Capturing video to laptop

Sneddy wrote on 2/5/2006, 5:04 PM

I have a 2.2 ghz Pent IV / 762 ram / 4200rpm harddrive laptop that I have previously used successfully to capture video from a mini Dv camcorder using a dv cable (1394). I usually use a 250GB Maxtor external (7200rpm) to capture to but on this trip I don't have the external hard drive with me. When capturing to my C drive, I am getting oodles of dropped frames. My C drive (30GB) is only 11% free but was recently defragged when it was 15% free. Would this be the reason I am getting dropped frames (because I'm not capturing to the larger and faster external hard drive)? Thanks in advance for any help.
Bob K.

Comments

jrazz wrote on 2/5/2006, 5:17 PM

It could be. Also, something else to consider is that before you were capturing to a free drive. Meaning, Windows did not reside on the drive, nor did Vegas. This could cause problems along with your hard drive being 4200rpms.
I would say that it is a safe bet.

j razz

johnmeyer wrote on 2/5/2006, 7:30 PM

I used to capture on a 4500 rpm drive in a 750MHz Pentium, and I never defragged. Dropped frames are usually caused by not having DMA set. Make sure DMA is turned on for your drive. If it isn't, you WILL drop "oodles" of frames. Lots of oodles. Also, background processes can interfere, so make sure you have as little running in the background as possible. However, the fact that it captures just fine to the external drive, but doesn't capture well to the internal drive make me think the problem lies in the DMA setting.