Need some settings advice from DVMC-DA2 users

jtardiff wrote on 1/5/2002, 1:46 PM

Hi folks,

I finally have the flexibility that I have always wanted from my current system. I had previously only worked with straight DV from my camcorder and left a nice pile of older VHS and Hi8 recordings hidden away..the pain of pulling analog in through my ATI card was too much.

I have VV3 (spending tons of time playing...haven't had so much fun since I started using Photoshop 4 way back when).

My current project workflow is as follows:

1) Input VHS from VCR attached to DVMC-DA2 which in turn is firewired to my computer (self-built Athlon 1900+ with 768 MB RAM, up to 1.5GB next week).

This works well via Vidcap 3, I have a little difficulty with the timing since I can't control the VCR from within VC, but it is smooth. I also have to use Smart preview for some reason. I have not figured out how to view what I am capturing in the preview window. I may try attaching my monitor to the analog outputs of the DVMC-DA2.

2) Output the rendered file back to the VCR to send to family. It is the print to tape where I also have some problems. It took *many* tries to get that procedure smooth from Vidcap (I also had the output from the VCR going to a small preview monoitor). And my machine hangs everytime I try to print to tape from the timeline.

I have the feeling that I have missed some settings *somwhere* and was wondering if any of you folks with a similar setup could share your experiences with me.

Other assorted info: Win2K, Non-ACPI, OHCI 1394 (Pyro) has it's own IRQ, up-to-date drivers all around.

I must say that the first time I captured 20 minutes of perfect video with the DVMC-DA2 I was positively thrilled.

regards,

Jil

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 1/5/2002, 2:08 PM

I'm glad you're enjoying the DVMC-DA2! It's definately one of the best
additions i've made to my system.

I dunno if this will help your problem much, but the only change i had to
make to use the converter with an analog VCR was to turn "Enable DV
device control" off in preferences. After this, i was able to use vidcap with
my VHS VCR exactly the same as with my DV camcorder, except of course
that i have to manually start and stop it.

jtardiff wrote on 1/5/2002, 8:24 PM

Actually your positive reports helped me with my decision to pick it up! Thanks!

I (literally) stumbled on the "Enable DV
device control" setting at one point and turning it off is what allowed me to finally copy to the VCR.

Have you captured VHS via the DVMC-DA2 and if so, are you able to preview the video while you capture? I think my approach of hooking up my monitor to the converter should work, but I'm perplexed about the video preview window in Vidcap not "working" during a VHS capture.

I'm still chuckling over what a pleasure this "chore" has become.

Jil

Chienworks wrote on 1/5/2002, 11:34 PM

I've captured many many hours from VHS and had beautiful results. I
also see the video in the preview window while cueing and capturing.
Check under Options to see what preview video option you have selected.
You might want to try selecting "Always preview video". If you have even
a medium fast processor, you'll be able to do that and not lose any
frames. I also set the preview window's zoom to 50% so that it's not as
much of a drain on the processor while capturing.

jtardiff wrote on 1/13/2002, 5:00 PM

Chienworks, since you were such a good sport with my question I figured I would fill you in on how I finally fixed it. Maybe someone else will have the same problem some day....

I was getting nowhere when I tried my Sony DVCAM and discovered that I had lost the ability to control it from within Vidcap. Hmmmmm. DSE on creative cow had asked about VIA drivers, so I was poking around in the device manager when I realized that I didn't have a DVCAM listed under Imaging Devices. Bingo....I guess I hadn't paid close enough attention to what Win2K chose for my DVCAM drivers while installing. For all of the high-level controls (like preview in vidcap while capturing) it seems that you need the Microsoft Drivers, not the ones supplied by TI (1394 chipset maker). Sheesh!

Switched to the MS drivers and all is back to normal. The DVMC-DA2 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. No more sweating over those VHS/Hi8 captures!

regards,

Jil