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Home: Video University Forums: Casablanca Users:
getting pics from PC to Smart Edit 4.0

kklee
New User

Dec 5, 2004, 12:28 PM

Post #1 of 5 (1843 views)
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getting pics from PC to Smart Edit 4.0	Can't Post

Is there software coming for the Smart Edit 4.0 (4.1) that will let both the Prestige and PC
exchange pictures and video? Or, how do I do that now? Nothing in the manual....

I put in an email to our beloved Casablanca sales person but maybe someone out there knows?
Thanks
Karen

John K.
Veteran / Moderator

Dec 5, 2004, 5:29 PM

Post #2 of 5 (1823 views)
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Re: [kklee] getting pics from PC to Smart Edit 4.0 [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi Karen,

I simply use a smart card to go from my notebook to my Prestige with pictures. My notebook has a built-in 6-1 card reader. I just transfer photos via a smart card. I also export photos from my Prestige to my notebook the same way. All you need is the photo-transfer software. As far as video, I do dabble with Vegas a little. Segments I may want to go from my Prestige to my notebook, I just firewire out to minidv on my Sony deck and then plug that deck into my notebook to capture. Straight-forward process that has worked perfectly for me. With 4.0 I will say the still images you create are flawless, a big improvement over what I use to see while using 2.5 and even 3.6. Have you noticed that too?

MacroSystems also has software called PC Link which allows you to transfer footage/photos as well, but I'm not up on the details since I don't have that product. Also, related, Disk Transfer (which I have) is nice if you have logos you use regularly, or other common motion graphics, etc. - this allows you to burn them to a DVD in your unit and load to other drives, etc. as you need - as well as go to your computer. Any (well, most) DVD-ROMs you may purchase that have avi files (say Digital Hotcakes, or Digital Juice, etc.) you can put those discs directly in your unit to import those files. I use Disk Transfer for my company logos and some other commonly used graphics. It saves everything as uncompressed avi files, the picture quality is great.

Hope that helps.

John

kklee
New User

Dec 5, 2004, 5:42 PM

Post #3 of 5 (1818 views)
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Re: [John K.] getting pics from PC to Smart Edit 4.0 [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for your prompt reply, John. We had PCLink and it wasn't that great. The photo transfer software was supposedly slower? I was convinced it wouldn't work, but maybe now we should rethink it.

Our salesfellow says we need editing software, which we have purchased and/or downloaded different ones in the past only to find the pc doesn't recognize our Sony minidv tapedeck as a recorder.

Adobe Premiere tryout software help file says to use a firewire cable with 4 pin on one end and the 6 pin on the other (I have a short one and don't want to move mass equipment to test so will go purchase a 10 footer). Our Sony minidv deck has only 4 pin...maybe that was the problem, but how did you do that? The various software I have used only recognizes our GL1 as a vcr.

Then, of course, all these stills have to be put into a movie, avi file, which is what I was doing before with windows movie maker then onto the GL1 then into the Sony finally onto the Prestige. What a hassle!

The SmartEdit 4.0 manual says Ethernet is not supported yet but software is forthcoming. Maybe that will be the answer. Meantime, guess I better get photo transfer.

Any other thoughts are most appreciated!
Thanks
Karen

John K.
Veteran / Moderator

Dec 5, 2004, 9:28 PM

Post #4 of 5 (1807 views)
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Re: [kklee] getting pics from PC to Smart Edit 4.0 [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hey Karen,

My notebook only has a four pin firewire port, as does all my Sony stuff. I go from my Sony deck to my notebook (Gateway) with a four pin to four pin connector - have never had a problem. It also works the same with VideoStudio, which I also have on my notebook. I didn't purchase anything extra with either of those software packages, so I'm not sure why yours isn't working. I bought VideoStudio 7 with hopes of playing with it and using it for on-location applications, but I haven't had the time to get 100% comfortable with it yet - it seems pretty easy though.

I highly recommend photo transfer. The first version was slow and only allowed for importing single photos at a time. Now though, it's quick and you can select to have all your photos on that card imported with a single key stoke. I don't know why a sales person would talk you out of it, a must have in my book. Not to sound like a sales guy, but if you don't have Disk Transfer I'd get that too, then get a third piece free with their running special. I never was interested in PC Link because I imagined too many compatibility issues with all the different software/hardware that is out there; plus, with photo transfer and just dumping in with minidv, I didn't see the need for it on my end.

Your process does sound a bit lengthy, are you mainly importing stills given to you by your client and incorporating those into your video? If so, I do that in two steps - capturing the photo (I actually like using my VX2000 photo mode for capturing on mididv tape) and then import via firewire to the Prestige. That's it. Most of the high-end folks I know in my area don't use scanners, but rather their video camera or even a digital still camera. It's a pretty quick process. Also, if a client gives you a disc with digital images, I put that in my notebook and then copy all of them to my smart card, which I then put into the Prestige.

John

kklee
New User

Dec 6, 2004, 12:05 AM

Post #5 of 5 (1798 views)
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Re: [John K.] getting pics from PC to Smart Edit 4.0 [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi John. Well, I am convinced now about photo transfer.
My husband has long contended that shooting the photos with the camera was plenty good. I think
the pics are more finely tuned and cropped via scanning so we just need to compare and do a test.
Thanks for all your help
Karen