print to tape woes - please help !

applevenus wrote on 2/7/2001, 7:39 AM
I'm hoping someone can assist me here. I've searched
through the forum and have applied as many of the fixes as
I can find , with some improvements but still not printing
to tape 100% of the time.

system : Win98SE 4.10.2222A
AMD Processor 800mhz, 256mHz RAM, AX72 Motherboard with
Aopen bios 1.11 (latest),
Via chipset (yes, I know I know...after all the reading
I've done it looks like this is the source of the problem).
MS directx v8
ADS Pyro card.
capturing to dedicated maxtor ide drive with DMA enabled.

I can capture and use Videofactory with no problems.
The problems begin when I try to output to my Canon MV30i
(these are all PAL files by the way).

I have managed to get this to print to tape after many
hours of failure however at various points in the video
clip (4 minutes long) the signal completely drops out and I
only get a blue-screen on my DV Camera.

Any suggestions on where to look next ?

Comments

SonyEPM wrote on 2/7/2001, 9:26 AM
We are pushing Microsoft really hard to get out a DX8 PAL
fix. Right now your options are

a) Switch to Windows ME or
b) Download and install the Microsoft DX8 SDK for your OS.

both of these are less than optimal, but MS has been
assuring us that the fix is "on the way". We are in daily
contact with them, and feel your pain.

Windows ME (designed to be the 98SE upgrade) does work with
PAL natively, and you shouldn't run into much, if any,
driver incompatibility.
applevenus wrote on 2/7/2001, 1:12 PM
thanks for the info. I work for Microsoft so I'm gonna see
what I can find internally...maybe a beta.

So, what you're saying is I need DirectX 8 for PAL ? (I
presume the DX8 I just installed doesn't include a PAL
fix ?)

-Peter
SonyEPM wrote on 2/7/2001, 2:06 PM
To get the OHCI PAL DV components, you need the DX8SDK. Its
huge- like 140Mb. However, the PAL stuff DOES work, so you
can see why we're so anxious to get this in a consumer-
friendly, lightweight installer. The PAL fix is ONLY
available in the SDK as of this writing.

THe DX8SDK also uninstalls, not true with the normal retail
DX8 runtime. Just in case you want to get rid of it later...
applevenus wrote on 2/9/2001, 3:35 PM
I did a little more digging online and found this :

http://www.reactorcritical.com/faq-dv/faq-jvc.shtml

although it deals specifically with JVC equipment it
mentions that other manufacturers equipment (including, I
hope, my Canon MV30i) is also impacted.

This article also lead me to this 25MB download (although
the article mentioned above has a much smaller and
manageable fix if you don't mind copying files by hand)

http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000pro/redist/8.0
a/W9X2KMe/EN-US/DX8a_redist.exe

it would appear that directx 8.0a was released onto
the 'net by Microsoft back in January

I'll try this as a fix and let you know if it works - it
could be the solution for PAL problems in printing and
outputting to tape.
applevenus wrote on 2/9/2001, 3:49 PM
SOLUTION !

it works !

check out this link

http://www.microsoft.com/directx/homeuser/downloads/default.
asp

for the Microsoft download of DirectX 8.0a

as far as I can tell this is the solution for printing to
tape problems experienced by many PAL DV Camcorder users.

-Peter, Dublin, Ireland

visit Shabbyroad Records , the littlest label in the world
http://www.shabbyroad.com