Video Capture app "freezes" every couple of seconds?

Shenan wrote on 10/26/2004, 1:07 PM
Hi Everyone,

Have any of you experienced a problem with video capture (5) where it continually freezes every couple of seconds for about half to one second? If I'm typing a comment for the clip it does this, when previewing a clip it does this with the time code display, selecting menus, highlighting text, everything except for the previewed video coming from the tape!

This only happens when I have a panasonic miniDV camera plugged into the firewire. If I have no camera plugged in or a Sony Digital 8 plugged in I have no problems.

I did find a post here from back in 2002 where someone else had the exact same problem and fixed it by reinstalling DirectX, but I tried that and it didn't fix it for me. Any ideas? Should I just call Sony support?

Thanks!!!

System info:

Windows XP w/ SP1a
DirectX 9.0c
Vegas 5.0b
ADS Pyro firewire card
Panasonic PV-DV851 minidv camera
Sony DCR-TRV460 digital8 camera

Comments

Steve Mann wrote on 10/27/2004, 12:32 AM
Sounds like you have one disk drive?
B.Verlik wrote on 10/27/2004, 1:20 AM
I had a one disc drive for a while and didn't have problems. It seems weird that the Mini DV player causes this and not the Sony Dig 8. (different digital codec?) When I capture, I usually don't do anything else with my computer but watch. Capturing is intensive and if you have other background operations going on, that may hinder your performance. But it seems weird that only the mini DV player causes this.
Shenan wrote on 10/28/2004, 10:52 AM
Thanks for the replies guys. I have Three drives: an IDE boot/OS drive, and two serial ATA video drives. A dedicated XP installation just for video/graphics apps, so no junk running in the background, and I leave it alone when I'm capturing.

The thing is that this is happening even when it's not capturing. Just sitting there still doing nothing, if I try to navigate the vidcap application menus, or type something in the descriptions, it keeps starting and stopping, freezing and going. Reacts for a second, freezes for half a second, continuously.

I will probably email Sony finally. It's just that they try to discourage you from doing so by coming up with a whole list of things to try before emailing them. But I have tried a whole lot of things and I think this is kind of an unusual problem. :(

Thanks guys,

Shenan
B.Verlik wrote on 10/28/2004, 11:36 AM
If everything worked at one time, I always suggest a 'thorough' disc scan for errors. And don't forget to check the 'fix errors' box. The only time weird stuff started happening with me, that fixed it.
Shenan wrote on 10/28/2004, 4:30 PM
I will try that too steve, thanks! I did email sony and waiting for a response. I'm wondering if it's a problem with ACPI an IRQ sharing... all my important stuff (video card, firewire card, sata controller, etc) is on IRQ 11. Damn windows. :(
rt1 wrote on 10/28/2004, 7:16 PM
I have the same problem. Even my mouse slows down. causes problems when capturing and printing to tape.

I use a sony trv 900.
1g ram ... Pentium 2.6 ......360 G hard drive.
no other apps running...nothing odd in my processes....no odd startup programs.

I have another computer 650Mhz less memory running premeire w a Pinnacle capture card. No problems capturing from the sony trv900.
(Buy the way I like Vegas Better)

Just this dirty little capture glitch.

If you figure it out ..... email me rt1@chartermi.net
Shenan wrote on 10/28/2004, 9:03 PM
No problem rt1... have you tried that fix from the 2002 post? Reinstall DirectX? It seems like that fixed this problem for someone. Didn't fix it for me though.
amemain wrote on 10/28/2004, 9:05 PM
My pc will full out crash (lock up) if Itry to capture with preview, without preview its fine. I can capture with other programs though with preview enabled without crashing.
johnmeyer wrote on 10/28/2004, 10:40 PM
Many problems like this can be cleared up by downloading and installing Microsoft's 1394 patch. This patch can be uninstalled easily if you find it doesn't help, and you want to revert back to your original configuration. I highly recommend you try it. It takes a minute to download and ten seconds to install (plus you have to re-boot after the install).

Here's a link to the thread where I provide all the direct links to the KB article and the download:

Firewire 1394 Solutions

Even though the description of the problems solved by this patch don't match exactly what you are experiencing, I have found that it solves many problems related to 1394 (Firewire) "wierdness."

The only downside is that if you use external Firewire drives, the performance decreases by about 9% (based on measurements I did just yesterday).
Shenan wrote on 11/2/2004, 9:34 AM
This patch seems to have improved my problem quite a bit - thanks John!!! I only say for the most part because it still seems to freeze but for a much smaller fraction of a second than before.

Still waiting for what Sony support says too. It's been several days since I emailed them.