Capture problems

vicmilt wrote on 12/7/2003, 6:43 AM

Have been using Vegas with same hardware/software/hard drive setup for two years -
suddenly, it's getting cranky.

I am using an almost empty 120 gig, totally defragged, P4 1.6mhz, 512Meg RAM, and here's the weird part.

1. Have used this exact setup without problems for two years.
2. Captured a 48 minute tape - but - I split the capture into 10 minute sections with 10 second overlap. 3 of the 5 sections captured just fine and two in the middle failed. And the overlaps did fine in the good captures.
The Problem: Basically I'm getting large grey squares and tiny pixels, but only sometimes. The failure continues for entire captured section.

Same problem on a couple of different drives and different cables. Have not tried different decks or computers, yet. Deck is new Sony DCR45. Tape is mini DV by TDK.

Am going crazy - suggestions??

v.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 12/7/2003, 7:10 AM

What happens if you capture the entire 48 minutes as one clip? You can always split it up after it's captured.

vicmilt wrote on 12/8/2003, 5:47 AM

The problem exhibits itself whether in long or short captures.
I am begging this incredible group to consider what may be wrong.
I have mounted a frame of the mess at:

http://www.interpubco.com/Vegas/FailedCapture.bmp

If anyone recognizes why this frame failed (and the possible solution), I'd be extremely grateful. I'm in the midst of a job, and my only immediate recourse is to buy a new computer - pretty extreme.

kameronj wrote on 12/8/2003, 6:16 AM

Two out of five captures had the problem. WHich two? The first and third? Second and fouth....third and fifth...you get the point.

You say you have had the same set up for two years without a problem. When did you last do the defrag? That is you gave us the stats of the system and HD (120 gb, defragged), so when was it last defragged...before or after the problem?

Is this a new HD? Two years ago (I don't think) a 120 gb was available to home users...without it costing an arm and a leg. When was the 120 gb put in?

Are you capturing through firewire? Do you only have one port - or can you test a second port?

RAM shouldn't be a problem, but have you replaced the RAM recently (or could you before replacing the whole system).

That's it off the top of my head. Hope it helps some.

vicmilt wrote on 12/8/2003, 6:56 AM

Thanks for your input Kameroni -
1. Relatively new HD - maybe a month old. It has sucessfully captured footage before this "mystery".
I defrag regularly when capturing, so both before and after. Am using Raxco Perfect disk, which I like very much.
Am capturing thru Firewire, but had same problem with test capture directly to C: drive.
Haven't changed RAM or really anything else, at all - only thing potentially different is that I recently produced a MS Powerpoint show. I found that MS had installed itself in my Startup folder and so immediatly removed it, along with everything else.
Please look at the picture I mounted (see email above). Someone will recognize the problem and identify it, I am sure.

vicmilt wrote on 12/8/2003, 6:13 PM

In hopes that someone will recognize my plight -

I thought I had it licked. I swapped out of my DSR-45 and used my VX-1000 as a source deck. Captured without problem. Figured the heads in my DSR-45 were probably dirty - so I cleaned them.
Test with deck still failed, so I went back to VX-1000.
Another failure. So it's got to be either computer or software based.

Any thoughts?
Do I really have to buy a new computer? (Will NOT reformat existing one).

v.

mountainman wrote on 12/8/2003, 8:13 PM

Just a thought, try a different firewire cable. I had bad one which caused me all kinds of grief. Good Luck. JM.

PeterWright wrote on 12/8/2003, 8:18 PM

Your picture looks like a camera/tape problem.

Can you confirm -

- is it always the same piece(s) of footage that look like this?

- does the same footage look ok when played back apart from capturing?

- does the same thing happen with your deck and your camera?

frogmugsy wrote on 12/8/2003, 8:37 PM

Just a couple of days ago I was capturing some old videos I had edited with Videowave. All my clips were fine except the first one. For some reason, it captured the clip at 25 frames?The video was blocky and pixelated and the audio made everyone sound deeper for the entire duration of the clip (27 seconds) . The very next clip and the rest were fine. I was clueless.

I decided to capture a part of the video right after a dissolve from a text graphic. Voila! The rest of the clip (22 seconds) captured fine. Maybe this could shed light on the situation.

rebel44 wrote on 12/8/2003, 8:37 PM

It is not Vegas. It is the tape. I have similar problem when stopping and rolling again. I get squere pixels when tape stop. After cleaning heads the pixels are minimal. Buy a head cleaning tape for miniDV and try. If that will not help- take to service point and let them clean the heads. Use the best quality tapes.
I have JVC and capture amazing in standard NTSC stereo sound.The best way to film all on tape and let Vegas cut it.

johnmeyer wrote on 12/8/2003, 9:33 PM

Check out this site for all sorts of things to check when you have problems capturing:

lordsmurf.com

This guy has more great practical advice than any ten sites I've ever visited. He asks for donations if you like his advice. I sent him some money immediately.

If your problem turns out to not be the tape, you might start looking for software. If you use the System Restore function, you can easily temporarily "roll back" the computer to a time before the problem occurred and then see if everything works. This will let you know if it is software (which can include programs, startup programs, adware programs, viruses, corrupted files, etc.).

Jay Gladwell wrote on 12/9/2003, 6:41 AM

The link doesn't work, John.

Mandk wrote on 12/9/2003, 7:21 AM

CHeck the properties on the captured clip. I have had clips with the same end result. Checking the properties of the capture it had captured in some weird aspect ratio and/or in PAL.

I have been unable to determine cause and defauled to capturing the footage via analog.

I use a JCV GR800 camera via firewire. One tape will be fine, second tape does this. Both shot on same nught, same settings, etc. Heads clean, play fine and appears to be capturing correctly until playback from disk. One example was even done on a brad new hard drive so defrag was not an issue.

BrianStanding wrote on 12/9/2003, 9:52 AM

I'm guessing tape drop-out or head clog.

Did you by any chance switch tape stock brands recently?

If you recapture the same clip twice, does the glitch show up at the same place each time, or is it at a different frame? If the former, it's probably a problem with the tape itself, if the latter, I'd bet it's either a dirty head or a bad firewire cable.

Mandk wrote on 12/9/2003, 10:06 AM

Tape brand has always been Panasonic Professional 63 minute variety.

I thnk the latest problem was using a brand new firewire. Same result as the old one (not saying that both were not bad though but you would hope the new one was good). Clogged head may be an issue and I will try cleaning.

The interesting thing is that during the capture the picture on the screen looks fine and no dropped frames are indicated. Only on clip playback does the problem become noticable.

vicmilt wrote on 12/9/2003, 4:00 PM

I want to thank all of you for your time and helpful input.

I think the problem is solved, but since it was intermittent, it may not be.

I did all the stuff you all suggested - switched drives, wires, no firewire - direct to C drive, different source with known good footage, etc, etc. etc.

In the end, I reloaded a fresh version of Vegas with the latest upgrade and everything settled into place - in other words it works again. I don't think it was an issue of version, rather I think I probably corrupted a necessary Vegas file.

In the end, I didn't have to buy a new computer (the most extreme of fixes) - my good old HP P4 1.6 512meg chugs along as usual. I'm drooling over a new 2.8 with HT (Santa???), but didn't get the excuse just yet.

Happy holidays to all, and thanks again for your interest and your input.
v