Best capture program to use for DV

[ForYouAndI.com]

I have a Samsung DV camera with a firewire transfer connection. I just want to make sure that WinDV is better than VirtualDub for transferring the data to the pc and why?

[redwudz]

VirtualDub can't be used for transfering DV from a camera, at least not without some hacks. WinDV is my first choice, and a lot use ScLive.

Just to add, DV transfer is just that. Similar to transfering a file from one hard drive to the other. No capturing involved. The main diference is DV transfers at the speed of the tape, or basically 'real time'. So it doesn't really matter much what you use, they all do the same thing.

[edDV]

VirtualDub can't be used for transfering DV from a camera, at least not without some hacks. WinDV is my first choice, and a lot use ScLive.

Just to add, DV transfer is just that. Similar to transfering a file from one hard drive to the other. No capturing involved. The main diference is DV transfers at the speed of the tape, or basically 'real time'. So it doesn't really matter much what you use, they all do the same thing.

and it is a stream transfer (over IEEE-1394) and is not under OS control so there is no automatic error recovery. The DV stream data on tape is not a file in the OS sense. DirectShow just asks for a stream.

So, be warned that data drops can occur if other apps block the PCI bus or take priority on the HDD.

[ForYouAndI.com]

Thanks.

Why do I get blocks that flicker at some points on the video on my hd after that transfer? I tried three different programs and all have the same result. I even tried installing a panasonic dc codec for VirtualDub and then saving it with full processing mode to huffvy but the blocks were still there.

[redwudz]

It may be what edDV said and you have something running in the background. Task Manager should tell you what is running and how much CPU resources are being used.

Have you checked your hard drive for fragmentation?

Do you have a motherboard Firewire connection? On-board Firewire has problems occasionally because of other processes the OS is running on the MB. You might try an PCI Firewire card if this is happening all the time.

Also, any other Firewire devices connected at the same time?

[ForYouAndI.com]

This is what it looks like and it occurs about every other frame. I have a very fast computer. That is not the problem. Other captures are fine, it's just when I capture to DV with WinDV, instead of huffvy avi with VirtualDub.

[edDV]

Try WinDV for transfer and see if you have problems. Then import the file into VirtualDub.

View the file before and after importing to virtualdub.

A DV codec isn't needed to transfer a stream from the camcorder to the DV-AVI file on the HDD. WinDV uses the MS DV codec to decode DV for viewing only.

[edDV]

I'm looking at VirtualDub and I don't see DV as one of the supported capture formats. How are you capturing to Virtualdub?

Added:

Thanks.
....
I even tried installing a panasonic dc codec for VirtualDub and then saving it with full processing mode to huffvy but the blocks were still there.

That is not capturing DV format. You are attempting to decode DV and recompress to huffyuv on the fly and that is asking alot.

Unless your needs are unusual, maintaining the DV encoding is my recommendation. DV editors will only decompress the DV stream for those pixels affected by filtering or compositing. The unedited areas have no generation loss.

Added:
I got VirtualDub to capture the DV input to Huffyuv on mine by some brute force including turning off monitoring. Mine did't produce macroblocks over the 20-30 seconds captured. Still, I recommnd maintaining DV format if possible.

Maybe someone with more VirtualDub experience can chime in.

[ForYouAndI.com]

My post above was a little confusing. I'll fix it. I was just using VirtualDub as a trouble shooting measure. I'm using WinDV to capture DV not VirtualDub. That screenshot was from a WinDV capture without any editing at all.

[edDV]

I haven't seen blocks like that except when heads get dirty. You can rule that out by capturing a raw live camera or pass-through feed over the IEEE-1394 connection.

Second idea is maybe playback is not working correctly. Try transferring back to the camcorder with WinDV (to a different section of tape) and see if it plays ok from the camcorder. If it does, then the transfers to the HDD and back are OK.

If not, the problem is probably with backgrond tasks hogging the drive. First turn off all background processes. Next, try to transfer to a separate HDD, ideally with a separate HDD controller from that used by the OS.

[J. Baker]

Here's another option...

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/dvcapturelive.html

[ForYouAndI.com]

I get the same result from a live feed capture (no tape involved).

I think I isolated it! In WinDV, when I choose type-1 (javs) I get no audio but the video is fine. type-2, I get audio but the video has those blocks.

What should I do?

[redwudz]

Kind of backwards, but you could use Type 1, and a Type 1 to Type 2 converter. https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Canopus_DV_File_Converter

Type one should still have audio. See if it shows after conversion to Type 2. If not, maybe the cable, Firewire card or some internal codec problem with Windows. Or maybe codec interference?

[edDV]

Hmm, type 1 and type 2 are so close in data rate.

Background,

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/directshow/htm/type1v...pe2dvfiles.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/dvavi.mspx

Are you transferring to the same drive as the OS? Try capturing to a different drive.

Try defragging the drive. Also a near full drive may have severe slow down.

Check background processes and shut down what you can.

[dastott]

DVIO works very well and is very small and free...

[ForYouAndI.com]

I did install pdvcodec.dll. Maybe that is causing problems. There was some kind of feedback here about it causing problems. I forget what they were though. How do I uninstall that dll?

I have 85 gigs free on drive D:. Which is the PARTITION I capture to and does not have the OS. I only have one drive and it's partitioned to C: and D:. When captureing I only use, on average, 10% of the cpu.

[edDV]

I did install pdvcodec.dll. Maybe that is causing problems. There was some kind of feedback here about it causing problems. I forget what they were though. How do I uninstall that dll?

I have 85 gigs free on drive D:. Which is the PARTITION I capture to and does not have the OS. I only have one drive and it's partitioned to C: and D:. When captureing I only use, on average, 10% of the cpu.

Try DVIO. Unlike WinDV, DVIO just transfers the data and makes no attempt to decode for video preview. I don't think video preview is maxing your CPU but it may be causing dataflow conflicts. I have never had this problem. But give DVIO a try.

[J. Baker]

This is what it looks like and it occurs about every other frame. I have a very fast computer. That is not the problem. Other captures are fine, it's just when I capture to DV with WinDV, instead of huffvy avi with VirtualDub.

I have had this same problem with WinDV and the only thing that works is a reformat. I could never find the problem myself nor could anyone else here, when I posted on it some time back. Use this instead... http://www.snapfiles.com/get/dvcapturelive.html

[gadgetguy]

A couple thoughts.
A separate partition is not the same as a separate drive as OS needs will still interrupt harddrive activity. If possible, get a second physical drive. But I don't really think this is the probem.
I have never experienced this type of problem using WinDV, but I have seen video errors like that on drives with bad spots. Try running scandisk with full surface scan and see if it discovers any bad blocks. This might prove difficult on a single drive system, but it's worth a try. Often, a reformat will appear to "fix" these errors by allocating the bad blocks and keeping them from being used for future captures.

[edDV]

A couple thoughts.
A separate partition is not the same as a separate drive as OS needs will still interrupt harddrive activity.

Agreed. But if one is trapped in a single drive notebook ...

The only advantage to separating a capture partition is to minimize HDD head seeks that could contribute to field loss. A separate partition also makes disk defragment faster and easier.

[ForYouAndI.com]

The only thing that works for me is to capture to type 1 (With WinDV and DvdCaptureLive).

I am now trying to convert it to type 2 but Canopus DV File Converter always stops at about 5 GB when I try to convert it to AVI 2.

[Paul Glagla]

You may try to convert to type 2 with DVdate

[gadgetguy]

Agreed. But if one is trapped in a single drive notebook ...

That's why I put the "If possible" caveat in the suggestion.

[gadgetguy]

The only thing that works for me is to capture to type 1 (With WinDV and DvdCaptureLive).

I am now trying to convert it to type 2 but Canopus DV File Converter always stops at about 5 GB when I try to convert it to AVI 2.

Why are you bothering to convert it? The latest version of VirtualDub can accept Type1.

[ForYouAndI.com]

You're right. I didn't try it because I've been using VDubMod. VDubMod does not read the audio stream.

[gadgetguy]

Yeah, VDubMod hasn't been kept up to date like VirtualDubMpg has.

[ForYouAndI.com]

I couldn't find VirtualDubMpg but I did find VirtualDubMpg2. It doesn't read the audio of type 1 avi's either.

[Capt.Video]

I like Adobe Premiere because you can batch capture. Ulead MSP also does a good job capturing.

HTH,
Andrew

[joe bananas]

I too have the same problem, I get the same blocks when I 'capture' type 2 in windv & dvio.
And Ive never been able to convert type 1 to type either successfully ( files over 10g - too large? ).

What I used to do: use ulead video studio 7. It is the only program I can capture type 2 without those little grey blocks.

But now the problem is gone - virtualdub can handle the audio of type 1 - woohoo! Thanks gadgetguy.
http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/

As for the reason....???? I dont know its always done it. If what J Baker says is true, then it possibly is a codec problem.

[quote="J. Baker"]

I have had this same problem with WinDV and the only thing that works is a reformat.

[bowmah]

What I used to do: use ulead video studio 7. It is the only program I can capture type 2 without those little grey blocks.

I am using Uleads' Video Studio 7 right now. SHould I be looking at other alternatives? What has your experience been sine you left the Ulead software for transferring?