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Getting Sony TRV-22 Cams Working w/ G5s?
Phil wants to take a bite out of this issue: "I'm having a time trying to get my Sony handycam to work with my Mac G5. Sony provides software for all Windows environments, and a USB driver and 'shim' program for Mac OS, but not Mac OS X. The Mac documentation says to hook a camera into the Firewire port, no software needed. So is there a device that will allow me to go from USB to Firewire, or do I have to spend a lot of money on an OS 9 video capture program? I can't seem to find an answer anywhere I look, and was hoping Slashdot readers could help me out, because I know I'm not alone with this problem. Thanks."
I just got an iBook G3 800 and have been trying to get my TRV-19 handycam working with it.
It's basically not detected as all, short of an external USB audio device. Yes, USB Streaming is set up on the camera (works fine on my windows box).
Any way to have this work under Panther? I only have the USB cable that came with it, and would prefer not to get the firewire cable.
So, any one have a clue?
Just plug the camera in (I'm assuming the firewire cable, but USB if that's what it has) and the appropriate program should launch. iMovie, I'm again assuming.
My question is this: Did you try just plugging it in to see what happen, or were you looking for some complicated solution before you found a problem?
Using image capture in your applications folder?
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Have you tried the Image Capture application yet? .avi clips]) the OS X application of choice is Image Capture. It's fairly straightforward, so give it a try.
I do not, repeat *DO NOT*, own this camera.
I do, however, know that when I want to extract video from a USB image device (such as my Canon PowerShot S30 [30 second
On a side note, chances are that the OS 9 video capture Application would not work properly. As the Power Mac G5 can only run OS 9 as Classic [emulation] you're going to have a real hard time finding a compatible application.
Finally, since hindsight is 20/20, you really ought to have purchased a FireWire DV camcorder. They behave much better on the Mac.
I'm not popular enough to be different.
Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
...is FireWire, get a FireWire cable. If your camera is USB only, you got skinned; sorry.
From the page:
Features:
i.LINK(R)* DV Interface (IEEE 1394)
The USB port on sony Video Cameras is for transferring still images off the compactflash card, while the firewire port is used for transferring DV (Digital Video) content. If your mac does not have a firewire port, i highly doubt it would be running OS X. Get a 6-to-4 pin firewire cable to hook the camera up and try iMovie.
It comes down to the mac expecting a Firewire DV cam, not a USB cam.
Not to bash Sony, but it figures they would create a DV cam [is it real DV, or some DV-like protocol... check] that *wasn't* firewire/IEEE 1394, despite the fact that they are a member of the 1394 consortium. Does any Mac user remember the Sony Spressa [a painfully bad USB CD-R drive]?
Sony has a habit of tweaking things so they make things as painful as possible for users. For example, their iLink is 4 pin 1394, rather than the *far* more common 6 pin. This means you don't have the option of bus power. Sigh.
My suggestion is to buy a DV cam with a firewire connection. There are many to choose from, and all of them [assuming they register as a DV cam on the firewire bus] will work in OSX
Blocklevel: Practical Information Architecture
Use the Firewire port, and it will just work.
Features The full range of input and output connections are included, being one of only two in the range to do so. FireWire, MiniUSB and single-jack AV connectors are provided, along with LANC, S-Video in/out, headphone and external microphone sockets, which are situated at the front of the body.
Get the FireWire cable.
It's much cheaper than any other solution.
iChat AV, iMovie, and Final Cut all work wonderfully when you have it hooked up via Firewire.
Else none of those programs will work.
GPL Deconstructed
I have a DCR-TRV17 and it works just fine with Final Cut Pro and iMovie for video transfer. As someone mentioned, you need a 4 pin - 6 pin firewire cable, which you should definitely buy online as best buy, etc. usually gets about $40 for the cable. Just make sure in the settings when you go to capture that you set the DV stream Out -> On (something similar to that) and then your iMovie or FCP or whatever will detect the DV stream. If you want to transfer the images, you can use either an external usb memory stick reader or a 4-6 pin USB cable and image capture or iPhoto will do the trick. Of course, still images are pretty lousy on DV cameras - not useful for much. You would be better off getting a cheap digital camera just for photos.
I had the same problem a while back w/ an older Sony handycam and a blue and white G3 mac. The solution turned out to be a "Media Converter" breakout box that turned the signal into a DV signal that the mac could import.
The one we used was a Sony model, but there are others listed on apple's Made For Mac site, including one by Canopus (search for Media Converter)
Here's a link to the one we used:
http://dv411.com/sondvmcda2dv.htm
There must be cheaper ones on the market by now, as this was at least 4 years ago.
The facts have a liberal bias. --The Daily Show
Notice that the specifications list an IEEE1394 interface? And looking at the front of the camera in this pic, I think I see an iLink logo (a fat lowercase i). iLink is Sony's brand name for 4-pin firewire. If you look under the flap with the i logo, you should see a little port about a third the length and 3/4 to half the width of a USB port. That's the iLink port. As I said above, a 4-pin to 6-pin Firewire cable from Apple should do the trick. iMovie and Final Cut will both recognize the camera. If the computer doesn't have firewire (just possible, I suppose; I got my first mac when OS X came out), then you're using the wrong tool for the job anyway.
Firwire is needed for video streaming. Get a cable, plug it in, enjoy!
Since the poster is using a G5, he can use the FireWire port in front of the computer to hook up a 6pin-to-4pin cable. The iLink port was described above. If you are using iMovie all you need to do is turn on your camera and launch the program and you'll have control of the camera from your computer. If you are using Final Cut (Pro or Express) it's a little more complicated to set up but the manuals are pretty clear. No extra software or adapter needed.
is there a device that will allow me to go from USB to Firewire - Sure, it's called a TRV-30 :)
Firewire is key... If you buy a DV cam with only USB, better hope you've kept the receipt.
USB is good for moving images off the Memory Stick, if you could make it work (you can't), but I wouldn't want video across that channel...way too poor quality if any at all.
OK, the Sony DCR TRV-22 IS in fact a FireWire Mini DV camera. Go check out your local Apple Store, they have one there that is hooked up, using iMovie. The thing is, though, none of the Sony camcorders ship with a FireWire cable. You'll need either a 6-4 pin FireWire or a 9-4 pin FW cable ('cause the G5 has the fancy new FireWire 800 on the back). Buy the 6-4 because it's cheaper! Next, just plug the TRV-22 in, turn it to playback mode and launch iMovie. if you need help, check the Apple Knowledge Base and more specifically this article on how to hook up a Mini DV cam. Oh, yeah, the USB cable that ships with the camcorder is only for photos, not video.....hope that helps!!
~panthman~
Yes, I've just been there myself on a PC rather than an Apple, with a Sony DV camcorder.
The guts is, if you are serious about taking digital video from the camera, you must use a firewire cable. Don't believe what you read about USB2.0 being equivalent to Firewire speedwise so they must be the same - it isn't true. USB2.0 is functionally very different.
Most video capture programs won't even recognize the USB2 connection - even on the PC (I suspect this is the problem you are having - The Sony USB connection is only good for taking stills from the memory stick really). However, plug in a firewire cable and you are sweet - all programs recognise it and it is a pure lossless transfer from the camera to the computer - PC or Mac. Apple have probably done you a tremendous favour by not recognising the USB connection.
That Macs are not easier to set-up than other computers? I never thought it was the end-all-be-all selling point, but it is definitely more honest and realistic than the whole 'Fastest Computer in the Universe" thing...
Oh, it was a lame attempt to be funny...right...
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
It does work for everybody else who has this cam (search the net). The problem is, Phil (he submitter) is a stupid git who can not read the fcuking manual for his cam and Cliff (also the stupid git) has no clue about Macs and keeps posting dumb newbie questions on slashdot.
If you are a newbie and have dumb questions, go to a place where you ask dumb questions. go to the fcuking discussions on info.apple.com or on any of the other mac forums.
Slashdot starts to suck.
No, actually you buy any FireWire enabled (read as "recent") DV cam, plug it into your Mac's FireWire port, open iMovie or Final Cut and it just works....no drivers...no bullshit...
As other posters have mentioned, OS X has the software to do video capture from firewire devices. iMovie and the other commercial packages offer a neat set of options. For something in-between, you can check out BTV. I've used it on OS 8.6, 9 and 10.2.x with an ixMicro TV capture card, an iRez PCMCIA capture card, the Dazzle DV Bridge, an XLR8 Interview capture device, and most recently with a Canopus ADVC-100. Once the system has the drivers, BTV can capture from it.
For USB capture hardware drivers, take a look at Echo FX. The driver was originally for the discontinued Interview from XLR8, but the latest version seems to have added support for a more general class of capture devices. Also take a look at the driver for the USB cam from IOExperts. Of the software I've mentioned here, this is the only one I have not used, and therefore have no experience with. Good luck !!It's not an "obscure reason", it was a legal one. Apple trademarked the word "Firewire", and Sony didn't want to pay to use it, or Apple wouldn't let them use it, so they call it iLink. Others call/label it "1394", or less-commonly, the full "IEEE-1394".
If the camera is not equipped with Firewire, he's tough out of luck unless it's USB2, because USB 1 is not fast enough for DV.
Please help metamoderate.
I got a six foot 4 pin to 6 pin Firewire cable from B&H Photo for $20. Works great.
"The Mad Jester" (at yahoo.com, now _that's_ a serious email!!) trolled Cliffy with a non-question and Cliff took the bait.
Anyone who shelled out the shekels for a Sony DV camera knows that it comes with Firewire (or iLink, or IEEE-xxxx).
So my guess is that the entire article was an elaborate ruse.
I'm pretty sure Pudge wouldn't have fallen for it, but it looks like Pudge has Sunday off.
i dont know why this is even a discussion. i have used a TRV-11 extensively with a mac, and i know they work fine. GET A FIREWIRE CABLE. dear lord. video over usb = not good idea!!!
and this doesnt help make mac users look any more intelligent either...
What FireWire cable should Sony have supplied? A 6-4 or 4-4? I suppose they should have supplied whichever one you, personally, needed.
Alternatively, _you_ could have checked whether or not it shipped with a specific cable and decided whether or not that was a deal-breaker for _you_ before wrestling with whether or not to return a perfectly good item, and cost the retailer, distributor, manufacturer and every other customer a wad of money because you're too lazy to research your purchases.
Gee, all this fuss for a stupid cable...
Now that's end user support at its best. Couldn't you just walk to your local apple store/eletronic store/whatever photograph store and ask how to plug your DV cam on your G5? Any vendor with an IQ slightly above a donkey would have told you to get a 20$ firewire cable.
Firewire camcorders are plug and play on Macs, in all sorts of applications from iMovie to iChat AV, and many many freeware applications like EyeToy. Of course, this information isn't the least bit helpful to someone with a USB camcorder, but to anyone who is looking at purchasing a camcorder, get one with Firewire!
Mike van Lammeren
It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.
umm, it comes with. you just can't boot it
vodka, straight up, thank you!
There is no standard specification for transmitting the 25Mbps DV stream across USB... PC or Mac, it doesn't matter. DV NTSC deck control, audio and video channels are transmitted via Firewire, period. There are very few applications that have issues with the TRV22 (I have a DCR-TRV18... even older), except perhaps Adobe Premiere, which is rather peculiar. All MiniDV cameras use the same DV stream, audio stream, and DV timecode stream parameters... so why Premiere only supports select DV cameras is entirely beyond me. Stick to iMovie, Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro... and use the specified interface (firewire) for all import/export with DV.
Most Macs (G4s did, I dunno about G5s) come bundled with a Firewire cable. Steal one from a friend, who most likely isn't using it, and plug it in. You'll get much higher quality than you would with USB anyway.
Hi. I'm right now spec'ing out a handful of TRV-22's for teaching entry level video editing. They're a good price point and fairly good quality, with some reliability.
And, they're EASY. Easy, easy, easy. Video tech here is Mac-based. Here's how it works:
1. shoot video
2. boot computer
3. turn on camera (make sure it's set to video not stills), set to Play or VTR, plug iLink port on camera to firewire 400 port on computer using a 4-6 pin $12 cable
4. boot up iMovie/FCP/whatever
5. capture your footage
Really, that's all. Oh, well, for stills it's a bit different:
1. shoot photos
2. boot computer
3. turn on camera, set to stills (or card) playback
4. plug USB cable into camera and keyboard
5. sit back and wait for iPhoto, then import
As always, RTFM! In this case that's about 20 minutes investment. Once you've done that, you can worry about gotchas, like having to eject a USB connection, or whether to leave your camera plugged in by firewire between any reboots (don't - but you're using OS X, why reboot?).
Damn those pesky terrorists
I don't want to sound like a Mac elitist, and I know this is OT and probably redundant by now.... But, fricking blame Sony for NOT including a FireWire cable with a fricking DV cam. Yeah, you should know DV does not work over USB, but Sony confuses the issue for DV noobs by giving them a fricking USB cable in the box (who actually uses the sub-par still capability anyway?).
Long story short, buy the FireWire cable Sony should have given you in the first place.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Macintosh...
Use FireWire when available...always. USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed) has a looooong way to go before the various bridge hardware is mature enough to compete with FireWire. Even then I don't think USB 2.0 is up to the task.
As for Sony DV camcorders...USB is primarily for transferring still images from Memory Sticks or webcam functionality.
If you own a Mac, you're basically hung out to dry on USB support. You probably don't want it anyway. Just get a MemoryStick reader and be done with it. Never EVER buy a camcorder expecting greatness out of its still camera functionality.
If you want to transfer video, then FireWire is the [i]only[/i] practical choice. FireWire's isochronous transfer capability, low-CPU usage, etc. make it much better suited to high-bandwidth applications than USB.
If you are having problems importing DV video over FireWire/i.Link to your Mac, then I can't really help you. I'd suspect Sony is at fault if that is the case. Apple's FireWire DV driver/shim should pretty much handle any generic camcorder.
They should ship both. It's NOT expensive when the company makes scads of them.
Gorkman
...on OS X. I have a Samsung SCD-60 (about 3 years old) that is literally Plug 'n' Play with Winblows. In fact this is really the only reason I even have Windows on my home PC anymore. I have never been able to get it to work in OS X, not Jaguar, and not Panther. And if you look at Apple's list of supported camcorder on their website, you'll notice that they only support about 4 manufacturer's models. This is ridiculous. Since DV over IEEE-1394 is an industry standard, you should theoretically be able to plug _ANY_ DV camcorder into your Mac's Firewire port and have it work. This obviously isn't so. It shows up as a generic Firewire device using Apple System Profiler, and iMovie simply does not detect it. I even tried it on a friend's Powerbook with FCP 4 installed, and it still didn't work. This is very sad indeed, since I bought my current PB G4 (my 1st Mac ever!) under the assumption that it would make capturing and editing my hours of DV footage a snap, finally and forever freeing me from bondage to that "other OS." If anyone has any knowledge on how to get a Samsung DV camcorder working, please, for the love of God, tell me! This has been one of the biggest thorns inn my side from my decision to go Mac.
You're not really clear on what you want to do but anyway, if you are trying to webcam...streaming video, etc., try bensoftware's BTV (BTV Carbon Pro) and if you are having a USB driver issue try i/oExpert's driver. You can get more info on VersionTracker. If you're going DV w/ Firewire and having problems you best just check the cable. There should be no problem capturing video via Firewire into iMovie. Keep in mind inherent cable length restrictions for FW.
You might also want to try Quicktime Broadcaster if you want to transmit a manual unicast. That's 1, a free app and 2, should work with either the i/oExpert USB driver or "out of the box" with Firewire.
PegQuin--I've got a sneakin' suspicion