Premiere 2.0 suddenly just won't capture but it still controls my DV camera

[Chaoji3791]

Yes, I know "capture" isn't the right word, but it's quicker and less clumsy than saying "transfer the data stream from the camcorder" repeatedly during this post.

So ...

I was capturing widescreen DV video just fine on Sunday, went to pick up where I left off last night, met with nothing but frustration. Premiere 2.0 will control my camcorder just fine (stop, play, whatever) so obviously device control is fine, as well as my cables and FireWire card etc, but the capture preview window is 4:3 when it should be 16:9, and no video plays in it, and nothing captures when I hit record. Premiere 6.5 and WinDV won't capture jack either. I really hate these software glitches. Can someone tell me if they've also had this problem? Is there some little .dll file that's corrupted or whatever? I don't want to have to do a full system restore when it's probably just some little module somewhere that's not working. Any suggestions?

[Guiboche]

I'd try first capturing without having Premiere control your video device. I myself have had problems with device control with any version of premiere. Either crashing or otherwise.

Try that and see if it helps....

[Chaoji3791]

I just tried 3 things and apparently one of them worked.

1. Defragged.

2. Started Premiere with the shift key held down (which resets the plugins cache, similar to replacing the preferences file in versions prior to Premiere Pro 1.0).

3. Opened Premiere's capture window, THEN switched on my camcorder, instead of the other way 'round.

Not sure which one of those things worked, but I suddenly got video back in the preview window, so I'm a happy camper once again.

[edDV]

Capture is a correct term for DV.

An alternate method is to use a low complexity capture program like WinDV. Results are equal unless you're using Premiere's batch capture modes. Another option is Scenalyzer which can separate scenes using optical analysis methods.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Premiere 2.0 will control my camcorder just fine...no video plays in it, and nothing captures when I hit record.

This is a symptom of another program already using the camcorder.

Windows communicates with DV devices via Firewire using two protocols.

1. The DV format specification
2. The AV/C Tape Recorder/Player Subunit Specification

The first handles the transmission of the DV data. Microsoft provides a driver call msdv.sys to do this on behalf of applications such as Premiere etc.

The second handles device control (such as play, record etc) and uses a different driver called avc.sys.

Only one application can stake a claim to the msdv.sys driver for a given DV device attached to the computer. Multiple applications can use avc.sys, though.

With Windows XP (32-bit), when you connect a DV device, a new folder gets created that you can see in My Computer - typically it is called "Some Brand DV Camcorder" (obviously, this varies!) When opened, this folder displays whatever is coming from the camcorder and, in doing so, stakes its claim to msdv.sys, so no other application can get the DV data.

This is an easy one to get around - just don't have that folder open.

Unfortunately, there are some rogue apps out there that also seem to grab the device (I think some Roxio and Nero 'features' do this) and create havoc with other, well-behaved apps.