Comments

Coursedesign wrote on 5/12/2008, 11:02 PM
And if you're working off a laptop then an item such as www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10302&cs_id=1030202&p_id=80&seq=1&format=3#specification should make it even easier by eliminating the need for an AC adaptor and reducing the cable count.

Assuming you have ye olde PCMCIA slot on your laptop.

Otherwise get the Express Card equivalent product.
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baysidebas wrote on 5/13/2008, 7:18 AM
Hmmmm...... and here I thought that "then an item such as" covered that contingency...;>)
baysidebas wrote on 7/6/2008, 8:47 AM
I've captured three cameras (PD-150's) to one laptop using Scenalyzer Live. The laptop is an older 1GHz single-core Sony Vaio that only has a single Firewire port. I got a four-port Firewire router and connected the three cameras and an external HDD to the Firewire Router. Not a single dropped frame.

OK, Steve, now please help me retain what little hair I have on my head.

3 PD-150s connected via FW router to laptop. All three show up as devices, however, only two at a time appear in SCLive's preview screens [3 instances of SCLive launched]. Doesn't matter which I select, the third one displays error "can't connect to capture driver." Nothing I've done in sequencing of connections and app launch helps. Exactly same thing happens when one of the SCLive instances is replaced by OnLocation. This happens both on the laptop AND on a desktop. I've successfully recorded two camera feeds to HD on the laptop, but so far have been totally stymied in my attempts to record 3.

Any ideas?

BTW, with 3 cameras connected, Vegas capture shows 3 devices to choose from, but whichever I choose, it's only the same one camera's video that's available.
Coursedesign wrote on 7/6/2008, 10:40 AM
Hmmmm...... and here I thought that "then an item such as" covered that contingency...;>)

Sorry, I missed that back in the day. I didn't intend to be a fault finder, it's just been my observation that a lot of people take things literally.

If you give them Yogi Berra's advice, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it!," they will keep walking till they get to a fork in the road, and only then start wondering what he meant...

BTW, with 3 cameras connected, Vegas capture shows 3 devices to choose from, but whichever I choose, it's only the same one camera's video that's available.

Did you try multiple instances of Vegas and/or SCLive?

And if you ever get disk throughput problems (not that likely with DV), it's pretty easy to swap out the drive and replace it with a 7200rpm 2.5" drive, now available in capacities of up to 500GB (just be sure the drive isn't one of those that are 5mm thicker than standard, those fit few laptops).

baysidebas wrote on 7/6/2008, 11:51 AM
Did you try multiple instances of Vegas and/or SCLive?

Yes on SCLive. 3 cameras, all show up on the select combobox in each instance of SCLive and are selectable, but only two can be used at a time. Attempting to select the third [in the third instance of SCLive] results in a can't connect to capture driver [137] error. It almost seems as if the driver used [the MS DV Camera/vcr driver] isn't capable of handling 3 simultaneous streams, or will not allow more than two streams to be handled.

Haven't tried multiple instances of Vegas capture due to the inability of Vegas capture to even switch between the 3 devices when it's the only capture app running on the pc.

OnLocation, when running by itself, has no trouble switching among the 3 devices.

I rechecked Vegas Capture and there's an oddity. When opening the video tab, there are 3 Microsoft DV Camera and VCR listings presented, but they all have the bullet next to them, not just one as would be expected. Rebooting the pc didn't help.
craftech wrote on 7/6/2008, 8:28 PM
I thought you couldn't use Scenalyzer Live for HDV, only for DV?

Or do I have that wrong?

John
johnmeyer wrote on 7/6/2008, 8:51 PM
I thought you couldn't use Scenalyzer Live for HDV, only for DV?You are 100% correct: Scenalyzer is DV-only. No HDV. However, the person that re-started this thread said he had three PD-150s and I think those are DV-only.
craftech wrote on 7/6/2008, 10:15 PM
I thought you couldn't use Scenalyzer Live for HDV, only for DV?

Or do I have that wrong?
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You are 100% correct: Scenalyzer is DV-only. No HDV. However, the person that re-started this thread said he had three PD-150s and I think those are DV-only.
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They are. I missed the re-started part. Looked at the original poster and his camera and didn't check the dates.

John
Steve Mann wrote on 7/6/2008, 10:35 PM
"OK, Steve, now please help me retain what little hair I have on my head."

Try swapping the cameras on different FW lines. I did run into this once, but I couldn't duplicate it. Are you sure that you are getting video out from each camera when you run Scenalyzer?
baysidebas wrote on 7/7/2008, 3:12 AM
Yes, all three are feeding a signal. As I mentioned before, using OnLocation I can switch among the three. With SC I can get two instances to use two of the feeds. But when I attempt the third instance I get the [137] can't connect capture driver error message. I do have a help request in with the Scenalyzer folks, but have no idea as to how responsive they may be. i also have a request on the OL forum about running multiple instances of that app.

I did all the cable swapping you recommend as sometimes the error message includes a message that, while it may not be verbatim as it only showed up intermittently, I interpreted as asking for a camera power cycle and FW disconnect and reestablish connection. In the past few weeks I've spent about 5 hours trying to get the 3 cam capture to work, with no joy in Mudville.

And yes, the PD-150s are DV only, no HDV to muddy the issues. I shoot approximately 50 interviews a year for movies101.org [with no budget and in addition to my day job], so anything I can do to expedite production is a great help. Vegas has certainly been the best efficiency maker in this operation.