Captures OK, but doesn't convert in same program (Premiere)

[LABachlr]

I am capturing video from a SHARP VL-WD450 digital video camera. I can capture OK with Premiere 6.0 via firewire. The resulting AVI can be played in Windows Media no problem. However, when I try to convert the captured AVI file in Premiere (the same program that I used to capture) to a WMV file or a RM file using "Save for the web", I get the audio but not the video.

I then tried opening it in TMPGEnc to see if I could convert it to a mpeg file and then convert to the above formats using that, but to no avail. Same deal. I get audio, but no video. When I try to open it with VirtualDub, it gives the error message of not recognizing "DVSD".

I have read many posts on this forum about this problem, and the solution is to get one of four codecs. However, each one has its own issues:

Panasonic codec - has been known to crash programs including Premiere
Canopus codec - only supports playback; codec was created in 1999
MainConcept DV Codec - creates a watermark when encoding unless you purchase the program
Adaptec codec - haven't read anything bad about it, but know it is hard to find; haven't tried looking for it yet

First of all, which of the four is the best bet when using Premiere. I want to be able to edit the video and not have a watermark created, and I do not want to have to buy a program just to get full use of the codec.

Also, I have captured before with a Panasonic PV-DV400 and did not have this issue. I was able to convert to the above file types via the "save for the web" feature in Premiere without a hitch. However, that was before I formatted my drive, and I am not sure if there was a disc that I used to install any needed software that would have been on my system at the time. I don't think there was. However, I also might have had Pinnacle Studio 7 on my system at the time, which I did not use, which has been said to have the needed DV codec.

So, to cut to the chase, why won't it convert to the WMV or RM file types when using the same program that I used to capture. Wouldn't it use the same codecs? Again, it worked for the Panasonic PV-DV400 dig cam, why not the SHARP? And just so you guys know, I have already checked the SHARP website, and downloaded and installed any software that was related to that model dig cam.

Any thoughts?

[donpedro]

Don't you need playback only ? You are encoding to different format (RM, WMV) so why do you think that you need encoder ? Try "Tools" link here for downloading DV codec.

[LABachlr]

Don't you need playback only ? You are encoding to different format (RM, WMV) so why do you think that you need encoder ? Try "Tools" link here for downloading DV codec.

For now, yes. But I don't want to be limited in the future when I will need to be able to edit and re-encode. I actually found the copy of Pinnacle Studio 7 that I had, and someone on this forum mentioned that it has the needed codec. However, I don't know if some codecs render better quality video than others? Does Pinnacle Studio 7 have a good DV codec, or should I go for one of the codecs mentioned above. If one of the above codecs is preferred, which one is the best?

[donpedro]

I don't know which one is best. I use Pinnacle Studio 8 for capturing, editing, and re-encoding.

[LABachlr]

I actually installed Pinnacle Studio 7 just to see what would happen, and all is well. It does what I want now.

BTW, how do you like PS 8? Why do you prefer it over Premiere? When I installed PS 7, I noticed that is looks a lot more user friendly than Premiere. How do you compare the two, or have you never used Premiere?

A buddy of mine tried using it on his Win98 system (I have Win2k), and he said that it crashed a lot. So I never bothered to learn how to use it.

[donpedro]

PS8 is easy to use and very powerful in features (see my link). It does everything that I need (capture, edit, convert, author DVD). It is cheaper than Premiere. Yes, I was trying Premiere once. It has a lot of great features, but it was just to complicated to figure them out for begginer like me. I believe that you need to purchase MPEG2 encoder and DVD Authoring sofware to Premiere if you are making DVD. Am I right ?

And yes... PS8 crashes for some people (not for me), but new update should be more stable. I have separate partition with WinXP just for PS8. This way I eliminate a lot of issues that can happen. No backround sofware running, no hardware that I don't need while editing video and so on....

[LABachlr]

Cool. I'll give PS 7 a shot.

Yeah, Adobe's products are never that user friendly. You always have to know what you are doing when using their products. I have yet to use Premiere to edit. I just use it to convert vid files so that they can stream from the net. Not sure about DVD authoring with Premiere. DVD Workshop is what I prefer.

Good idea on having the separate partition for PS 8. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

[donpedro]

Difference between PS7 and PS8 is DVD Authoring (at least that is what I believe).

Here is link that might be usefull

Pinnacle Studio 8 and DV home video editing

[LABachlr]

Cool. Thanks.

BTW, have you tried DVD Workshop for authoring DVD's? Which do you think makes cooler and more professional menus, DVD Workshop or PS 8?

[donpedro]

Check my link in signature

DVD Workshop is $299 and Pinnacle Studio 8 is $99

I have to say that I don't like DVD Workshop too much, but in some cases it might be better tool. Especially with "Do not covert" option (can be done with PS8 too, but not that obvious)

It is up to you to create cool menu

[LABachlr]

Got it. Thanks.

I just downloaded the trial version of PS 8 from download.com. I'll try both.

[donpedro]

I don't think that PS8 Trial version will let you encode to MPEG2

[LABachlr]

That's OK. I can use TMPGEnc Plus for that. Can you still author with the trial version, though?

[donpedro]

[LABachlr]

You said that the trial version does not allow you to convert. But, if I convert the avi files to MPEG2 with TMPGEnc Plus, can I then create menus with those files and burn the DVD with the trial version of PS 8?

[donpedro]

= I don't know

[LABachlr]

Gottcha.