Best capture program to use for DV

[edDV]

Are you guys on XP? Is DirectX up to date? At least v8?

DVIO accesses DirectX (DirectShow) for DV transfer without preview. This is best for weak systems.

WinDV accesses DirectX (DirectShow) for DV transfer but with simultaneous preview decoding.

If those don't work, the problem is in Windows.

Video Studio 7 is getting very old. Version 9 is current.

I think your problems lie elsewhere. Are you capturing to the same drive as the OS? Are the heads dirty on the camcorder?

Something isn't right. All these programs work here. Even on an old PIII 750MHz notebook (with background processes off).

[bowmah]

If those don't work, the problem is in Windows.

Video Studio 7 is getting very old. Version 9 is current.

I think your problems lie elsewhere. Are you capturing to the same drive as the OS? Are the heads dirty on the camcorder?

Something isn't right. All these programs work here. Even on an old PIII 750MHz notebook (with background processes off).

Did I miss something edDV. I was the who posted that I used Ulead VS 7 but it seems that you might have been answering other posts in one block of text. No problems here, in fact UVS7 has worked wonderfully.

[edDV]

If those don't work, the problem is in Windows.

Video Studio 7 is getting very old. Version 9 is current.

I think your problems lie elsewhere. Are you capturing to the same drive as the OS? Are the heads dirty on the camcorder?

Something isn't right. All these programs work here. Even on an old PIII 750MHz notebook (with background processes off).

Did I miss something edDV. I was the who posted that I used Ulead VS 7 but it seems that you might have been answering other posts in one block of text. No problems here, in fact UVS7 has worked wonderfully.

It isn't clear why Video Studio 7 would work and WinDV or DVIO wouldn't unless your DirectX version is very old. All of these programs use DirectX to transfer DV under XP.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/directshow/htm/introd...directshow.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/archive/default.asp?url=/archive/en-us/directx9_c/directx/ht...directshow.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/archive/default.asp?url=/archive/en-us/directx9_c/directx/ht...wdvfilters.asp

[itsme3112]

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

Were you able to fix your problem?
I am having the same problem... I just dont know the solution yet....

Thanks...

[[AC]]

For me the best DV capture software is the Studio 7 (or Studio 9) from Pinnacle, but only to capture DV with Firewire. I tried a lot of software like, WinDV, Premiere, Sony Vegas 5.0, EditStudio etc. But to convert the final file AVI I use TMPGEnc, however I cann't make a final DVD or VCD file with a perfect quality, like in the DVD movies or VHS movies.
I have also a good PC, a Pentium IV 2.8 HT with 1GB of RAM with three HDs SATA, I think that this it's enought but I can make perfect digital videos DVD or VCD.
My cature DV seams like yours and I cann't improve it.

AC

[itsme3112]

I have a Canon Elura 60 and yday for the first time I tried capturing the Video from DV to my Computer...

I used WinDV and also used ULead Studio....

In both the cases I had the some problem that OP mentioned with the Picture. After every 5-10 second some noise and some bad picture quality...

Only difference is my computer is not very fast.. I have P3 500 MHz..
Can that be the real problem for me??

[edDV]

I have a Canon Elura 60 and yday for the first time I tried capturing the Video from DV to my Computer...

I used WinDV and also used ULead Studio....

In both the cases I had the some problem that OP mentioned with the Picture. After every 5-10 second some noise and some bad picture quality...

Only difference is my computer is not very fast.. I have P3 500 MHz..
Can that be the real problem for me??

DV "capture" means you are transferring a DV data stream (~34Mb/s*) from the camcorder to the computer's hard disk system. Most modern hard disk systems are fast enough but the disk system needs to be available. Processor speed means little.

HDD availability is the issue. The OS takes the drive for background tasks and other running programs and this is what causes data loss during transfer**. If you have a single HDD system, the probability of data loss is higher. Older HDD systems are more likely to have data loss. A practical minimum is ATA/66.

Other than data gaps, there should be no other effects on picture quality. It is only a data stream, although a fast one (~ 10x a broadband internet connection).

DVIO is the the most effecient DV transfer program (no monitoring). WinDV adds stream monitoring which requires the CPU to decode the DV stream and display the video and audio. Other programs load the system down further.

It is possible for a 500 MHz PIII system to work but it is on the edge. I got a single drive PIII 750 MHz notebook to work by using hardware profiles. The capture profile had minimal Windows functions, no networking and most important, no anti virus or other background tasks.

* 25Mb/s video + PCM audio + metadata + IEEE-1394 transfer overhead

** Unlike a networked data transfer, a stream just forces megabits on the computer and if the disk isn't ready or available at any pixel, the data is lost. Buffering is minimal. Normal network transfer protocol would request a data resend in that case. A camcorder has no abitity to back up and resend data. Some capture programs will detect a drop and either stop or report lost fields or frames. Some may go further and back the camcorder up to recapture automatically.

[itsme3112]

I have 2 hard drives and almost 40GB free space available. I have 512 MB RAM....

I may have to try Capturing again and this time I will remove the Internet connection anti spywares and Virus Scanner....

I am hoping that will help..

[edDV]

I have 2 hard drives and almost 40GB free space available. I have 512 MB RAM....

I may have to try Capturing again and this time I will remove the Internet connection anti spywares and Virus Scanner....

I am hoping that will help..

Make sure you capture to the second drive not the OS drive. Separate disk controllers help if you have a desktop machine. Better yet get a modern PCI HDD controller like the Promise. These replace the old motherboard bios and allow use of modern large, fast drives.

http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?segment=Non-RAID%20HBAs&product_id=87
http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?segment=Non-RAID%20HBAs&product_id=129

Unfortunately you can't do this on a laptop.

I added another footnote above.

[itsme3112]

I have 2 hard drives and almost 40GB free space available. I have 512 MB RAM....

I may have to try Capturing again and this time I will remove the Internet connection anti spywares and Virus Scanner....

I am hoping that will help..

Make sure you capture to the second drive not the OS drive. Separate disk controllers help if you have a desktop machine. Better yet get a modern PCI HDD controller like the Promise. These replace the old motherboard bios and allow use of modern large, fast drives.

http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?segment=Non-RAID%20HBAs&product_id=87
http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?segment=Non-RAID%20HBAs&product_id=129

Unfortunately you can't do this on a laptop.

I added another footnote above.

Yeah I am doing that only.. My desktops original drive is small.. Then I added a 160 GB drive. I am using 160 GB.
I will try it tonight and will tell the results tomorrow.

[edDV]

The Promise type PCI controller will also isolate your capture drive from OS activity on the motherboard HDD controller. In the old pre ATA/66 days, it was necessary to use a RAID controller to get this isolation and speed. Today single ATA/100 up drives are more than fast enough. ATA/66 should work with a modern disk controller.

[itsme3112]

I tried this weekend also...
I closed all other programs.
stopped all downloads...
disabled and stopped the Virus Scanner and spyware remover...


Still the capturing was not perfect..
I still get bad pictures after every few seconds... But I feel it was less than before when all other programs were running.

[edDV]

Well a PIII 550 is tough to make work. It took effort by experts in those days. remember your machine was probably built over 5 years ago.

Try to find a more modern computer.

[itsme3112]

Well a PIII 550 is tough to make work. It took effort by experts in those days. remember your machine was probably built over 5 years ago.

Try to find a more modern computer.

Yep... That's the only thing left for me to do I am also guessing that is the problem.. I would try at my friends place sometime...

Thanks for your replies...

[edDV]

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?

Try to transfer with WinDV or DVIO and see if you still have problems.

[dvd3500]

The latest VirtualDub supposedly has DV "capture".