jandrea, tvwonder & Deef - What was the solution? . . . .

SteveLee wrote on 5/7/2002, 3:01 PM
What solutions did you arrive at for the communications issues related to your
camera/deck?

All of your past threads are dead without a final solution. (Feb, Mar timeframe)

I am having problems with my Sony DCR-VX700 (VX1000's little brother) using a SIIG
OHCI card. I have ZERO problems with my DV Raptor.

Can any of you help me please?

I really like VV3.0a and don't want to go backwards . . . .

Thanks!

Comments

jandrea wrote on 5/8/2002, 8:04 AM
Stevelee

Unfortunately, I haven't found a solution. Did all the things people kindly suggested, but no joy. I've swapped firewire boards between computers, I've tried loan firewire cards, I've downloaded updated drivers for just about everything, including the latest Via 4 in 1 drivers, but I'm still unable to use the Sony DHR1000 deck with VV3.0a, and the Sony VX1000 works only intermittently. The Sony PC3 still works with VV, and I think that until SoFo comes up with more deck friendly versions, I'm back to Premiere and the DV Raptor for the deck and VX1000. I'll still use VV with the PC3, because I like the look and feel of VV3, and subjectively at least, I think the output (to DV tape) is better. Haven't tried output to VCD, SVCD, or DVD yet, so I can't comment on the differences.

Interestingly, the folks on other SF VV forums are nearly unanimous in their view that VV3 doesn't fully work with many decks, and doesn't work at all with some, but apparently SoFo are getting round to saying so, and have indicated they're working on the problem. Note this is info gleaned from postings on other forums, it isn't direct info from SoFo to me.

I spent maybe 25 or 30 hours messing around in March and early April trying to find a fix, but I'm afraid I've given up for the time being. Sorry I didn't post my findings earlier, but I've been away on vacation for the last 3 weeks or so.

John Andrea
jandrea wrote on 5/8/2002, 8:24 AM
SteveLee

Couple of other comments I should have added to my previous post. I thought that because all my kit is PAL (I live in Australia), this might have been the reason, especially because other posters are successfully using the Sony DHR1000 with VV3. Second, both the DHR1000 and the VX1000 are early versions (both purchased in 1996), and may well have componentry that's been updated in more recent models. I'm assured by several replies on other forums that similar problems to mine exist with NTSC DHR1000's as well, so there's another theory out the window.

There doesn't seem to be any consistency in whether various decks work or not, and this compounds the problem. Would seem it's a combination of things, and trying to track down multiple problems is exponentially harder than trying to fix a single issue. If there was an identifiable trend then I'm sure the fix, or fixes if they exist, would be easier to find, but thus far all the forums I've visited, including this one, haven't come up with anything. Must be hell trying to write software that's universally compatible with the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of hardware/software combinations out there.

John Andrea
tvwonder wrote on 5/8/2002, 12:13 PM
Sorry, SteveLee. I've been so entrenched in getting my system running again and other projects (unfortunately, I'm not just a video guy - I'm the tech guy at a church and don't get to devote all my time to video production like I'd like to) so I haven't been able to update my posts.

I'm sorry to say that I don't have any good news to give. In fact, for me, it was very bad news to even try a hardware based approach to solving this problem - meaning swapping PCI cards around inside my computer. When I tried this, it launched all sorts of problems that I'm still barely recovered from.

It was suggested by deef that I try moving the cards around in my system to see if the SIIG FireWire card would be happier in another slot, not having to share with another device. Reluctantly, after trying everything else I could think of, I decided to try that approach. What I didn't know was that my computer makers (the local NewTek dealers) spent a long time finding out which cards could go in which slots to prevent conflicts and I basically messed all that up.

To shorten my story, I've had to reinstall Windows 2000 Pro twice now in the last 4-5 weeks. Thankfully, Technoids (the NewTek dealer) had the forethought to put Win2K on its own partition so I did not lose any critical files, but I did have to reinstall all my programs (twice now) which took a long time. I still don't have all the programs installed from the second Win2K installation - I guess I'm just holding out hope that I won't crash my system again.

The worst part of this story is that after all this I still can't get Vegas to work with the SIIG card and Panasonic deck. In fact, the problem is worse now. When trying to print to the tape, the flashes I get (basically flashing to black and then back to the program) happen every few seconds now, instead of every minute or more like before. Neither way works for me, but it's interesting to see how much worse the problem is now.

I do have Media Studio Pro 6 on this computer, for use with the DV Raptor, and I guess I should see if I can get it to communicate properly with the deck so I could at least capture/output standard DV files to the deck. I love the Raptor, but to be able to use the .avi files it produces in Vegas I either have to convert them to a regular Type 1 or Type 2 .avi file before Vegas gets them, or I have to render Vegas' output to DV Raptor .avi files. I get so tired of the endless conversions I have to do. Also, if I want to create a long .avi file out of Vegas, like a full half hour show, I can't get Raptor to read the file, even after converting it with Canopus' AVI conversion utility. In addition to all this, when I play a Raptor format .avi file with the Toaster, the fields are all messed up, so I have to convert for that, too. How frustrating. Sorry this is such a run-on paragraph but at least it's not all one sentence :-).

I will try MSP's capture/output utility to see if it likes the SIIG/DV2000 combo and report back when I can.
SteveLee wrote on 5/9/2002, 6:41 AM
Sorry for opening old wounds, but I've spent considerable time and 2 motherboards later I find myself in the same situation you are in.

I was an early adopter of the DV format and have been through all the hell with the DPS Spark. The DV Raptor was the best thing to come along, but the editing software leaves a lot to be desired. When I took a look at VV-3.0a, I thought I'd found the Grail.

I guess I'm back in wait mode for updated drivers.

Thanks again,

Steve Lee . . . . . .
tvwonder wrote on 5/9/2002, 12:38 PM
The sad thing is that they're not quite old wounds yet.
jandrea wrote on 5/13/2002, 6:42 AM
Well Guys
I've just completed an upgrade, which was overdue for other reasons. This time to a Gigabyte GA-8IDX motherboard (Intel 845 chipset) and P4 1.8 Ghz Processor. System has 512 Mb SDRAM, 20GB system disk, Matrox G400 video card (now running AGP X 4), 2 x 18 GB SCSI disks on an Adaptec 2940 U2W controller, and running Windows ME.
Fired it up, all O.K., but I'm in the process of sorting out IRQ's. Soon as I have that done, I'll try the DHR100 deck and the VX1000 with VV3. Now the old M/B had VIA chips, so it'll be interesting to find out whether this might have been part of the problem. Difficulty is, that if this new combination is O.K. with VV3, I'll really never know what was the root cause of the previous problem. If it doesn't work then I'm left with the view that VV3 simply doesn't support the DHR1000 yet, so it'll be back to the Raptor and Premiere until the next update or release of VV3.
I'll keep you informed of progress, but it might be a few days until I can get on with it. Please bear with me.
John Andrea
deef wrote on 5/17/2002, 12:56 AM
SteveLee, what exact problems are you seeing with the VX700. I've recently tested our VX2000 again without a hitch.

Jandrea, please do repost your findings with your new system and the DHR1000 deck.

TVwonder, apologies for any system issues you've run into. I've found that PCI slot joggying has definitely fixed systems that are using SCSI controllers (and other bus hungry controllers) and sharing a PCI bus with the OHCI card.

All, if you would, please email me summaries of your current situations at deef@sonicfoundry.com to see if we can get them further investigated.

Thanks!