DV8 Sniper Frame-By-Frame Moviestuff capture machine

[Tom Fales]

For anyone looking for a frame-by-frame capture machine that handles both regular 8mm and super 8mm films to "hack", I have one on eBay. It's one of the original Moviestuff DV8 Sniper units with the old machine vision standard definition camera. It has the "mouse sync" feature that outputs clicks to a PC for each film frame.

Since the CineCap or DodCap software that originally was needed for this unit is no longer available, I bought this thinking that I would be able to make it work with some other software program and camera that would give me HD output. Never was able to find a program (I'm not a software expert) to use so decided to put it up for sale. See link below which includes a short video link as well.

Moviestuff DV8 Sniper frame-by-frame capture device 8mm and Super 8mm | eBay

Hope someone can figure it out . . .

Tom

[Tom Fales]

Based on some feedback, apparentlly there ARE some software options for this rig.

For Mac computers there is the CaptureMate HD software made by Ben Software that recognizes the mouse sync pulses. They have a newer version called SwiftCapture that apparently also works. Also, the Adobe Premiere software has the capability of recognizing these sync pulses, although I have not investigated further.

I may have to do some more experimenting with this unit . . .

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

In case you don't want to give up...

try replacing the camera with mirrorless ones with electronic shutter function & wired remote shutter release (Panasonic G7 in my case). It should be possible to hook up the trigger directly to the camera and bang! Tons of still image sequence as the result. No computer involved during the process also.

[Janice Glesser]

Tom Fales I'm not aware of Premiere having the capability to directly capture frame-by-frame. However... if you find this is a possibility please post.

[Tom Fales]

Janice - this idea came from an individual who claims the "stop motion" feature of Premiere can be used for this function, but since I have never used Premiere I can't validate how this is done. Unfortunately, the individual who claimed this cannot be reached for clarification.
But your question brought up a good point: I need to do more research before I suggest something can be done based on comments I see online.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

Although it's very possible to import still image sequence into Premirer Pro (and most other NLE) to create video file from that, but there seems to be no way to capture that still image sequence from PP.
The most practical solution I can think of at the moment is to capture still images from the camera's HDMI output. Not sure which one works best but there seems to be several to choose from.

[Tom Fales]

Apparently there was an earlier version (v6.5 ?) of Premiere that was able to do this - but the feature was dropped somewhere along the line.
I was looking for a "non-technical" software solution that would not recquire building circuits, etc. A shame because this low-end machine actually produces decent images - just a matter of how to sync-up the frames . . .
Thanks for all the input.

[Tom Fales]

Also, I've seen a number of references to a (no longer supported) software package called Scenalyzer. The documentation I've seen doesn't make it clear whether or not the capture process will recognize mouse clicks as a trigger for each frame capture. Anyone use this package with Workprinter or Sniper systems?

[Janice Glesser]

I used Scenalizer and it works great with the sync mouse. Unfortunately it will only capture SD. It is still available but is no longer supported.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

I can 100% confirm on Janice's post.

http://www.scenalyzer.com/

Therefore that's the main reason that I had to move on - using mirrorless camera route instead.

[Tom Fales]

Not to prolong this subject, but I downloaded the Scenalyzer program and manual but haven't installed the program yet. In reading the manual I really don't see anything about incorporating the sync mouse clicks into the capture process. Do I need to install the software and search through all the options, or do you have any tips in advance . . .
Also, I'm not sure I am overly concerned about "high-definition" since I'll be capturing with an HD camcorder. I see where there is an option in the manual for setting the capture to 16x9. When you say it will only capture in SD, do you mean the resolution size is limited during capture?
Thanks

I did this comparison and there is obviously a difference on close inspection, but during viewing it's hard to see . . .

[Janice Glesser]

Scenalyzer will not recognize your camera if it's set to HD mode. I used a Canon Vixia HV40 at the time. If I remember you just have to set the capture setting to stop motion capture...then like in cinecap put your sync mouse cursor over the capture button and it will capture a frame with each click of the button. It's been a long time since I used the app...but I remember it being simple to setup. I don't remember there being a reference to using a sync mouse specifically in the instructions...just that you can capture stop motion.

[Tom Fales]

Ah, that makes sense now. Thanks, as always

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

The smart part of its stop-motion capture function of this program is that instead of taking still images sequence from incoming DV video stream and save them as a large pile of .jpg images (as most other stop-motion capture program did), causing some unnecessary conversion and additional processing power.

Instead this program will cherry-pick video frames from incoming DV video stream according to mouse-click trigger, and stitch them back as complete .avi file at the end of the process. That means absolutely no unnecessary re-encoding process, you'll get one .avi file instead of 1000's of still images, and it's lightning fast.

The major blow is that it will work ONLY with DV camera in SD mode, be it 4:3 or 16:9. It will NOT work with any other thing else, sorry.