Comments

SonyEPM wrote on 7/12/2001, 9:06 AM
The Vidcap delay settings should allow you to print the head of the file, but if record engage on your camera is still too "quick", you may, as a last option, need to reload the rendered file you were trying to print back into VideoFactory, insert 5 seconds of black in front of it, then re-render that as a new file. Note that the rendered DV file itself will not be recompressed, so there's no quality loss in the program, plus most of the process is a data copy so it shouldn't take very long.
ScottMenzies wrote on 7/13/2001, 1:34 AM
Thanks for the tips, but to no avail, still. I've played with every tweak, I even added 20 seconds of black. I even added a piece of video, a still, some audio before the fade in, yet it STILL pops in AFTER the fade in on the actual movie. Yet, if I remove THAT fade in, it pops in right at the start of the movie (which would have been the start of the fade in). I'm finding this really, very, very strange and confusing, and am pulling my hair out here. I just can't even begin to figure out what's going on. It's as if the camera KNOWS when the end of the actual movies fade in is, whether it's long, short, or nonexistent, and it waits until that point to preview/print. Any possible thoughts on this? I've no idea what to do...
Thanks a bunch...
pelvis wrote on 7/13/2001, 8:29 AM
Capture a clip, then try a print back to tape immediately (don't load it in VideoFactory at all, just print it right back). Calibrate your camera so you don't upcut the first frame(s). Now VidCap is calibrated for your camera.

Next, print your rendered project file. If you are still upcutting the head, there's a problem with your rendered project file. But it should work fine if you have even one second of black pad at the head of your project.
ScottMenzies wrote on 7/19/2001, 8:40 AM
Thanks for the tip, but it didn't work. I calibrated it, as you said, but it just wouldn't take. As I was writing the rest of the note, it occurred to me that it was any video that was actually RENDERED (i.e., text, stills, fade-ins, anything that was not just a data copy, as Sonic EPM mentioned above) that wasn't coming through. Using the basic NTSC DV setting, I was getting terrible, choppy results on the print/preview, so I had to play with settings. I did this by looking at what the VF Explorer said the captured video was, and changed settings accordingly. This was my mistake. All that needed to be changed was the "interleave every frame" setting, not the type of compression (which I had set to DVSOFT, because the VF Explorer showed the captured video as being DVSoft). So, now I am using the NTSC DV preset changed to "interleave every frame", and it works great. So, thank you Sonic EPM for mentioning that there was actually a difference between rendering and a "data copy." I just assumed that if I picked settings in the Rendering Custom tab, it would apply to all video output. I guess not.
So, this, then, would also apply to the 4 GB limit mentioned in another topic. Someone said another (competing) video program renders only what's needed, and the rest is a data copy. Well, it appears that's what Video Factory does anyway, but without the option of a print to tape without going through Video Capture. Considering the above, I'm guessing that adding that little feature really isn't that difficult - a batch rendering that replaces the un-rendered "effected" video with rendered video, like a ripple edit, giving the option to print the final to tape straight from Video Factory.
So, what I've learned today:
1. Video Factory only renders "effected" video, and data copies the rest (for .avi).
2. The NTSC DV preset rendering template needs to be modified to "interleave every frame" for some systems (I'm using a sony TRV-120 Handycam and some generic OHCI compliant card).
3. Video Factory should include batch rendering of selected regions and a Print to Tape option.

Thanks for all your help...
Scott Menzies