Shooting a documentary: So, is my system ready to edit?

[Downhome]

I added my computer information to my profile, so hopefully that will give you an idea of what I'm working with right now. Would you suggest that I get even more RAM?

I don't know why, but the message pops up on my computer very frequently telling me that I'm either running low on, or am out of, virtual memory. What can I do to solve that problem? I am using a Sony Digital 8 Handycam to shoot with.

I did a test earlier, with home video footage, just to see how it would go. I used the following guide:

http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/33/59/

And everything seemed to work fine when capturing, but when I go to check the file after it's on my computer (in this case it was an hour and thirty minutes long) only the first part of it had sound. The rest of the video was fine, but the sound just wasn't there for the last 3/4 of the video. What exactly would cause this? Can I not capture that long of a video at a single time?

Thanks for the help guys!

[guns1inger]

There are generally two reasons for getting out of virtual memory errors. The first is easy to fix. Right-click on My Computer and select properties. Click on the Advanced Tab, then click on Settings in the Performance Section. Again, click on the Advanced Tab, and then the Change button in the Virtual Memory section. You should see a coupl eof radio buttons under the list of drives. Make sure "System Managed" is checked. With 2000 and XP windows generally does a much better job of managing VW than previous versions. The only time you would change settings here is if you wanted to change the location of the pagefile.

The other cause is unfortunately all to common and much harder to fix. Poorly written programs can use memory and not return it correctly to the system for reuse. Although the program releases the memory, the system doesn't get it back. This is called a Memory Leak. It can be difficult to trace because the program at fault doesn't have the memory in use, so it doesn't show up in a lot of tools or the task manager, and the system does have it either. If it has jsut started happening, then uninstall recently installed programs and see what happens. If it has been happening for a while, it will be harder to catch.

I have seen this happen with HP's JetDirect printer management services as well as other programs.

Otherwise your PC seems capable of doing DV. If you were looking to upgrade I'd look at changing the 40GB for something larger (120GB maybe), but assuming most of the HDD space is free, you should n't have any problems with the spec. (I have edited DV and even generated 3d content at DV spec on much less)

[Downhome]

Thanks for the tips. I went ahead and tried the first method to deal with the VM problem, so hopefully that will work out.

What would have caused the problem with my test capture of my DV?

Keep those tips coming guys, I really need to resolve all of this so I can really get to work on the editing.

[Steve Stepoway]

It seems as though your sound problem started at the 4 gigabyte mark. 18 minutes and 50-something seconds, right? That's a red flag. What file system(s) are you running? Perhaps your capture software doesn't handle >4GB correctly.

[Downhome]

It seems as though your sound problem started at the 4 gigabyte mark. 18 minutes and 50-something seconds, right?

I'm pretty sure that it was around there, yes. I have deleted the file so I can't be sure, but that sounds about right to me.

That's a red flag. What file system(s) are you running?

Excuse my stupidity, but what do you mean by this exactly?

Perhaps your capture software doesn't handle >4GB correctly.

I used WinDV, using the guide linked to in my first post. What software would you suggest that I use instead, if WinDV isn't good enough?

[Steve Stepoway]

It seems as though your sound problem started at the 4 gigabyte mark. 18 minutes and 50-something seconds, right?

I'm pretty sure that it was around there, yes. I have deleted the file so I can't be sure, but that sounds about right to me.

That's a bit of a problem. Some questions would require that you check file properties. Next time, keep the file until the problem is resolved.

That's a red flag. What file system(s) are you running?

Excuse my stupidity, but what do you mean by this exactly?

The file system is how the disk is formatted. Windows uses FAT32 or NTFS. If you go to "My Computer" and right-click the drive and pull up "Properties" it will tell you. Presumably you are using NTFS, since FAT32 has a 4GB file-size limit.

Perhaps your capture software doesn't handle >4GB correctly.

I used WinDV, using the guide linked to in my first post. What software would you suggest that I use instead, if WinDV isn't good enough?

WinDV is fine -- it's what I use. (Sorry, I hadn't looked at the link you posted when I first replied.) Are you certain you had it set to Type-2 AVI, and not Type-1? Since the file is gone, there's no way to be absolutely certain. Did the problem arise after you had encoded with TMPGEnc, or did you try to play the AVI and have the problem? I've had sound problems with some Ulead apps not correctly handling >4GB Type-2 WinDV captures. But if I run them through the Canopus converter and convert to Type-2 all is fine (even though it was Type-2 to start).

[Downhome]

That's a bit of a problem. Some questions would require that you check file properties. Next time, keep the file until the problem is resolved.

Ok, I'll try it again soon and I'll keep the file.

The file system is how the disk is formatted. Windows uses FAT32 or NTFS. If you go to "My Computer" and right-click the drive and pull up "Properties" it will tell you. Presumably you are using NTFS, since FAT32 has a 4GB file-size limit.

Yes I'm using NTFS.

WinDV is fine -- it's what I use. (Sorry, I hadn't looked at the link you posted when I first replied.) Are you certain you had it set to Type-2 AVI, and not Type-1?

I am not certain, but I am pretty sure it was set to Type-2.

Did the problem arise after you had encoded with TMPGEnc, or did you try to play the AVI and have the problem?

I didn't even get to the TMPGEnc steps. I played the AVI, and it had the problem even then.

I'll do another test soon. Until then, is there anything else I can do to check everything?

[Steve Stepoway]

I didn't even get to the TMPGEnc steps. I played the AVI, and it had the problem even then.

What did you play it with?

[Downhome]

I believe I used BSPlayer.