<<Is there a Firewire cable available that can hook up to the VCR's RCA outputs?>>

Yes... (not cable, but card), Canopus has a few cards that are well respected in the forums that are great for capturing analog video. I have never used one, but I can 'pass-through' my video with my Sony Digital 8 camera as BrianJ has suggested.

If you don't want any loss in quality, you don't want to capture via USB, unless it is USB 2.0! USB (1) can't handle the bandwidth needed for capturing video.

Like BrianJ suggested, your best bet is to 'pass-through' your VCR stuff to your camcorder, then to the computer. Or capture your video to a Canopus capture card to convert your analog video to DV-AVI.

(Does that make sense)?

:)

Thanks for your input, Brian
My Digital8 cam (Sony DCR-TRV140) will only accept input from a VCR via Firewire/iLink. It can output TO the VCR but not receive input FROM the VCR, unless the VCR has iLink jacks (according to the manual).
I was able to hook the VCR up directly to the PC with an RCA/USB adapter but the results were crap, so my thinking is that there has to be an adapter/cable for RCA/iLink.
Btw, what model camera is yours? And what cable do you use to hook it up to your VCR and do the pass through you mentioned?
P.J.F.

Thanks Stiffler,
People have mentioned doing a pass through and/or hooking their VCRs up to their DV cams and that concept is not new to me since the cam's manual details the procedure. But altho my Digital8 has that ability to be connected to my VCR, I don't have the proper cable to do it since my VCR (also a Sony) only has RCA outputs for video & audio.
So, what kind of cable are you guys using (what plugs are on each end?) to capture from your VCRs?
Thanks again for your input,
P.J.F.

PJF,
I'm not familiar with that camera but looking at the specs I can find on line, they say there are no a/v inputs and no passthrough capability. You say you can hook up your camera to your vcr. So, I'm confused; but besides that if your manual says you can do it, then the camera should have come with a cable to connect RCA outputs of your vcr to your camera's a/v input. If you don't have it then I'd start looking for it at Sony's site for camcorders. Usually can find stuff like that at the mfg's web site or maybe even on ebay.

If you can connect your vcr output to your camera input, then just tape the segments you want. Then capture those segments from tape to your pc using the iLink (or firewire) connection you've already used.

If there really aren't any a/v inputs on your camera, then you're going to have to get some kind of capture card or device. The Canopus mentioned earlier is excellent. I use the ADVC-100 to capture old Betamovies of my kids. You can get abundant information on capture cards here:
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/capturecards

It's about 2 years old and they don't make it any more. When I bought it it was their top of the line single ccd camera. They do make a couple of very simiar models. The pass-through works using the same cable that you use to output the signal from the camcorder to a VCR. On one end it has a single plug that goes into the camcorder and the other end has red, white and yellow RCA connectors. You can plug the RCAs into either the inputs or the outputs on the VCR depending on what you want to do. The firewire plugs into a different plug on the camera, and the other end goes into the computer. I do have an ATI All in Wonder card in my computer that lets me capture analog video directly. The RCA and/or S-video plugs from a VCR can go directly into my computer. I've had very good results capturing from Hi 8 tapes, but Hi 8 has 400 lines of resolution which is quite a bit better than VHS. I think VHS is only 250 or so. I'm really surprised your camcorder can't do it.

Hey Brian;
After I read your last post (thanks, btw, for taking the time to give me all the details) I started to second-guess myself and took another look at the camera's inputs & outputs. This is what they are: A/V OUT (1/8th" jack), DV IN/OUT (iLink), USB, and S-Video OUT. That's it. The cable that hooks up to the VCR is 1/8th" on the camera end and 3 RCA (Yellow/Red/White) on the VCR end. The 1/8th" jack is for output only, unless there's some setting in the menu I'm missing that will tell the jack whether to send or receive....
P.J.F.

Looks like your DV camera only accepts digital input via a firewire. Mine is the same way, unfortunately (Sony DCR TRV140), so I can't do pass-thru recording of analog from another source.

So I bought a Canopus ADVC-100 device, and it is awesome. I'm very pleased with it. It handles rca, svideo or dv input and outputs. Very easy to use and very high quality. (Price, unfortunately, is $250 or more. Still, it was worth it for my needs.)

If your Sony is anything like mine, you have another option.

You can always plug your VCR into your cam's AV jacks and then record from your VCR onto an digital tape -- then just output this tape via firewire into your computer for editing.

It's an extra step, but it will save you about $250.

Nope. My cam only has firewire video input. (Wish I'd have known I need otherwise back when I bought the thing.)

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to my post.

P.J.F.

I looked up your cam on Sony's site. Guess I forgot that Sony "simplified" the AV hook-ups on their newer models. Instead of plugging into RCA jacks, the camera has a earphone size jack that you plug into with a special cord that has the RCA plugs on the other end. (This is what you use to plug your camcorder into a VCR when you want to dub your digital tape to a VHS.)

You should also be able to input video INTO your cam with this same plug. Just plug the other end into your outputs on your VCR.

Some cams don't allow for this, but Sony products usually do.

Give it a try and let us know!

BrianJ--

I checked with the manual for your cam on the Sony web site.

According to pages 81-84, this should work!

Here's the manual:
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/DCRTRV30.PDF

Good luck.

It was someone else who needed help. He just asked which model camera I have that does pass through. My camera does pass-through with no problems, but I don't have to use it this way because I have an ATI all in wonder card in my computer. I can capture either analog or DV directly into my computer.

I agree with grisetti, I've done it.

I used that cable as an input from my TiVo (RCA output) into my Sony camcorder, then captured the tape to computer (Vegas) and it worked great.

Give it a shot!