Bad news for CF24 and Sony Vegas Capture 5.0

ShannonRawls wrote on 2/13/2005, 11:39 AM
Ran some tests on Saturday. Running some more today. One thing I noticed:

If you run Sony Vegas Capture 5.0 and plug your camera up via Firewire (dv downconverted=yes), then In all modes on the Z1U you get to see a live action preview of what the camera is seeing. At any point you can hit the "CAPTURE VIDEO" button and begin capturing that footage to your computer...easy as pie.... My camera was in 1080i HDV mode (as I will always keep it), I had the downconversion ON via firewire, and I tried capturing directly to computer with Sony Vegas Capture in ALL framing modes of the Z1U.

Z1U in HDV/50i downconverted to DV via firewire mode: CAPTURES LIVE FOOTAGE
Z1U in HDV/CF25 downconverted to DV via firewire mode: CAPTURES LIVE FOOTAGE
Z1U in HDV/60i downconverted to DV via firewire mode: CAPTURES LIVE FOOTAGE
Z1U in HDV/CF30 downconverted to DV via firewire mode: CAPTURES LIVE FOOTAGE
Z1U in HDV/CF24 downconverted to DV via firewire mode: DOES NOT CAPTURE ANY LIVE FOOTAGE.

what happens: If I start capturing cf24 live, for say like 20 seconds...no problem, no dropped frames, clock is running fine. As soon as I hit the STOP button.....the pop up window appears that normally shows your clips simply says "No frames captured" and my thumbnail preview is empty!!

Thats not all....

If I start capturing, for say like 40 seconds or longer...HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM! Frames begin to drop as fast as they are captured (100% of them). and then computer begins to freeze up. If I hit STOP in time before letting the system freeze, the same popup window says "No frames captured" same as before for 20 sesconds or less.

So basically, using CF24 and Sony Vegas Capture 5.0...you will NOT be able to capture live footage from a direct preview via firewire.

However, if you capture your HDV footage to tape in CF24 mode, and then put the camera in VCR mode and THEN do a playback/capture, everything is fine.

Crazy ain't it?

- ShannonRawls.com

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 2/13/2005, 11:46 AM
Keep in mind the cam is much newer than the latest version of Vegas...Give it some time. DV Rack can't support this stream either, at least not yet. Good to see you here, Shannon!
ShannonRawls wrote on 2/13/2005, 8:26 PM
You know Shannon....always impatient. *smile*

Good to see you too Spot. I joined your website 2 days ago. Where they heck have I been. I immediately sent my editors there! *smile*

Somethng tells me the next version of Sony Vegas Capture will slave to the camera the way DV Rack does. I like DV Rack, but don't like that it's timecode is not compatible to Vegas.

Thanks DSE.

- ShannonRawls.com
ShannonRawls wrote on 2/14/2005, 3:33 PM
PROBLEM RESOLVED. Rob Lohman replied in another forum this:

This may be a known issue (which exist with PAL captures when scene detection is on) that manifests itself with this downconversion as well. Try the following in the capture utility:

I then told him:

ROB!

Now you can effectively capture ALL MODES in the HVR-Z1U with Sony Vegas Capture 5.0. Just make sure Scene Detection is OFF when doing so. (you shouldn't need it for a 'live' capture anyhow. *smile*

- Shannon W. Rawls