Analog Capture probs...to a 120 gig firewire drive

PDB wrote on 3/24/2003, 9:31 AM

Hello there everyone!

I'm hoping someone may be able to help out on a problem I'm having when trying to capture analog vid (VHS) through vid cap on Vegas 4. Actually think its a hardware issue really.

Ok, I have the Dazzle Hollywood Bridge (i know, I know....) and an external LaCie 120 GB firewire drive. I can get the thing to begin the capture ok, though I do get the occasional dropped frames (I'm guessing thats a Dazzle bridge issue). However, all of a sudden the capture stops and I get the message that there is no room on the disk - There is over 70% free space on the 120 gb drive before the capture starts- its NTFS configured btw...)- and I don't think that's a Dazzle issue...or can it be?.

Sooo, before I throw the bridge out of the window and fork out another 350 euros for the ADVC 100, has anybody had any success with a similar capture process? What can be wrong with the hardware? (my proc is a P4 1,8 GB and 256 Ram..)

The video I'm trying to capture is our wedding vid which lasts approx 1 hour, and the failure happens about 10-15 mins into the capture...

Do I really need to buy the canopus ADVC 100? (I wish I had come across this board before I bought the Dazzle bridge!) I only do this as a hobby, but its turning out to be expeeeeesnive one..

Thanks for your time!

Paul.

PS. I did de-fragment the drive BTW.

Comments

baysidebas wrote on 3/24/2003, 11:37 AM

If you can beg, borrow , or steal a TBC (Time Base Corrector) to feed your analog video through, you may find that your problem not only goes away but that your video comes out much cleaner looking.

I've been toying with the idea of feeding analog signals through a DV camcorder, but haven't actually tried that yet. That may or may not help but is worth a try.

Grazie wrote on 3/24/2003, 2:20 PM

I've got the DHB. It does work. However, I've just done some other experiments. Thhis has included "feeding" the analogue into my Canon; getting a DV tape and then use the tape as THE feed to the laptop. This means I have DV device capture control. So far I feel I can get better control AND the AV/DV conversion is done a stage at a time.

The DHB? Well ....... I suppose I could use to then output back to VHS tape . . . I also use it as the Preview to external monitor fanDanGo.

Grazie

Bear wrote on 3/24/2003, 2:44 PM

Don't know about your video camera but I have a Sony and I go from my vcr into the Sony and out of it via firewire to the computer I bought a Siig firewire card for $20 on Ebay and it works perfectly. With the Sony I just put it on vcr mode without a tape in it. Basically just passing trough the camera and converting to DV signal. this system works great for me expecially when you consider a "specialized" converter at $300 and up it is very pleasing. I know people that have bought Sony's with head problems or tracking problems or broken lcd's for under $100 on Ebay and use them for this process. I also do the same in reverse to vcr's so if somone wants a vhs tape I can supply that as well. With the sony you have to turn off the dvout feature on the menu to go from the computer to the vcr but no other changes are required.

HTH

PDB wrote on 3/25/2003, 4:15 AM

Thanks everyone for your responses!

Unfortunately my cam (a JVC) does not have a video in function (only vid out) cause of some bright politician deciding that cams in Europe should be taxed higher for this function...and when I bought it, I didn't think I'd need it - yeah, you guessed, I hadn't discovered Vegas V3 yet (V4 wasn't out yet...). Then I needed preview on tv function, so bought the DHB, which was all I could find around here in Spain. and it works just about ok for that...I am now pushing it to its limits by trying to capture analog tape but am having problems with dropping frames (sometimes 200 in one shot...) and the capture just stops after a while (I think this may be a hardrive issue reather than the Dazzle bridge acting up...

I am a bit stuck on this one coz the drive is 120 gigs, 7200 rp, NTFS format and therefore "should" be ok to capture to: however the capture stops with a message reading there is no space available on the drive (70 gigs!!!!). Haven't got a clue how to solve this one....

I am going to try to borrow a cam with video in funtion at least to narrow down the issues (ie: how much are Dazzel and/or the drive responsible for my woes....).

I would appreciate any further suggestions as to tests or solutions!

Thanks again,

Paul.

PS. I am beginning to regret having discovered the Vegas world: all this $$ for a hobby!!! AND my wife is beginning to regret it too!, despite the wonderful vids of our baby daughter... :)