Camera under control, but video escapes

D. Collins wrote on 7/13/2013, 3:59 PM

My computer went west in a T-Storm, so I've upgraded to a new Windows 7, 64 bit system. I reinstall my Vegas 11 software, but when I connect my old HVD-FX1 camera I have a problem.

The Capture window in Vegas will control the camera start/stop, but no video is displayed. I remember something about drivers when last I installed it to a computer 5 or 6 years ago, but I'm lost now. You would think Vegas would have what's needed to control a Sony camera.

In the Options – Preferences – Video tap in the Vegas program, there is a check box (not checked) titled “Use external video capture application” If you check it, the address leads to a 'vidcap60.exe' program/driver. I've tried it checked and unchecked, to no avail.

The setting on the camera are set as I've always used it. I link conv = OFF, VCR HDV/DV = HDV & A/V to DV out = OFF.

Of course it's Firewire to the computer.

Does anyone have an idea why Vegas can control the camera, but does not bring in video?

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 7/13/2013, 4:03 PM

Is capture preview enabled?

In Device Mangler, see if you can choose Legacy 1394 drivers.

ushere wrote on 7/13/2013, 6:42 PM

+1 - legacy drivers

D. Collins wrote on 7/14/2013, 11:21 AM

This is crazy! I couldn't find something called Legacy 1394, but it has drivers and it says they are current.

After spending hours poking around, I stumbled on a crazy way to make it work. If I:
1. start the camera rolling with the play button in the Capture window.
2. Right click the red Rec button
3. I'll see that the IEEE 1394 is checked
4. Follow that to it's sub directory - Sony HDR-RX1 which is also checked - and by left clicking this.
5. Go back and click on the red Rec button again, I'll see moving video from the camera in the Capture window.
6. When I click stop, it tags it with a number, and usually puts it in Project Media :-).

This is a crazy convoluted way to operate. It is the only combination that will work. Something is missing either within Vegas Pro 11, Windows 7 or the BIOS on the new Z77 mother board.

The fact that this combination works, means something, I just don't know what. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Dave

videoITguy wrote on 7/14/2013, 11:54 AM

DCollins, what it means is that your driver is very close, but it is not correct and hence you have a problematic workflow out of it. This is an issue starting with your underlying Windows OS choice and the interaction with firewire supported drivers. Note legacy driver as said.

OldSmoke wrote on 7/14/2013, 12:19 PM

@Dave
It should like this in you Device Manager:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39278380/1394_legacy.jpg

I am on Win7-64bit and sometimes do connect my HVR-Z5U via firewire to my PC and I don't have any issues aside from the known capture issue within Vegas; the HDV split function is not accurate and I prefer "HDV-Split" for that.

D. Collins wrote on 7/14/2013, 6:55 PM

OK, we finely found the legacy driver and selected it, but it still doesn't work the way it should.

OldSmoke wrote on 7/14/2013, 9:03 PM

You could check the bios to see if the 1394 port is sharing resources or bandwidth with other devices such as USB ports, SATA controllers and PCIe slots; maybe there is a resource conflict or bandwidth restriction?
If you let me know the brand and model I could have a look at the manual for that board.

D. Collins wrote on 7/14/2013, 9:40 PM

OldSmoke:

The motherboard is 'The ultimate force sabertooth Z77 (GA). I'll talk with the guy who put it together tomorrow, and see if he has any insight. I did ask him to add the fire-wire port so I could connect my camera. You may be on to something.

Thanks for your help.

Dave

OldSmoke wrote on 7/15/2013, 8:20 AM

Dave:
I got the manual for the board. How many add-on cards aside from your graphic card do you have installed and in which slot? Important pages in the manual are 3-29 "PCI Express X16_3 slot (black) [X1 mode]" , 2-12 "Expansion Slots" and on the following page "IRQ assignments for this motherboard".

musicvid10 wrote on 7/15/2013, 8:51 AM

Since the full adoption of APIC around a decade ago, IRQ conflicts are almost unheard of, for all practical purpose. They're not going to exist on a Win7 box.

You can resolve any possible memory address questions by booting in safe mode, removing all 1394 entries in Device Mangler, restarting, and letting Windows find the device. Then re-select the legacy drivers. It doesn't matter which slot the card is in.

If the 1394 card is not a TI chipset, try one that is. You can check that yourself.

D. Collins wrote on 7/18/2013, 9:56 AM

Well, here's the deal, as they say.

We have tried everything. Looked for memory conflicts, ordered and install a new TI Fire-wire 1394 Controller Card, we let windows find the driver, we changed to a legacy driver, we used TI's driver, nothing worked. Some times we even got a blue screen, and Vegas locked-up sometimes. At the end of a long, hot day, discussed we called it quits.

This morning, I decided to move the FW cable to the other port on the front of the computer, something we had tried yesterday to no avail, and give it one more try before deciding what to do next. It's working! I'd like to explain what the real problem was, but after all the things we tried, I have no clue.

As an aside, at one point we searched a site called, tom's hardware. There were half a dozen guys running Window 7, 64bit systems, mostly with Vegas 9, who were having trouble capturing video. They could play from their cameras, but Vegas would not display or capture video. And, these were dated in 2010! It did not seem to be the fault of Vegas, but there was no clear answer.

I don't have a clear answer either, but I know everyone's help on this forum was instrumental in focusing the mind on the areas that needed our attention. Thank you again for your help and consideration.

Dave

OldSmoke wrote on 7/18/2013, 11:26 AM

I know this comes late but have you actually tried a different cable too? It could well be one of the cable connectors or the cable itself. Also always plug the FireWire cable into the PC first, then the camera and then switch on the camera.