Dark Video capture.

[kiko1]

Hi, I know this has been beat to death, but I can't seem to find the right answer or maybe i need more clarification.

I have a Sony TRV240 digital 8 cam, and I got a new Firewire card. (It says texas instruments compatable ieee etc. I got a Belkin cable.

I am using Pinnacle studio 8, or ulead, or virtual dub. All of my videos look dark when I record them on any of them. But when i use the video out to TV it looks great. Proper lighting etc.

The problem is that it looks dark. So when i record to cd or dvd it looks dark when i play it in my DVD player. But not that way straight from the camcorder.

I have alot of digital 8 video of my son and i can't record it for anyone because of the quality. Did I get a bad firewire card or something?

Thanks for any help.

[redwudz]

Common problem with DV. If it plays OK on TV, then don't worry about it. Computer monitors display differently than TV's. There are quite a few threads here on this. Do a forum search.

[kiko1]

No thats the problem It only plays good on the tv when i play straight from the camcorder. If I put it on the PC first, and burn to DVD then play it on tv it looks horrible.

[presto]

Studio 8 allows you to set the brightness durring capture. Check and make sure you don't have it set to dark. If the setting looks normal then go a head and turn the brightness up durring capture.

[kiko1]

Thanks for the reply! The only problem that I'm having is that I don't see anywhere to change the bightness. I select full quality DV capture, and everything is grayed out.

Also my other programs are dark too. I hope i didnt get bum equpiment

[presto]

In S8 when you hit the capture tab you see a square thing with a pie chart and the Start Capture button. On the left side of the square is a small video camera icon. On the right side is a speaker icon. Hit the video camera icon and the video settings will come out.

[kiko1]

Thanks again. Maybe I'm just plain crazy. Here is a link to pinnacle site.

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=1501&Langue_ID=7

If you click on picture one, I see the square you are referring to and the video camera to the left with the play buttons, etc. I don't see any icons on the square itself with the pie chart. The settings button next to the start capture is all i see. There doesn't seem to be a speaker icon or camrera icon on the square.

Unless i am just losing it

Thanks agin though!

[FulciLives]

Are you just doing a plain FIREWIRE capture to your computer using DV AVI type 1 or type 2?

If so then you are making an exact copy of the digital data on the camcorder tape to your computer.

There should be no way to adjust brightness, contrast and color saturation etc. ... at least NOT at the capture stage.

If your video is overly dark (and NSTC video tends to look a bit dark on a computer monitor) then the problem might be a codec problem or settings you are using in your post-processing application be it Pinnacle or Ulead etc.

Again I doubt the problem with the darkness of your video is a capture/transfer issue but rather a post processing issue.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[presto]

Yes, what you are seeing is different from what I am seeing because I am not using a DV camera.

[FulciLives]

Yes, what you are seeing is different from what I am seeing because I am not using a DV camera.

Well that makes sense and confirms what I was saying about FIREWIRE DV video transfer.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[kiko1]

Again I doubt the problem with the darkness of your video is a capture/transfer issue but rather a post processing issue.

I am copying straight firewire. After the video is captured, I save it straight to cd or file. In pinnacle i go to "make movie" Then if i select "Avi, mpeg, share, make disc etc, i always select DV quality. the highest one. So I am not sure what else I can do to make them brighter, but they come out dark no matter what.

[redwudz]

What FulciLives said and a couple of questions to try to clear things up. When you play the DV on the computer, is it dark? (As stated previously, DV will display somewhat dark on a computer monitor) What DV codec do you have installed? (AVIcodec will show your installed ones. Should say dvsd.) If it is not dark when played, something is happening during the edit or encode, especially if on the settop player it is darker than the DV.

[kiko1]

When you play the DV on the computer, is it dark?

Yes, it is dark on the pc, and after i burn it to CD it is still dark. But when i play from camcorder to TV it is fine.

This is frustrating