What else can cause dropped frames?

frostg1ant wrote on 12/3/2001, 10:46 AM
Hi,

I am a new user and am having a lot of trouble with dropped frames when doing a capture tape.

I have an Abit KG7-RAID with two Maxtor 40GB UDMA 100 hard drives in a RAID0 configuration. I am running WinXP with one 80GB (the entire array) NTFS C:\ partition. I do have a second hard drive on the Highpoint controller (Quantum 30GB UDMA 100 formatted as FAT32) as well. I have tried both the RAID and standalone Quantum 30GB for the capture location and I still get the dropped frames. I get quite a few on a 60min DV tape (60-80 dropped most of the time).

My first thought is to get a dedicated 60GB drive and put it on the non-RAID IDE controller to see if it makes a difference in the dropped frames.

I am also using the firewire IEEE connection on my SB Audigy card which may or may not be a problem I guess.

I have tried deactivating Norton Antivirus, Screen Saver, and any other program that is running in the background in an attempt to resolve this. I have also disabled audio and video preview during capture. All to no avail.

Any ideas on something else that could be causing problems before I take the plunge on another hard drive?

Thanks,

frosty

Comments

SonyEPM wrote on 12/3/2001, 10:56 AM
I'm betting this has to do with the Audigy being used as a capture card- do you have another 1394 card you can try?

We have not tested capture thru the Audigy, but it is not really a dedicated OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 DV card. Before you buy another hard drive, consider a new 1394 card- Pyro or SIIG are good choices at less than $100.
frostg1ant wrote on 12/3/2001, 11:47 AM
Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. I do have a PCI IEEE-1394 card that came with my mini-DV camcorder that I can try. Creative says that the SB Audigy port is IEEE-1394 compliant, but this is worth a shot. Thanks for the suggestion. I will post back with my findings...

frosty
jimcho wrote on 12/4/2001, 10:27 AM
I couldn't find any mention of OHCI-compliance on Creative's web site. They actually call it SB1394 and have a certification program, which suggests that it's not compliant.

However, I have one of these cards and it seems to work well with my Sony DV cam. Just make sure you are using the Microsoft DV capture and VCR control driver instead of the driver included on the install disk.
frostg1ant wrote on 12/4/2001, 1:25 PM
Hi Jimcho

Instead of the driver on which install disk? Are you referring to the VideoFactory installer? I purchased mine via download and installed it from the executable. I assume if the driver was installed by VF that could be the problem. Where can I change the driver to the MS DV capture and VCR control driver?

You haven't experienced any dropped frames at all? Are you using WinXP?

Thanks very much...

frosty

--
Jimcho wrote:

However, I have one of these cards and it seems to work well with my Sony DV cam. Just make sure you are using the Microsoft DV capture and VCR control driver instead of the driver included on the install disk.
jimcho wrote on 12/4/2001, 2:31 PM
No, I'm actually referring to the install disk for your Audigy card. They have a DV camera driver which you should not use (at least mine did).

Start the VF capture program, then turn on your DV camera. It should detect your camera and show it in the "Video" drop-down menu. If should say something like "Microsoft DV camera and VCR control". If not, then you need to update your driver. SF has some documentation called OHCI-DV on their download page with information on installing these drivers.

I get zero dropped frames with this card and a PIII-800 on Win2K.
deef wrote on 12/4/2001, 4:14 PM
Please check out this link as they too are using the KT7A-Raid:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/Forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=83880
deef wrote on 12/4/2001, 4:16 PM
Sorry, slightly different mobo, but hopefully that link can help:

Please check out this print to tape FAQ which also applies to capturing:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/support/SupportProduct.asp?FamilyID=30&Family=Vegas&TopicID=89&DetailID=879

Also, make sure you have defragged your drives.
frostg1ant wrote on 12/9/2001, 12:44 AM
Well, I am still trying to troubleshoot this issue. Doing another capture from tape and have disabled all start up services in Windows, just the basics. Still dropping frames. :-(

This really is starting to get frustrating. I tried the camera and VF software on my 2nd computer that has an OHCI compliant IEEE 1394 card that came with the Canon ZR10. I have the exact same trouble with dropped frames using that PC as well so it doesn't appear to be related to the Audigy card. The second PC does have a similar motherboard however (KT7-RAID while my primary PC is the KG7-RAID). Both of these motherboards have their hard drives on the Highpoint RAID HPT370 controller. Could this have something to do with the Highpoint RAID controller maybe? Both PCs are running WinXp Pro.

One thing I need to ask...Is it normal to have pauses on the Capture counter every 2 seconds or so? My counter seems to chug along and approximately every two seconds it pauses briefly and then resumes, pauses, then resumes. Need to make sure this is normal and not indicative of a problem somewhere...

Anyway, ideas, suggestions, or mystic incantations are welcome...I will take what I can get at this point.

frosty
deef wrote on 12/10/2001, 2:49 AM
If you're using a non-Sony device, then yes, you'll see that. These other devices exhibit slower device status reponses.
frostg1ant wrote on 12/20/2001, 12:05 AM
So could these slower device status responses be causing dropped frames? I doubt it, but it is worth asking I guess...

If I can get rid of this dropped frames problem I will be one happy camper. I love using VF other than this one issue and have made some incredible family videos so far...even with the dropped frames.

frosty