Pinnacle Studio problem

[didikai]

I am using Studio 9.3
Windows XP
Pentium 4
2 gigs ram
2x200 gig HDs (one for dedicated video files)
ATI Theatre Pro 500

This has all worked fine for months.
But now when I try to capture from an analogue sorce, the preview video in Pinnacle plays like a photo slideshow. It's as if my processor can't keep up with the incoming signal.

The preview video is fine before I hit capture. Then it just shows intermitent clips.

I have burned a video with this capture problem. It plays smoothly, but has random skips.

I have updated ATI driver with no improvement

help please

[BobK]

Have you tried playing with the tracking on the VCR?

[didikai]

Have you tried playing with the tracking on the VCR?

I get the same problem with VCR and analogue camcorder

[JohnP]

Does Studio show its dropping frames?

[didikai]

Does Studio show its dropping frames?

No. No dropped frames

[BobK]

Check the task manager while capturing and see how much of the time the CPU is at 100%, and whether Pinnacle is using most of that. Maybe something else (or a virus) is eating up the processor time.

[didikai]

Check the task manager while capturing and see how much of the time the CPU is at 100%, and whether Pinnacle is using most of that. Maybe something else (or a virus) is eating up the processor time.

Yes it goes to 100%
But Norton hasn't shown a virus. But I could still have one tho'
Any suggestions?

[BobK]

Yes it goes to 100%
But Norton hasn't shown a virus. But I could still have one tho'
Any suggestions?

Is Studio using 100%, or is there something else running that uses more than 2-3%?

[didikai]

Yes it goes to 100%
But Norton hasn't shown a virus. But I could still have one tho'
Any suggestions?

Is Studio using 100%, or is there something else running that uses more than 2-3%?

I've just done a full system scan with Norton. It shows a clean computer
I'm going to uninstall Studio, and reinstall.
What else could be eating up CPU?
I'll get back when I've installed Studio again.
I can't make this out as everything worked fine for months

Thanks for the help so far

[didikai]

O.K.
I've reinstalled Studio 9
I've reinstalled my Theatre Pro 500 drivers
I've checked for trojans etc with 3 anti virus programs. System is clean

Bu I still get choppy video on preview.
Preview is perfect until I hit capture. Then it goes into choppy frame mode.

CPU shows between 60% and 100% for Pinnacle. Nothing else eating anything over 2-3%

Now, I just installed Adobe Elements Trial. I imported an AVI clip I had captured in Pinaacle before my problems started. Video in preview in Elements is choppy.
So I guess I'm not looking at a software problem here?

Any suggestions please?

[DarrellS]

My first suggestion would be to find a better software to capture with but from doing some searches, it seems that there aren't any good software options for this card. From what I've read, this card seems to have been made for XP Media Center Edition. I'd hate to see you invest in another operating system after what you spent for XP so my only recommendation is to buy a better Capture card. The ATI AIW 2006 Edition (Radeon 9600) is under $150 now and with 256MB of memory, it's gotta be alot better than the 16MB in the 500 Pro card.
Studio 8 is good for adding transitions but it's buggy as hell and Studio 9 is even buggier than 8. Not sure why ATI packages it with their products but as long as it's free, I guess you can't complain too much.

[didikai]

Hope this helps others.
As a newbie I would never have tried this, but I opened the computer and found my CPU fan clogged full of dust.
I cleaned it all out and guess what? No more problem. I guess the CPU was overheating.
Thanks for all the replies tho'