Capturing Video Error

lagume wrote on 11/24/2004, 7:23 PM
When using Video Capture 5.0 as part of the Vegas MS 4.0 product, I get the following error: "The device 'Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit Device' could not be opened. Please make sure that it is turned on and is not being used by another application or user.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver that came with my camcorder and have evern tried using the Windows generic driver, AV/C Tape Device, and nothing works. I read previous posts that talk about a missing or invalid directory and I have tried several different directories and still no luck. I am connecting to a Sony DCR-IP55 Handycam.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. I am currently forced to use Sony's Movie Shaker software to capture my clips, but this is less than ideal.

Thanks!!

Comments

IanG wrote on 11/25/2004, 12:53 AM
I'm afraid that "less than ideal" is as good as it gets! Have a look at this thread. Micro MV was a form of MPEG 2, which is a lossy format, so you're unlikely to get very good quality once you start editing.

Ian G.
lagume wrote on 11/25/2004, 3:31 PM
This is good information. Thanks for the link. It's disappointing that Sony's MMV file format is not compatible with their own video editing software - for capturing anyway. One more question if anyone knows the answer... the thread you pointed me to took me to another article in the knowledge base which recommended converting the MMV file format to an AVI format before editing. Is this really necessary? What is the benefit/advantages? I have always used the compressed MMV format as it uses less harddrive space than AVI.

Please advise. Thanks!
Mike
IanG wrote on 11/26/2004, 1:13 AM
I don't know the specifics of mmv, but it's based on MPEG2 so I'll assume this is still true.

The video in *most AVIs is made up of complete, individual frames, rather like an electronic strip of film. If you remove frames it just makes things shorter - there's no effect on the quality of the image. They're also big!

MPEG works with a "Group Of Pictures" (GOP) made up of I frames, P frames and B frames. I frames are complete pictures, but P frames only hold the differences from earlier I and P frames. B frames hold the differences from earlier and later I and P frames. If you remove frames from an MPEG it starts to fall apart and the quality suffers! Editing is also much slower as all the I & P frames have to be recalculated.

Enter the avi converter - you'll probably get some loss of quality, but it shouldn't be too bad because your GOP structure is still OK. And it wont get any worse, no matter how many edits you do to it. Obviously there's a time overhead, but you can go and have a coffee and look forward to an enjoyable editing session rather than the prospect of tearing your hair out in frustration!

* DivX is an exception

Ian G.
lagume wrote on 11/30/2004, 9:17 PM
IanG... First off... Thanks for the great explination of the GOP explination. That was extremely educational and explained in few words what I have been looking for in several places.

Secondly... when you say "Enter the avi converter," what do you mean? Can I take my MPEG (MMV) files imported from my camcorder via MovieShaker and convert them into AVI format by rendering them in Vegas Movie Studio with minimal loss of data or quality? Then once in an AVI format reload that file into Vegas MS for final editing and movie making? Am I getting this yet?

If you have a better way to approach this task or if you have any other suggestions, I welcome then and thank you in advance.

Mike
IanG wrote on 12/1/2004, 1:15 AM
Mike, I'm afraid I'm guilty of using flowery language - I just meant to introduce the idea of an avi converter. I don't know if MS can handle MMV, but if it can you're exactly right!

I've had a quick look on the web for MMV to AVI converters and it looks like MovieShaker can save as avi! If that's true, and the quality's ok, you probably don't need to look any further. If it doesn't, then it looks like you'll need to convert to "normal" MPEG2 first. This might be helpful.

Ian G.
shmulb wrote on 12/1/2004, 5:36 AM
Are you capturing with "Firewire" ? You say that you installed drivers! but firewire does not need any software drivers and Firewire is the only way to capture video.!
Chienworks wrote on 12/1/2004, 7:22 AM
There are many ways to capture video; firewire is only one of them. It's not even the best way in all cases. It is the best method for capturing DV video streams, but that's about it. Component video is often delivered to the computer in analog and digitized by a card in the computer. Many MPEG transfers are done through USB. Probably the MicroMV format cameras come with a USB port and software for transfer.
lagume wrote on 12/4/2004, 4:20 AM
I am using firewire to capture my video. I have had an aweful time converting MPEG to AVI through the MovieShaker software. I run into audio troubles more times than not. I will render in Movie Studio and then edit from those new AVI formats. I was trying to save hard drive space, but since I bought a new one recently, I might as well use it up!

Thanks for everyone's replies and information. I am now off to put it into action!

Enjoy your holidays!