Capturing problems with my camcorder.

[cactusjack310]

Hey guys, I'm trying to capture video from my camcorder(a Sony DCR-VX2000)to my computer, but I keep getting over 3000 dropped frames for every hour of video. When I capture the video quality is fine but every time it drops a couple of frames it causes the audio to go out of sync. It's kind of hard to explain but, for example, if I record a scene and then rewind it and watch it, but I don't stop it exactly at the end of the scene, it winds up being like 2 or 3 seconds of blank video in between the 2 scenes. It only drops those frames in between 2 pieces of video. I tried searching it up on the net and I think it has something to do with the time codes or something but I'm not sure.

I am positive my system, programs, firewire cable and card are all fine because I've captured over 100 hours of analog video using a Canopus ADVC-100 without even dropping 1 frame. I even tried running my camera through the Canpous converter, but I don't think it locks the audio and video on digital video. I guess I could record my video onto a VHS tape and capture with the Canopus, but I didn't pay all that money for a VX2000 to waste the quality like that, you know? Is there anyone here that's had this problem? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[daamon]

Hi,

Although it's a "sticky" under a different forum, it may still be of use:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157660

Also, a few questions:

1. What software are you using?
2. Are you connecting the cam to the PC via firewire?
3. Have you defragged the hard drive? What's its spin speed?

The "capture" from a DV cam is, in fact, a transfer of data from one medium (the DV tape) to another (your hard drive) and so should be a straight forward process. Although that doesn't help, it's aim is to let you know that it's a common practice and so you're likely to solve the problem...

Hope that helps. Good luck...

[jeanl]

Try WinDV (free prog). If you get dropped frames, then something must be wrong with your setup (WinDV seems to be very reliable).
I had dropped frames when recording to a USB drive, switching to the internal drive fixed it...
Jeanl

[rdwalt]

You're right, you need to eliminate the blank spaces between scenes on the DV video you're transferring from.

[jeanl]

In my experience, WinDV simply stops outputing frames when this occurs (i.e. non-recorded portions of the tape), but does not indicate frames being lost. The normal recording resumes when the video starts back...
J.

[cactusjack310]

daamon: Yes, I did read that topic about the dropped frames. I did everything it said before I even posted this topic, but nothing seemed to work . Yes, I'm conneting with firewire and I have defragged both of my hard drives(one I used to run programs and one just for videos I capture). I'm using Pinnacle Studio 8 to capture with and I've captured over 100 hours of analog video with a Canopus ADVC-100. That's the same principle right? The Canopus just turns the analog to digital video and sends it to the computer just like my camera would send it to the computer. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the blank spaces in between scenes, "time codes," or whatever it's called...

jeanl: I'll have to try out WinDV. I'd rather give it a shot then trying to record over all those 1 second gaps in between evey differnet scene

If anyone else know how to delete the time codes off my miniDV tapes, please let me know...

Thanks everyone that's replied so far! Hopefully I can get this sorted out.

[jeanl]

Let us know how it goes! Trying different capturing programs is really the first step. If they all fail then you know something's up!
Jeanl

[cactusjack310]

Hey jeanl, I just downloaded the program! It only took like 3 seconds and I have a 56k modem! I was just curious, what is the difference between type 1 and type 2 .avi's? Should I change the discontinuity threshold, or max avi size, ect? I want to configure it to get the best possible results. Thanks again!...

[guns1inger]

I know it's a pain in the arse, but you should be able to capture each scene manually by fast-forwarding past the missing timecode.

Now that the horse has bolted, a good rule to remember is to stripe all new tapes with a timecode across the entire length, before using them. You can do this by recording with the lens cap on for the length of the tape (there is no way to speed this up - DV is all real-time), or going into VCR mode and recording from an empty source (nothing plugged into the DV-IN). This will ensure there is always a timecode present.

[jeanl]

cactusjack310, type 1 and type 2 avis differ in the way audio is handled, that's how much I know (but you'll find all the details you need in the sticky FAQs at the top of this forum). It shouldn't make any difference which you use, unless you intend to use microsoft to preview and edit (sorry I'm not more specific, I don't remember the details).
The discontinuity threshold is a very useful feature if you want to split your avis as a function of the time-code in your DV stream. If you don't want to split, set it to 0. If you want WinDV to cut your avi if there's "jump" of 3600 seconds in the time code (because you stopped filming for more than an hour) then set it to 3600. Set it to 0 for your tests.
Max avi size means that WinDV will split the avi when it reaches that size (in frames I believe). I usually specify a large number for that (for example, 2 hours at 30 frames per second = 216000).
Good luck!
Jeanl

[daamon]

Hi cactusjack310,

...I've captured over 100 hours of analog video with a Canopus ADVC-100. That's the same principle right? The Canopus just turns the analog to digital video and sends it to the computer just like my camera would send it to the computer.

Yes, that's right. So, yes (in theory) transferring from your DV cam shouldn't be a problem.

Type 1 vs Type 2 AVI: jeanl is right about the difference between type 1 & 2 AVIs being the way the audio is handled. As you're capturing from your DV cam, I'm guessing it's likely you'll want it on DVD at some point which means you'll need to encode.

I know with TMPGEnc (and possibly others) that a type 2 AVI is preferable - I don't believe the filesize is any different from a type 1 AVI file. So, personally, I'd say go for type 2.

As well as WinDV, there are other DV AVI "capturing" softwares that are regularly recommended: DVIO, VirtualDub, AVI_IO and ScenalyzerLive (among others).

Apparently, the last one (ScenalyzerLive) is quite handy when it comes to breaks in recordings on DV tapes - I believe (from memory) that it detects these and either ignores them or stops recording so you get an AVI for each recording on the tape.

Hope that helps.

[cactusjack310]

Hey guys, I just wanted to say that I got it working using WinDV!! I've done 2 of my 6 tapes so far and everythings going great! WinDV drops the blank pieces of tape for me(so far it's been over 2,000), but there is no problem with the audio going out of sync for me, so all that does is save me time. I just wanted to thank you guys again for all your help! I can't believe that a program under a megabyte was able to solve this!

[jeanl]

Yepeeee!

I can't believe that a program under a megabyte was able to solve this!

Man, it's not quantity, it's quality!

WinDV is what every program should be. Lean fast reliable simple feature-complete!
jeanl

[daamon]

WinDV is what every program should be. Lean fast reliable simple feature-complete!

You forgot "free"!!!

@ cactusjack310 - Glad you got it cracked. Nice feeling eh?

[cactusjack310]

WinDV is what every program should be. Lean fast reliable simple feature-complete!

You forgot "free"!!!

@ cactusjack310 - Glad you got it cracked. Nice feeling eh?

Yes, it sure is! Thank you guys once again! WinDV is a great program, I'll probably use it for all my capturing from now on!