TAPELESS VX1000 / SONY HVR-MRC1 

Dad of the year

You 🎸 ROCK

I had that happen to me, I switched CF cards and worked fine after. That CF card I had to reformat on the PC to get working again

@@mikecrook thanks for the response Mike. I just ordered a new CF card to try. Hopefully it works. If so, I'll update the firmware and maybe my 32gb SanDisk will work! Cheers and thanks for all the work you do on the tapeless build!

@@GemsOnVHS make sure you get the extreme pro sandisk card, the PRO is important

Much love ❤️🤍💛

Check my Instagram @mikecrook for footage

Thats amazing, thank you. The FX1 is a great camera too! Appreciate the love!

@@mikecrook I Just got my MRC1 in today and exchanged my CF for the 120MB you recommended. I feel like I saw it somewhere but was there a setting I need to turn off in the VX so it won't go into sleep mod while recording with the MRC?

just touch the zoom rocker, VX will shut off if nothing is touched in 10 minutes, no setting for it @@SorieKondi

Thanks! Im not 100% sure what your question is, but its a sony dcr vx1000. There is a great video on youtube about the history of it. Go check it out.

I missed this sorry, never had a glitch once with this set up

inspect your firewire port, you might have a bent pin on the VX it self.

@ook the pins seem to be okay and in order. I just ordered a Firewire PCI card to connect the Camcorder to my PC. Then we will see what will happen so I can exclude the problem to be at the miniDV port.

​@@mikecrook I recently made a video of checking the DV Output for any damage. It seems to be flawless from the outside. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lkFq26__X-0.html

also plug your mrc1 into the computer to test it will detect the same as your camera, it can simply be your cord causing the issue @@seplayer

@ook okay I got some news. I got a PCI Chip for my Windows 10 PC with firewire ports. The camera is being recognized as Photo eiditing device but not as camera device. When I go to stream labs and take the DV as source for getting its picture I can chose the cam in the video recording sources tab but after that nothing happens. So at least the camera is getting recognizes but I actually dont know how to use it linked to my computer. The MRC1 is freezing again when I connect it to the PC. Same procedure as with connecting it to the cam. Only thing I managed now is to capture Tapes via Sony Vegas. I even can click on "capture tape" in vegas and the signal is going to the camera and it starts to rewind to the beginning and then plays the whole tape.

Will answer here too, Switch format to AVI instead of RawDV

In short Raw DV is for mac and AVI for windows. Thats the only difference I have seen in my research both are stated to be of the same quality too. AVI is a more common file type now with more programs allowing to use it. Adobe has removed the DV codec which is frustrating.

@@mikecrook thanks a lot for your answer.

@@mikecrook Just got one of these. If I’m editing on a windows PC with Sony Vegas should I film in AVI or Raw DV?

@@cdock AVI is much easier to work with

absolutely not, you can delete the clips on the computer too, settings save.

@@mikecrook so once I set it up it’s always set up no matter if I turn it off

Im assuming fusing you mean just plugging a firewire cord into the camera and to the computer? This has been done for a long time to live capture. Can’t see an issue why this would be of danger. The word fusing though could you elaborate on that?

@@mikecrookat 3:20 in this video is where I heard about it. Fusing like I meant burning out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WrxYPfhgkjA.html

@@pat5431 there is no power from the firewire on the mrc1, so yes its safe.

@@mikecrook sweet thanks!

Link in the description, just use a max of 32gb

yes i have this exact same issue is there anyway to prevent this??? @Mikecrook ?

@@noidfilms4732 any fix???

Same issues did you find a fix?

@@noidfilms4732 did u find a fix?

@@HomechillGamingdid you find a fix?

MRC1 would auto detect the source is 1080i

Did you ever figure this out?

@@Alexxzzzs Yo man. So for me the firewire port on my VX2100 was broken. I ended up getting it fixed. works now tho. what you having issues with?

Any luck? I’ve been trying to figure this out too

@@HomechillGaming have you tried pressing both buttons on your HVR, that's what works for me.

To run a tape even if it is a “dummy tape” defeats the main purpose, these camcorders are prone to bad heads that causes glitches.

dummy tapes dont touch the heads as there is no tape in them, not even sure what the point of a dummy tape is. heads in VX are rarely the problem, its the dirt/dust build up on the heads that makes the glitches👍

no need to format each time

Any camera that has firewire

Price varies but sound is exactly the same!!!

Lol thanks!!! Hard to take that in but appreciate the compliment ❤️

Except this records in progressive

@@mikecrook does the dr60 not shoot progressive?

@@andrewanderton it doesn’t state anywhere about it, also i dont have one and extremely hard to get one too so hard to answer that one

@@mikecrook I’m looking at getting one, from what I’ve heard from other people clips are just drag and drop.

@@andrewanderton let me know!

if anything its better as its more reliable than tapes glitching

Yes, in my highlighted stories on IG, I have it running on the side with a tripod extender bracket. soo much better for the weight and easy to press the record button

ebay

any will do, I have a lexar one that I have had for over 10 years

138mins

I’m having the same issue. I tried new FireWire cable and new CF cards. Anyone have a fix for this?

thank you!

switch to AVI on the MRC1

@@mikecrook Will do. Thanks!

Atomos is HDMI or AV, HDMI cannot be converted from firewire. So your quality on these old cameras would be worse. The MRC1 is true DV quality with timecodes.

@@mikecrook I comprehend that Firewire and HDMI utilize different protocols, making it impossible to use a Firewire to HDMI cable or adapter. However, since the VX1000 also features an s-video out port, one might consider attempting an s-video to HDMI connection instead. I asked in a forum a question, and someone said, "If it's going in/out via Firewire, it may already be DV-Compressed at that stage, which depending on your preference & sensitivity may put you back to square one, and S-video may be your best bet then. Of course, it's still SD." Since I did not really understand what that meant, I asked and someone explained by saying, "He means that what comes out of the DV port is encoded with DV codec, 29 Mbit/s, no matter whether it comes from tape or live. OTOH, if you feed live video through analog port, it will come converted from digital sensor into analog, but not compressed into DV beforehand. So, in theory it may look better than when captured through Firewire." All that said, it looks like that using s-video might not be such a bad idea!? I know too little about this stuff, so I don't know. What say you? Thanks for the reply and input. : )

s-video is analog that doesnt carry audio, using s-video you are taking a digital video (DV) to analog to then capture to digital again, the quality would be a loss. DV has faster data transfer rates and can handle the digital video hence the DV port with stereo audio. The MRC1 is 1:1 the same as tapes just without glitches as your not using the Tape deck Heads. With modern upscaling etc.. VX footage still looks great in 2023. Personally I wouldn't touch RCA or S-Video to be an option but thats my opinion @@fc1133

@@mikecrook Copy that. Thanks for explaining.

Yes it is

If it has firewire out then yes, so far haven’t heard of a camera not compatible

Yes,it does,I use one on my Sony Z1e,I have tested it on a Canon XM1 (GL1) and could not get it to work,but will work on Sony TRV110E OK even for synchronous star/stop

Yes you can

Ive had multiple people report these work: SanDisk Extreme PRO CF Cards (Don't use the Extreme) 32gb

@@mikecrook , is there a power supply? Is it the same as my Sony camera? I can't seem to find anything online or in the manual.

@@davestreicher there is a DC IN but I really cant see why you would need one, a small L series battery is lasting me well over 8 hours of use

@@mikecrook I just like to be prepared. Batteries can go bad and I wouldn't want it to quit in the middle of a shoot. Its just nice to have in the bag just in case. So any ideas of a model number?

@@davestreicher Looking at it right now, its the same DC cable for the Sony vx2000, trv900. I found a bunch on amazon for cables that should work. If you have instagram feel free to dm me and I can send you pictures of the dc port

if you change the settings to AVI on the MRC1

Check my instagram, have pics of it rigged up

I have the mounts on a story highlight on instagram

Its the exact same as tape but with less issues like no more glitches as example. Hit me up on IG if you want to chat about it

@@mikecrook thanks for helping! I'm about to go make a deal on a Canon XL2 tomorrow, so I'm trying to learn. I'll go follow you

Sandisk extreme pro 32gb

for myself and many skateboard filmers the sony VX's are our favorite cameras to use is why, there is many reasons why we use this old tech

I have a lexar for the past 10 years, still going strong

Appreciate the feedback! I’m working on restoring a SONY DCR-VX2000 and I’m attempting to use an HVR-MRC1 for tapeless recording. Really appreciate your videos man.

so looking up the camera it says it have firewire 600, it should work on any camera that has firewire

Firewire cable is very important and many fixes reported was the cause of units not working

Still got the dn60?

@@andrewanderton gave it to a friend and I think it’s not working. Maybe I need to try more cables.

@@FilipMarysko I’d be interested in buying if either of u are selling it?

Same bro

11 months later... still no VX but i got s DVX100a im tryna find a tapeless method right now for it

@@BurtReynoldss Did you find anything?

@@gggnnbgjm7679 I ended up buying a ClearClick 2.0 on Amazon and I use that for filming tapeless. Actually works pretty well. Fits on my DVX nicely. Newest edit on my channel was all filmed on it

thank u

But when playback mode it"DV input" so I don't think it's a firewire cable issue

Sounds like you have a pin damaged in your firewire port on your camera. This is very common having a bent firewire pin and in most cases you can bend it back in place

@@mikecrook I tried with 3 other vx1000 or vx2000, but didnt worked. and used 3 new firewire cables

yes it can, in fact any L series battery just make sure its 7.2 volts

You mean like the internal camera fade and etc.. that would need to try but probably not as it needs a tape in. but you can record with a tape in too and it would probably work. I just don't see a need for that though as the effects are easily doable in post.

the delay is very short to be an issue. Its about 1-2 seconds yes.

Inspect your firewire port on the camera, more than likely you have a bent pin. If all 4 pins are normal could be your cord.

sorry for the delay, yeah thats totally ok

@@mikecrook seems like every video I see, the user can turn on either the camera or the HVR-MRC1 first with no problems recording, so it seemed something was wrong with one I have. This also means if I watch a recording back, the HVR has to be turned off before switching the vx from VTR to camera mode.

@@codyup there is 3 versions of internal parts of a VX, you could simply have one of your boards not matching version. This is a whole subject matter that is very hard to explain over text. But I have had this happen with a vx I have had that was Japanese. Might be that simply

@@mikecrook I figured out that the HVR I have has a loose FireWire connection. I can get it to function perfectly when held in the right position, otherwise it doesn’t seem to register when the camera is turned back on. Luckily I can send it back and get a new one, but just wanted to say thanks and let you know.

@@codyup Oh wild! well thats good to hear, thats the last thing I would have thought of so thats great info appreciate the follow up

If it has firewire I can’t see it not working. Worth a shot and worse case resell to make your money back.

Could definitely run a field monitor through rca

Thanks🙏

did u ever find out lmao

Sorry for the delay! on my IG I have my rig with a light

@@user-in7bu8jk8v hey on my instagram I have my Rig in my story highlights

Ebay or local listings

works the same, just has an internal HDD (which has a lifespan)

This can be your firewire port on the camera, also can be the CF card is to slow of speed

a fresh firewire cord fixed this issue for me

@@mikecrook dang I just bought a new firewire cable, same problem.

@@jadonjjj inspect your firewire port on the camera, should be 4 gold pins in a perfect line, one might be popped out

amazon

Yes since glitches comes from the tapes and heads this bypasses that issue.

@@mikecrook #holyfuck

When you compare the cost of tapes and repairs its really not expensive, in turn its cheaper. The pros outweigh the cost

I think someone could technically create this tech if they were really clever, or perhaps find a tech company to develop a lower cost unit, but by the time you get to that point you could of dropped that 400 and just be done

@@segatronmedia I mistook it. It’s not 400, it’s like 600-800 in the states so far as my searching has gone. I got the Firestone FS4 for 200 and it’s rad.

@@altonbailey9702 i just bought one on ebay for $400usd 7 days ago. Just wait they will come up or search your local listings

@@altonbailey9702 How does the battery life last on this thing?

Yes someone has said it works with vx2/2100 series as well

@@mikecrook I tried, It works perfectly with the same setup on VX 2100. Thanks so much !

@@porckipik how did you get it to work?

Wait a minute....the same Mike Crook from Toronto / Skateperception? Hardflip backtail bigspin Mike Crook??

@@hostsofmichael yeah thats me haha! Yeah 720 width, my bad if thats miss information but it upscales it slightly.

​@@mikecrook hang on, you can tell that the overlay at 5:32 is cropped compared to the video on the laptop screen. compare the space above your head. so I'm guessing something happened to the footage before you overlayed it but why would this be 720 width?

@@cmalchik It cropped it in editing, I made the video quickly and used Imovie on my phone to edit is why.

Card might be to slow or out of virtual memory and capping at 1 minute. Class 10 is recommended for CF card which is minimum 120mb/s write speed

only issues ive heard is people buying really slow CF cards, this is the number 1 issue to it "not working" so 120MBS CF card 32gb or under. Ive tried it on several Cameras and all work

Playback has no issues because no motors running the tapes

mine looks exactly like yours does in the video at the 1:50 mark (even after following everything what u did in the video), but after a cut at 2:56 your MRC1 now has "0001 DV," I cant seem to get that to pop up.

this could be possibly 2 things, one is your firewire port on your camera, check for any damaged pins. 2 would be a faulty firewire cable, ive even had new ones be faulty. the way to know is if your camera and MRC1 are on plug in the firewire, a "lightning bolt" will blink on the mrc1 if connected. Also if your CF cards are not at least 120MBS it will not record. If none of these work hit my DM on instagram with some pics.

@@mikecrook I believe you're right, the firewire port on my camera isn't working properly. Thank you for the help, I was trying to fix something that already worked but now I know.

@@user-in7bu8jk8v if a pin is just popped out its pretty easy to place back with a paper clip

matches the output of the camera

@@mikecrook Thank you!

Yea it does!

Thats just for the first time

Thank you for the reply! Been trying to get this set up dialed. Im currently getting a 'media incompatible' message when turning on the unit. Do you have any tips on how to resolve this on a new card? Thank you!

@@miguelacalpotura9672 sounds like your CF card is incompatible, 120mbs and 32gb or under i know work.

Cheaper than tapes and camera repairs in the long run, really up to you the worth is

@@mikecrook I'm more of an amateur, so I think I'll probably stick to the tapes, but I think it's really cool that the memory recording unit is compatible with the firewire (:

I can't give a 100% on that as many issues could be the cause of no playback. But if you can hook up your VX to a computer and it shows up it will work.

1. Over heating 2. Bad cable 3. Wrong cf card this happens the most 4. Firewire port on camera has dirty pins or damaged.

@@mikecrook my firewire cable was damaged a little while ago, ill get a replacement and let you know

Any camera with firewire out

Could not get this to work on my Canon XM1 (GL1) but it does work on Canon XM2 (GL2)

Maybe Corrosion? Sounds like your pd100's need a cleaning inside or your firewire port is damaged/or loose connection.

Same issue did u ever fix it?

a very small trade off for a large win in my opinion.

try putting in a tape and just not recording on it - or record as backup

you can watch the clips, the device is DV in and out

@@mikecrook yeah but there is no way you can watch while recording? Or maybe with an extra screen or something?

the viewfinder is a screen on a vx1, or you just mean so all the homies can watch. I just bring my laptop and drop the clips at the spot @@RafaelZeratai

I mean while you are recording the viewfinder gets disabled by the “no cassette” notification? Or does it work normally with the hvr mcr connected to it? Because on the video while you record you can’t actually see what you are recording just guessin by pointing the camera where you want. After that I know you can watch them clips but during recording you can’t?

The viewfinder stays on while recording, the no tape icon is very small in the middle. This is the same on every camera I have tried with the MRC1@@RafaelZeratai

The link in description works great, also there is a user manual linked that has the specs. I would stick with class 10 32gb

This is an adobe support issue I found out after making the video. You can record in AVI as-well

@@mikecrook is there a substantial difference from recording in AVI to the DV format?

@@LeoBanuelos I have yet to try but can’t see it being a deal breaker at all. Avi is still full res.

the MRC1 has a play button. But not all VX's have dv playback as a heads up.

@@mikecrook Hmm ok. My question is if you have to press play on the camera as well. Someone in another video says to press play on the MRC1 and play on the camera, but I noticed in your video you said to just press play on the MRC1. Thanks!

@@keatorski ohh no, just play on the MRC1

@@mikecrook Ok cool, I appreciate your help, and thanks for making the tutorial as well.

should work with any camcorder with a firewire 4 pin out

no its does use the same L series battery though, it has a cradle to put a battery on

Its a possibility your dv in pins on the camera are not working, or ive heard if you have PAL this seems to be an issue on play back. Still trying to figure it out for a couple other people but its really hard when I cant test irl because mine is English ntsc

@@mikecrook Yeah, my VX1E it's PAL :( It's weird because I tested it on a VX700E, witch is supposed to be also PAL, and it works normally. It sucks :/ Thanks for the help anyway!

@@felpsbmxsp yeah I have a feeling you have a bad pin in your vx, try cleaning the pins with a electronic cleaner. Basically 4pin has 2 in and 2 out. Having a corrosion is highly probable on these cameras

@@mikecrook It's very odd because it records normally on the MRC1 and I can perfectly capture tape footage thru the same DV OUT. But when I go to player mode, nothing happens.

@@felpsbmxsp turns out some cameras do not have dv in!

google says yes, but I would search to make sure

@@mikecrook i checked it out, I don’t even have to push record on the camera to do it :D So yes I snagged one of the recording units heh