Dropped Frames I think ? ? ?

Shecki wrote on 8/26/2006, 6:50 PM
Im not too versed in the world of computers but i went out today to get some software to take the media thats on my Mini DV Sony camcorder .. and put it on to my computer. Well... the gentleman at CompUSA recomended Vegas, so i ended up with vegas 6.0. Well, i went to go put the material on to my computer and it went right over to vegas... but the sound os very choppy and picture isnt that great either. I have Windows XP, 1.47ghz proc., 512 mb ram, and an 80 gig hard drive. I dont know if thats enough info... but does anyone know why im having this problem where a $90 editing program wont uplaod the video without dropping frames... but the free windows movie maker program i have on this thing does it with no problem. I'd like to be able to edit it down a little better. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

Comments

PeterWright wrote on 8/26/2006, 7:34 PM
First check under Capture preferences the destination Folder/Drive you're capturing to - it may be set to system drive which is not recommended.

I assume you're connecting via firewire from cam to PC?
Shecki wrote on 8/27/2006, 5:34 AM
How do i go about changing which folder it goes in to ? Im in preferances right now and i cant seem to find anything that says its being put in to any specific drive or folder. I appreciate your help!
Shecki wrote on 8/27/2006, 5:35 AM
one more thing... yes i am connecting via firewire from cam to PC and how do i un-set it from system drive ?
grh wrote on 8/27/2006, 5:50 AM
First off, system drive means your C: drive, which is where windows is installed and where you (usually) boot from. If you have only one 80 GB drive, then you're not going to have any other option.

So let's hope you have 2 drives in your computer. Once you start Vegas, go to File/Capture Video and select the external capture application (for standard DV; HD video requires the use of the internal capture application). From here, click on the Options menu item, then Preferences. There should be a "Disk Management" tab; click on that.

Now you can add a new folder for storing your video captures, prioritize your folders, and set limits to how much should be used before the application automatically skips to the next folder.
farss wrote on 8/27/2006, 6:14 AM
Are these problems during capture or when you put the capruted material on the timeline?

During capture the preview might not be that good.
If you are dropping frames the VidCap dialogue will warn you.

If you get no warning about dropped frames safe to assume all is pretty well capture wise.

Playback from the timeline depends largely on CPU and disk speed as well as preview settings, also with a small preview window on a laptop the video can look a tad sad, don't sweet it, the final output doesn't look like that.

Bob.
Shecki wrote on 8/27/2006, 7:15 AM
I appreciate everyones help... is there any particular folder that you guys recomend putting it in to? I know that when i transfer the video footage... it looks and sounds fine on the camera... it just dumps frames out on vegas.

I had it dumping the vdeos into my "my documents" folder. I'm going to switch it to "my videos" instead and see if that helps. I have a feeling it wont though.

Is there a way to minimize or bring down the resolution or something... maybe it might be too much for my PC to handle ? ? ? Im not too sure though... cause like i said... it dumps into Windows Movie Maker, the preinstalled video editor, just fine. The video is a lot smaller though.
Shecki wrote on 8/27/2006, 7:32 AM
Trying with various folders... still, when i capture video... it's dropping frames all over the place. This is happen as im capturing... not when i put it to timeline. Im trying to find some kind of setting that will change this on the video capture portion of vegas... but cant seem to figure it out.
rs170a wrote on 8/27/2006, 8:54 AM
it's dropping frames all over the place.

Is this what VIdCap is reporting?

it dumps into Windows Movie Maker, the preinstalled video editor, just fine. The video is a lot smaller though.

Now we're getting somewhere. Assuming MovieMaker is set to capture DV-AVI, the video should be the same size.
In that case, here's something else to look at.
Go Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager - IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Click the + sign that should be next to the last one. You should see Primary IDE Channel. Double click that and then click Advanced Settings. In Transer Mode, if it's set to PIO, try changing it to DMA if available.
Do a re-boot, try capturing again and see what happens.

Mike
Shecki wrote on 8/27/2006, 11:00 AM
Yeh, when im in the video capture section... as it's recording... on the right side right below the video it tells you how many frames your dropping. I drop about 80-100 frames every 10 seconds.

I tried going into the device manager... it's already all set for DMA Available in both the primary and secondary. Dont know if that info helps at all. Thanks again!
rs170a wrote on 8/27/2006, 11:20 AM
... it's already all set for DMA Available...

That's good to hear. Now on to the next step :-)
There are numerous processes running on the background that can cause you grief. FIrst of all, make sure you're not connected to the net as this has been known to cause severe dropped frames.
Check out the Dropped Frames FAQ on the VASST site and see if any of this applies to you.
You may also want to check out the TWEAKS for Windows XP for Video Editing articles on the Videoguys site for more suggestions on optimizing your machine.
Good luck with it.

Mike
Shecki wrote on 8/27/2006, 3:09 PM
Thanks bro.. i appreciate all of the info. I looked at the info on optimizing on sonys site .. I'll have to check out those two. My computer runs DSL so it is always conected... should i unplug from my router ?
rs170a wrote on 8/27/2006, 3:20 PM
My computer runs DSL so it is always conected... should i unplug from my router ?

I'd try it and see what happens. You have nothing to lose and some sanity to gain if that's the problem :-)

Mike