Another option - try a different capture utility; I use Scenalyzer because it works, whereas Vidap simply doesn't. on my system.

--Scott

Try the free Miscrosoft Movie Maker that came with your PC. - G

For me, capture works fine, but I get these sort of glitches/dropouts when doing Print to Tape. Have been for a couple of years...

I've tried different firewire cards and cables, still get them. I got to the point where I gave up and accepted them, thought it was to do with having an old slow PC (650 Mhz). I was able to get them down to appox 5 or 6 an hour.

Now, I'm seeing the same (seems even worse) on a new Dell Latitude D610 laptop. I even run the "I8kfangui" to control the fan, in case it is the fan causing them. And upgraded to Vegas 6. I am running Windows 2000.

As these days my final product is generally DVD, I can still create these with no problem, but I also want to backup my DV to tape (without glitches!).

Does Scenalyzer do PTT as well as catpure? I'm convinced I'll never get Vegas to do this properly. I'm not sure why capture is OK but PTT is not.

Mark

Well, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I will probably get a new cable and a card today.

I am thinking that a graphics card isn't the solution simply because this is probably a firewire issue of how the information is coming in and a graphics card simply isn't being used in the process.

I should have mentioned this in my first post...this is happening in all video capture programs I have. So this really isn't a Vegas issue. It's just that I am a Vegas user and love the Vegas capture best of all.

I hoping to get this solved today. I make my living with this, so glitches cannot be a "fact of life" for me.

Marc Plainguet
Audio Video Factory

Can I ask you to describe 'plops and glitches'? That sounds more like a description of an audio than video problem.
I've captured and PTT video using 4 computers and several different programs and never had an issue like this. If had frames get dropped like crazy but that was either a very dodgy 1394 PCMCIA card or a faulty disk subsystem that ultimately gave Delayed Write Failure errors.
It is unusual to get a DV tape without at least one dropout, DVCAM and D8 are much more reliable, dropouts show up more in the audio than the video.
Sorry if this is a really dumb question but yo do have the camera in VCR mode?
When you're using the camera in passthrough with open inputs you may well get some glitches, particularly on the audio.
And thsi problem happens with more than Vegas, hm, and on your old and new PC and with more than one camera. Odd, there's no one thing in common, well apart from the mains power, it's a long shot but try moving the gear somewhere else, maybe a mates house. Have you checked your house's mains voltage? That's clutching at straws but wierder things have happened.
Bob.

You should never have blips, pops, glitches, or any other disturbance when either capturing or printing to tape. Even one dropped frame is too many. Even a 650 MHz PC should be able to keep up -- I use a 450 MHz computer to capture, both to the internal drives as well as to Firewire drives. See if any of the suggestions in the Dropped Frame FAQ I wrote, posted over at VASST, helps:

Dropped Frames VASST FAQ

Thanks - I've read similar information, and tried everything.. still have problems with PTT, but not capture. Generally they are audio drop-outs. I can't tell for sure if I'm missing a whole frame, or if it is just the audio, what I notice most is the audio dropout.

I kill off all un-needed background processes, virus detection off. DMA is on.

The other thing that happens to me with PTT, and I'm not sure if it is related or not, but after about 10 minutes, Vidcap tells me it has lost contact with the device... PTT continues however.

Mark

I think they were telling you to get a new CAPTURE (1394) card, not a new graphics card. Graphics card won't help if it is the capture card that is the problem.

I've tried 2 different catpure cards, so I'm not so sure about buying a third.

Mark

Now, I'm seeing the same (seems even worse) on a new Dell Latitude D610 laptop. I even run the "I8kfangui" to control the fan, in case it is the fan causing them. And upgraded to Vegas 6. I am running Windows 2000.

Fact: This is not an endemic issue... in other words... there are many (vast majority) of Vegas users who do not experience such issues as you describe when doing a PTT.

Now... the fact that you are experiencing the same issue when doing a PTT with multiple computers seems to me at least to rule out an issue solely based on your PC/ Firewire. That would seem to me to point to an external problem.

Can you try a different camera/deck? Borrow one from a friend.

Problem solved! HOORAY!

The pops and glitches were mainly in the audio, but there were often single frame small blocks. All in all it was like I wasn't getting a clean digital signal similar to static in an analog feed, but it didn't cause dropped frames.

I agree that you will get dropouts, but this was not the simple single frame audio drop others have talked about here. In my experience that's usually heads needing cleaned or just imperfections in the tape.

Anyway, I did move the computer to my main office room where the other computer captures fine. I also tried a battery backup unit to keep power consistent. I moved equipment around to see if interference was causing the problem. I tried a different firewire cable. The problem was still there.

I went to Best Buy and got a Dynex firewire board. The Gateway couldn't even acknowledge that I installed it. Back to Best Buy to exchange for the Adaptec. Put the card in and the computer recognized it. Plugged in the cam and TA DA! FLAWLESSLY CLEAN SIGNAL!

So, for some reason the on board IEEE 1395 ports sucked even though they were OCHI complient. The new board works perfect and I'm back to capturing. Thanks for all the advice!

Marc Plainguet
Audio Video Factory