HDV Capture drops frames

woolbrig wrote on 8/28/2008, 1:40 PM
I'm using the capture utility in VP8b and I'm having a problem with dropouts while capturing HDV.

I'm trying to capture the entire tape as a single file without any scene detection. At random intervals, the capture program seems to lock even though the video is still playing perfectly on the camera. After a few seconds (minutes in some cases) it will continue capture in a new file. This is happening with almost every tape I capture.

I tried to capture the same tape using the NEO HDV demo and it captured perfectly.

Any ideas as to what the problem may be?

Joe

Comments

farss wrote on 8/28/2008, 2:59 PM
"Any ideas as to what the problem may be?"

Dare I say it, Vegas!

I've not had too many problems however I do have a HDV VCR of reasonable quality and kit in good condition and only use Sony tapes. I have had problems caused by the mildest hiccup in the mpeg stream on the tape so I can see how you could have major issues with Vegas and HDV.

Bob.
woolbrig wrote on 8/28/2008, 4:32 PM
That's what I was afraid of. May be time to invest in Neo-HDV.
fldave wrote on 8/28/2008, 6:19 PM
"This is happening with almost every tape I capture"

I would say it is a problem with your computer, or camera or cable. Try a different cable to see if it goes away. If not, there is a recent thread on dropouts, search this forum the past 2 months or so searching for "dropout"

I don't recall ever having a dropout on this machine, a P4 3.2Ghz about 3-4 years old.
johnmeyer wrote on 8/28/2008, 8:18 PM
I have seen things like this before. In one case it was a failing connector on my camera. One of the pins had broken off and was only making partial connection with the cable. Thus, if you have another HDV camera, try that, and also, as already suggested, try a different cable.

The other thing I have seen is that under some circumstances one of my external Firewire drives makes the computer flaky. Thus, the other recommendation would be to disconnect all other Firewire devices except your camera. Turn off everything completely, including the computer. Then, re-boot the computer. When completely re-booted, power up your camera and connect. Finally, capture the tape, using the Vegas HDV capture utility. Before capturing, make sure that scene detection is disabled (you said you have done that, but check one more time, just to make sure).
daryl wrote on 8/29/2008, 6:58 AM
I agree with the statements to look at hardware. I use HDVSplit for my Canon XH-A1 because of a known issue with Vegas, but I capture to Vegas 8 all the time using a Canon HV20, no problems at all.
woolbrig wrote on 9/7/2008, 3:59 PM
I found my problem. It must have been something running on my pc. I used msconfig to make sure not unnecessary programs where running and was able to capture flawlessly.

Thanks for the suggestions.