Capturing DV via firewire, but picture is choppy

[thinslice]

I am capturing my DV movie with Firewire onto my computer using WinDV. It works great. Expect for the fact that the movie is really choppy. I have played around with different options, and nothing I can find will cure the problem. Has anyone else had this problem?

[FulciLives]

Try using ScenalyzerLive instead.

It is trailware.

Also make sure you are doing nothing else on the computer ... don't try to multitask while doing the capture/transfer.

This includes turning off Anti-Virus software etc.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[thecoalman]

Could be the file is fine and it's a playback problem. Convert it to something really small like VCD spec and see if it's still choppy.

[gerryc]

Check to see if the harddrive you're capturing to has the DMA or direct memory access enabled. If it isn't than your video is going through your processor which will bottleneck it and cause it to drop a lot of frames, making the video choppy.

[gerryc]

Forgot about this one... Also, if you are running on-board video and your graphics acceleration is set at full, it will drop frames as well. Try backing off on the setting to half or lower. Hope these suggestions help...

[thinslice]

where do I find this DMA Enabler at on the computer?

I don't have Onboard Video, I have a nvidia 5700 video card. Would that be part of the problem.

Ohh, I did see that in 1/2 hour of video, I dropped over 200 frames!

[gerryc]

If you are running XP than DMA may already be enabled but try this:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance and Maintenance.
2. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.
3. Click System Tools, and then click Device Manager.
4. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
5. Click the controller that you you want to configure DMA/PIO settings for.
6. Click the Advanced Settings tab.
7. In the Transfer Mode box, select "DMA if available".

Hope this helps....

[thinslice]

If you are running XP than DMA may already be enabled but try this:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance and Maintenance.
2. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.
3. Click System Tools, and then click Device Manager.
4. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
5. Click the controller that you you want to configure DMA/PIO settings for.
6. Click the Advanced Settings tab.
7. In the Transfer Mode box, select "DMA if available".

Hope this helps....

I have XP and your right, it is already enabled. I will try another program and see if that works. Or shut down all my programs running in the background.

[Jim44]

One thing I found was that the camera controls in WinDV are a bit buggy - confirmed by the developer and posted by me in another thread. I believe one of the symptoms was a large amount of dropped frames (although my problem was with sound).

So, start the DV camera with it's own "Play" button, then press the "Capture" button on WinDV. Been working flawlessly for me ever since.

Jim

[JohnnyMalaria]

Since you have XP, try Windows Movie Maker and see how well it captures.

Also, which drive are you capturing to and what else is on it/how full is it? If you are capturing to the same drive as your OS is installed on and there are a lot of apps on it, it isn't uncommon to drop frames as the OS tries to find some useable space. For best results, use a drive dedicated for capturing.

[edDV]

where do I find this DMA Enabler at on the computer?

I don't have Onboard Video, I have a nvidia 5700 video card. Would that be part of the problem.

Ohh, I did see that in 1/2 hour of video, I dropped over 200 frames!

Computer details?

Probably a background task using the C: disk (check Windows Task Manager for active processes)

Shut off antivirus. Don't run other applications while transfer is in progress.

Capture to a drive other than the OS drive if possible. Let the OS play on the main drive.

Defragment the capture drive.