a USB. I searched through the manual to see if I can change the format in which it records & could not find anything...
the model is the DZ-HS500A http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/479790-REG/Hitachi_DZHS500A_DZHS500A_DVD_HDD_Hybrid_Camcorder _.html

[Chuck Engels]

You can convert the video with mpegstreamclip (free utility) or use the DVD and import directly into Premiere Elements. The other option would be different editing software.

[robpendragon]

Thanks Chuck, I might end up doing that. it came with some basic software "Image mixer" but there are more features with the premier elements & I like the interface better:) Huh, I wonder if the image mixer will let me change the format...I'll have to re-install the software to check it out.

[erbraun]

This thread really helped me! I couldn't figure out why my audio and video were out of sync after adding media in PE. I tried in PE2 and PE4 using 2 different computers and DVD drives but to no avail. Then I downloaded MPEG StreamClip along with QuickTime Alternative 1.81 (newer versions are not compatible with MPEG StreamClip).

When I opened the video file in MS, it asked if I wanted to open all the files, even though I had selected only 1 file. When I said "Yes", MS merge the first part of the video with the second part (I had selected the 2nd part only), because it must have needed part 1 in order to sync up part 2.

Anyway, it worked beautifully! I saved the file as an AVI and everything is synced, so I am assuming when I add it to PE4, all will be okay.

I hope someone finds this hint useful, too. Good luck!