Lots of problems using Premiere

[AndrewZorn]

Okay, I have filmed about 30minutes of video using a Canon DV camera.

I open Premiere, go to File>Import, and push Record. After about 2seconds, it just stops and gives some random error message and the video continues to play.

So I captured it using Windows Movie Maker, which I was very reluctant to do. I saved it as an AVI file.

This video plays strangely. The first 1/2second is really jittery, but it gets started after that. One problem is that the camera operator kept switching from 4:3 to 16:9 during the recording... so the player gets very confused. Windows Media player even goes as far as giving an illegal operation after the program is closed, but I've had numerous problems with it anyway.
Also, the last time I captured the video (this is actually the SECOND time around...), it played SLOWLY in anything but WMP. Quicktime and Premiere would sllllowwwww down everything. Not like bad framerate, but it was like slow-motion... all of our voices were deep, everything moved slow.

Anyway, so I thought maybe I was almost at the end of the nightmare of just getting the video READY to edit. I imported the video using Premiere, and it all looked good, but about 1/3 of the way into the video, the IMAGE FREEZES AND THE SOUND CUTS OUT. Now it plays fine in WMP and Quicktime, but Premiere thinks that... ...well, I don't even know what it is doing. The whole thing seems really messy.

What is the problem here? Could this be a problem with the AVI itself? Or is this just somehow a bad version of Premiere (I've tried a reinstall). Same camera/footage works fine on a Mac. I realize the 4:3/16:9 switching can cause issues, but that is going to be the first thing I am going to fix, once I can get it EDITED.

Advice greatly appreciated.

[dcsos]

If you can get it on the timeline in PREMIERE, please use the razor tool to remove all the 16x9 bits completely (to the frame)
then render them seperately

repeat process with the 4x3 stuff discarded from the edit.

Do not switch aspect ratio when the camera is running. Stop the deck, change the aspect and the re starrt to shoot to avoid these problems in the future

[AndrewZorn]

Well, the 16:9 is the part I want to keep...

Premiere does not play the movie after a certain point. By the way, I tried re-capturing, and that point is now DIFFERENT, but still after about 15minutes. After that point, audio cuts out and the video stops. If I render the whole video, would that fix it?

As far as not changing the ratio, I realize the problems this causes, but it was completely against my will. Our cameraman had no idea what he was doing, and we were taping 16:9 footage over 4:3 footage, so there are little bits of things that have nothing to do with the movie.

Does rendering then saving deteriorate quality?

*EDIT* : I rendered the video after the sound/video messed up... and the end result was pretty much the same thing... frozen video.
WMP plays the unedited video FINE. Even Quicktime does this time around. Like I said, could this possibly be the AVI itself, or just Premiere?

[dcsos]

Read my post!!
but leave out the first step
did you even use the razor tool in what you posted about this second time?
How did you render the stuff after the freeze in Premiere seperately? Its not clear at all what you did differently

Is the 16x9 only footage now fully playable after rendering it apart from the 4x3 (this must be accurate to the frame level to work)?

What you shoulda done before re posting and asking more questions is try the given solution

[pchan]

hi AndrewZorn (EDIT),

I used to face the same problem. I presume that you are using a firewire card. Try unplug and plug into another PCI slot. Also choose the right capture setting either PAL or NTSC.

[AndrewZorn]

I DID try the given solution, but to a lesser extent. I razored out a part I knew for a fact was 16:9, before and after the freeze, rendered and exported it. When the video began to play, the audio stopped and the video froze at the exact same point. This does not happen at that same part in the original video.

I cannot take out ALL of the 4:3 parts since 1/3 of the way through I lose audio and video! That is what I am asking, is WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!? I can barely do anything.

*EDIT*: the one above me beat me to it. No, it is onboard firewire. Like I said, I have in fact had problems with it capturing, especially with Premiere. Is there a good way to insert the camera, like should it be ON or OFF before you plug it in? Because it was doing really strange stuff like freezing the computer and whatnot...

[pchan]

Hi AndrewZorn,

1. Reinstall the firewire driver. The driver should be in the motherboard driver CD-rom.

2. Set a dedicated IRQ for the firwire port. Free up some unused port, such as, serial or parallel by disabling it in the BIOS setting.

Hope it works.

EDIT : Usually, I hook-up the video cam first before turn it ON. Once hook-up, Window will ask whether to use Premiere or Window Movie Maker. I use Premiere to capture.

[AndrewZorn]

Premiere will not capture right, it gets some kind of timecode error or something.

I'll try disabling the stuff in BIOS but I really know nothing about IRQ and stuff (didn't need to to pass A+ though!).

But yeah, could that be the problem when the video play PERFECT in WMP and Quicktime, but messes up and cuts out in Premiere? Like I said, 2/2 problems are with Premiere, but that is all I have... what is a free one I could test it with? *EDIT* Windows Movie Maker works fine...

[troyvcd1]

You might want to try to reboot the computer right before capturing. Also when you import your video into premiere you have to wait for it to complete the audio conforming before it will play right. I would also say to just get it into the timeline and dont worry about it playing. Then export this movie into another avi file. Then try to reimport this new avi file.

[BJ_M]

you have no info in your profile -- but if you have sp2 of xp installed - there is a firewire patch on the ms web site for it ...

[AndrewZorn]

yeah i have sp2... would it help to install?
if not, oh well...

i already gave back the camera, but the thing is the video is just fine...?

[dcsos]

Maybe try rendering the file in Windows Movie Maker...?
You can output in DV or AVI from Moviemaker if you look before rendering (as the MOVIEMAKER wants to output a WMV).
Then take the rendered AVI and put the rendered clip on the Timeline in Premiere (to see if it works when fed a good file)

[AndrewZorn]

No, didn't help, still froze at the same point.
I used VirtualDub to scan for errors, there were none.

[dcsos]

So if it froze at the same point when the Windows Movie Maker approached the footage as well as we saw earlier when Premiere was unable to render a good file from the source DV,,,.....
Then the source file is faulty regardless of what Virtual Dub reports.....
We've seen this by independently submitting the file to two working editing programs with bad results..
Calls for a re-shoot

[AndrewZorn]

No, WMM did NOT freeze at the same point. Once RENDERED with WMM, the effects were not changed when it was opened with Premiere.
BUT, each time I rip/capture the video, the 'stop point' is at a different place, although all are at around 15minutes.

A RE-SHOOT? You've got to be kidding me!? There HAS to be another way!

I disabled some things in BIOS like the parallel port and stuff because of something about IRQ, and I did the firewire update to Windows XP SP2. I'm to try a re-rip tomorrow.

[edDV]

The confusing thing here is there are two issues being chased. They need to be separated.

#1 does the IEEE port work? are the latest drivers installed? is the SP2 patch installed? Can Premiere "capture" a properly shot tape first in 4x3 then 16x9 and then in alternate aspects where the camera is stopped before the next take.

This isolates the computer as the problem.

#2 does the tape in question capture on a different computer? If so, simply play it back out to a fresh tape or "render" to a DV-AVI or DV-MOV file. Span the the file to DVD or send back to the other computer through a network.

If the tape won't capture on the second computer, then the problem you are trying to solve is forensic data recovery. Best way to approach that problem is to capture take by take until you have recovered the maximum amount of material. The remaining difficult bits can be discarded or worked on further.

One possible issue could be incorrect metadata or camera take headers resulting from switching camera modes while it was running. Another possibility is incorrect insert edits due to camera mode or operator error. This would cause the camera servos to loose lock at the in or out points during playback. Discontinuous timecode or timecode gaps can also cause playback problems or upset editing software.

[Kiwi Kid]

You say you had timecode problems when capturing? Same here, a real pain. That could have been due to ejecting your tape or rewinding it part way while half way through it - never do this! It causes your timecode 'stamp' to reset to zero and causes all kinds of problems during the 'batch capture' process if you've been using 'set in' and 'set out'. Also 'stripe' your tapes before use.

The Adobe Premiere Pro help screen has some tips on this.

You may need to capture the whole 1 hour's worth of tape as one one long clip then go from there.

Good luck and comments welcolmed.