Capturing in Premiere on a brand new laptop.

[havash]

We've been using CS4 at my work for a while now, and have had no problems with HDV capturing and editing.

A few days ago we got a Dell laptop in, 8 gig ram, 1 gig video card (ATIMobility Radeon HD 4670) and Windows 7 64-bit


Wenever we try capturing in HDV footage, the footage has green pixels in it. Then, usually, the ImporterProcessServer will crash, pointing to IPPMPEGDecoder.dll as the problem.

I've searched on the net, and some people suggest to re-name this .DLL file, but when I did that, I had to re-install codecs, which would fail at around 8% or so.

I tried copying the same file from Encore, same problem.

I've downloaded the latest update for Premiere, still same problem.

I've tried many different tapes, and same problem.

Anyone know of a solution? I tried updating my video card, but Windows said it is up-to-date.

Any help would be appreciated.

PS, have since updated video card, no change.

and also just tried to set the priotity for the ImporterService Process in Task Manager to High.

Didn't change.

[aedipuss]

have you tried capturing with a different program to see it it is cs4 or the computer? i'd try hdvsplit and see if it will complete the capture ok.

[edDV]

Which Dell laptop did you buy?

How are you capturing? Videocard has nothing to do with capture.

[havash]

it's a Dell Studio XPS 164, I'll try with HDV Split now and see what happens,

[havash]

* Dell Studio XPS 1645

[havash]

Just tried HDV Split, same problem.

I also tried last nite changing the firewire driver that was assigned to my port, it was something like Richo then I made it a Legacy one.

Also tried installing this Windows 7 Codec Pack I found on download.com, no change.

Sigh, running out of ideas here.

[edDV]

What is the camcorder model?

That Dell site makes it very difficult to get to specifications but I found most.

[poisondeathray]

How are you determining there are green pixels in the footage? What software are you viewing the captured files with? Maybe try something else (i.e. could it be a decoder issue)?

What happens when you hook up your camcorder to a TV and play the footage? (ie. is there an issue with the camcorder or footage to begin with) ?

[edDV]

Copy the captured file to a trusted computer and see if green pixels follow.

If not the problem is with playback on the Dell.

[havash]

When I view the footage through the Capture window in Premire, I can see some pixelation (not green), the same pixelation appears when I play the files with VLC.

The footage plays fine on the fold out screen of the camera. Can't hook up to a TV as I have misplaced the cable.

[havash]

I'll try doing that, at a friend's place now, so not sure whether they can play the footage, but will try nonetheless.

[havash]

Played with VLC on another computer, same pixelation occurs.

[poisondeathray]

green pixellation, or just pixellation?

green is abnormal, but pixellation (if you mean macroblocking) might be normal - HDV is prone to breaking up with high complexity scenes, like those with high motion, high detail like forests , waterfalls etc... the small LCD screen on the camera can mask the macroblocking which would be more clear if you hooked it up to a TV.

If you get macroblocking on a static shot with a low detail scene, then something is wrong.

[edDV]

If it plays fine from the camcorder then the file is good. What is the camcorder model?

If the captured file doesn't play on a trusted computer, the problem is with stream transfer.

[havash]

Sony HDR-HC1E,

stream transfer, so the firewire cable or related to that?

Will hopefully be able to get a fresh miniDV tape today and will try and capture off that, but I doubt it'll make much of a change, hope it does, during all my tests, there was only once, when I was able to capture some footage fine, but since then I havn't been able to. I would try and re-record that footagem but one of my tests was to record black on the whole tape, and try that, but yeah.

[edDV]

Sony HDR-HC1E,

stream transfer, so the firewire cable or related to that?

Will hopefully be able to get a fresh miniDV tape today and will try and capture off that, but I doubt it'll make much of a change, hope it does, during all my tests, there was only once, when I was able to capture some footage fine, but since then I havn't been able to. I would try and re-record that footagem but one of my tests was to record black on the whole tape, and try that, but yeah.

Yes you need Firewire (IEEE-1394).

The Sony HDR-HC1E is an older model. It should work. Is it worn out or needs cleaning?

Normally this isn't a problem.

[aedipuss]

try the same cam and cable on a known good computer that was used successfully at work. if it transfers ok on it you know the problem is the new laptop. if not then it's the cam or cable. repeat with a different firewire cable. if it stays the same the cam is most likely dying or in need of a really good head cleaning.

[havash]

It's green when I play it the Source Monitor but in the Capture window and VLC player, it's not green, I think the correct term might be artefacting, but no, this is definitely abnormal,

[havash]

Just tried a new tape, same pixelations occur. So it must be a Windows 7 problem then?

[edDV]

Strange problem.

I can cap DV or HDV over IEEE-1394 fine on a slow laptop. It takes a P4 or better to play HDV.

[filmboss80]

...and try a different firewire cable.

[minidv2dvd]

have you tried a head cleaning tape? it's an old cam and may have crud on the heads especially if you have changed brands of tape.

[havash]

Was finally able to try on one of my old computers I used to edit on before this laptop, capture goes in perfectly. No problems whatsoever.

So the camera is fine, something is screwed up in Windows 7 or the unlikely option, the brand new firewire cable is faulty. Anyone have any ideas on what to change in Windows

[aedipuss]

hdvsplit works fine on win7 32bit, don't know about 64bit. try with the known good old cable.

[havash]

The old cable is different, has the big kind of connector as opposed to the small tiny one. (The camera end of the cable is the small one). Tried hdvsplit already and same problem occurred.

[aedipuss]

the cables are referred to by the number of pins on each end. the small-small one would be a 4pin to 4pin and the other a 4pin to 6pin.

too late to return the laptop, as it appears to be the problem? windows 7 works with HDV/firewire capture just fine.

[havash]

Was a miracle to get the laptop from Dell this time, so returning and getting it again will be hell again. I'll keep trying things. I'm thinking the problem must have something to do still with the Importer Process Service, so will try a few things with that.

[havash]

Just switched the camera into DV mode, capured some footage in DV, works perfectly.

Could there be some sort of problem with the codec for HDV?

[aedipuss]

might be a 64bit driver problem. found this workaround elsewhere.

• Go to Device Manager and click on IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers
• Click on the device listed underneath this heading. In my case it was NEC 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller
• Right click this device and select 'update driver software' from the shortcut menu
• Then select the option 'browse my computer for driver software'
• Then select the option 'let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'
• This then gave me three drivers to pick from (make sure the'show compatible hardware' checkbox is ticked
• Select the driver named '1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)'
• Install driver
• reboot

[havash]

Tried this, didn't help, will try again for shits and giggles though,

Found the problem finally, http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19315530.aspx