DV output through Canopus ADVC-100 black and white only??

[Majtolycus]

Howdy

It's been a while since I posted on here, but I'm back with another melonscratcher!

I'm running a P4 1.5ghz system with 512M RAM, two firewire cards (one being the godforsaken Creative Audigy, the other being an Adaptec PCI card)... more system details available if necc.

What I'm trying to do is output some edited DV video from either Premiere or WinDV to my VCR. I have two Toshiba W622 (midrange consumer 4-heads) that I use as dedicated dubbing machines. One is hooked up to my new ADVC-100 (damn sexy machine btw -- I at least know this problem is not related to the Canpous unit after running some tests)... anyway, the preview looks fine on both the computer monitor and the 13" TV that's connected to the VCR, which in turn is connected to the ADVC-100... full vibrant color and all... but then when I play the recorded VHS tape back, it does this bizarre little dance where it alternates every now and then from full color to b/w. Sound is fine, no problems there.

The only thing I can think of is maybe some sort of NTSC non-compliance either on the part of the software (Premiere) or the video codec? It was captured on the same computer using the DV codec in Premiere.

Any thoughts?

--=Frustrated on Long Island

[metageek]

this is usually the behaviour when playing a PAL video on an NTSC TV... are you sure you had the correct NTSC/PAL setting on the ADVC-100 ? (it is one of the dip switches).

[Majtolycus]

metageek--

Yep, that was the first thing I checked... the dipswitches are set to the proper NTSC setting. The weird thing is, when I connect the ADVC-100 to my camcorder and then the VCR, the color is fine. Also, the firewire ports work just fine when *capturing* video. This is what leads me to believe that there's something screwy with either the codec or the software.

[Majtolycus]

Well, problem solved... but the result is quite disconcerting.

I just swiped my kid brother's crappy $70 Panasonic VCR that rattles when the tape rewinds, and output the video to that... perfect color.

So that means that my $160 Toshiba VCRs are either 1) dying or 2) incompatible with the Canopus ADVC-100. I'm getting the sinking feeling that #2 is in fact the case, because all of the VCR-to-VCR dubs I've been making lately have come out perfectly fine.

Has anyone ever heard of weirdness like this with various VCR models before? I remember that my two old $150+ Sony VCRs were incompatible with my Sima Color Corrector SCC-1, because of some freaky color correction they had built into them. Is it possible that I'm shooting myself in the foot by buying "better" VCRs?

Thanks