Problem with a mini dv in pal system

[Litaiff]

I have a mini dv, but it doesn't play normal on my cameras, its on pal, the video is blinking, what should I do?

Sent a video file of it.

[dellsam34]

Provide more details, Does it do that on the camera screen? If not what software are you using to transfer?

[jagabo]

Why does it have a PAL frame size (720x576) and an NTSC-ish frame rate (30 fps). It should be 25 fps. Why is it AVC, not DV? Why is it progressive, not interlaced? And why is it in an MP4 container, not MOV or raw DV?

[Litaiff]

@dellsam34 On the camcorder screen it looks perfect

This screen I sent is from the notebook

I use the ION app

Tried all config settings


Ps: This problem is from a friend, I'm just passing on what she tells me here

[Litaiff]

[Attachment 68980 - Click to enlarge]

Anything wrong here?

[smrpix]

Anything wrong here?

Very much. You captured the DV through some box that converted it to mpeg and messed up the frame rate in the process. Mini dv should be captured with firewire for a 1:1 transfer.

Basically, all the things jagabo pointed out.

[Litaiff]

is there any video capture program that configures in PAL ?

[Litaiff]

Anything wrong here?

Very much. You captured the DV through some box that converted it to mpeg and messed up the frame rate in the process. Mini dv should be captured with firewire for a 1:1 transfer.

Basically, all the things jagabo pointed out.

I guess so, i am passing it here from a friend.

[smrpix]

is there any video capture program that configures in PAL ?

All DV capture software can be configured for PAL or NTSC.

Popular standalones:
WinDV
Scenalyzer

As well, popular software like Adobe Premiere and Vegas can capture DV. But hurry if you're using Premiere, Adobe is discontinuing DV capture very soon.

[dellsam34]

How are you connecting your camcorder to the computer? If you are not using firewire you are doing it all wrong.

[Bwaak]

@Litaiff, DV is a digital format. You are converting it into analog, then converting it back to digital with whatever A/D converter you are using and encode it with ArcSoft into MPEG-2. This is the workflow for analog video. Although I like ArcSoft software, you will get much better quality if you just copy bytes from the tape directly into a computer file via Firewire with no modifications. The operating instructions should explain this.

[Leanoric]

I had very good results using a similar card to this https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08HSY2WYD/ and scenalyzer

[DB83]

This got me thinking (of course I could be well off the mark)

The OP mentions PAL. The OP states he/she lives in Brazil. Now this would not be relevant for a digital format such as DV but was very relevant for the Brazil analogue format 'PAL-M' which is what the OP is attempting to do in the latest sample.


But I ask if this plays any better than the only actual video sample we have seen ?


There is not such thing as PAL-M on mini-DV. It would either be PAL-I/B/G or NTSC-M. If I read correctly, the OP does not have a PC but a laptop/notebook so surely a 1:1 DV transfer is a non-starter. So the analog output is the only option. What output settings does the camcorder have ? I would try, if available, both PAL-I/B/G or NTSC-M with, as already stated, 720*576*25fps for the PAL and 720*480*29.97fps for the test captures.

[Litaiff]

She told me she's using the camcorder's s-video output, so that must be the whole problem.

[Alwyn]

She told me she's using the camcorder's s-video output, so that must be the whole problem.

Don't be so sure. An S-video transfer/capture of mini DV shouldn't produce that flickering.

I have captured Digital 8 (a DV format) with S-video to an analogue capture card and it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between that and a firewire transfer.

I reckon there is something fundamentally wrong with the current software settings to produce that flickering, not necessarily the hardware.

We need an answer to Dellsam's question:

How are you connecting your camcorder to the computer? If you are not using firewire you are doing it all wrong.

Also:

- How is she using the S-video cable eg plugging into what?

-Can you give us some more detail/name of the software you're using to do the capture? The only Arcsoft and "Ion" I can find on a quick Google search is a still image transfer program.

-The exact model of the camera.

-Does the laptop have a firewire port? Post some pics of the sockets on it and we'll be able to tell you; a 4-pin Firewire port looks like this (it's about 5mm across):


[Attachment 68988 - Click to enlarge]

[Litaiff]

She:

I gave up.
I connected the dv cable, direct to the firewire card and there was no image.
Thank you for everything.

[dellsam34]

I've seen all kinds of troubleshooting last step, "I gave up" is one of the easiest and most interesting ones, This one puts the issue to rest forever.

[jagabo]

If you can't get a better cap the black frames can be removed with AviSynth:

[Litaiff]

If you can't get a better cap the black frames can be removed with AviSynth:

This will need to make an edit on the original file right? During the conversion can not?

[jagabo]

If you can't get a better cap the black frames can be removed with AviSynth:

This will need to make an edit on the original file right? During the conversion can not?

Processing a video with AviSynth makes no changes to the original file. A new file is created with the changes.