Unable to capture or control minidv

captainzeb · Post by **captainzeb** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:04 am

I have a Sony DCR-DHC21 MiniDV camcorder. Ulead will not allow me to control the camera from the PC and hence I cannot capture from it. From the 'source' dropdown I have "Microsoft DV camera and VCR" as a choice, yet when I look at the device manager in XP, it says "Sony DV Camcorder." When I try to capture using the Microsoft choice I get the following error message, "Unexpected error. The supplied user buffer is not valid for the requested operation." I click 'OK' to close the window and a second one opens "Capturing failed. The file created is corrupt and unusable. It will be automatically deleted."

When I go to 'Video and Audio Capture Settings" the 'video input source' is blank and greyed out as is the 'TV system.' The 'audio device' and 'Input source' are not greyed out.

I have the camera connected via firewire and it is set to 'Play/Edit' mode (VCR mode). Is this the correct setting?

It would be great to be able to control the camera from Ulead and then to capture the data in that way. Am I asking for too much?

By the way, I am able to transfer the footage from my camcorder to the PC via other programs. I press "record" in their program and then "play" on the camcorder. It does work but its nothing like what ULEAD, Pinnacle, etc. are offering.

I am using ULEAD 9 trial version to see if it will work for me. So far it isn't. Am I asking too much?

Any ideas?

Many thanks!

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:12 am

No, you are not asking too much. That is the way these things normally work.

Since you can capture with other software, I don't think there is something wrong with your connection or camcorder.

Try to re-boot the computer with the camera connected and switched on, hopefully your OS will recognise the device this way.

Failing that, there may be a conflict with the other programs you are using, they may highjack your firewire port.

We need more detail to give better advice.

captainzeb · Post by **captainzeb** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:38 am

A reboot didn't remedy the situation. How does one check if a firewire port is being hijacked?

Many Thanks!

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 4:50 am

After reading your original post again I wondered. Were you able to control your device from within the other programs? You stated that you selected record in the program and play on your camera.

Are you certain that your camera allows for device control? Over the years I have read a few posts where people with Sony devices have had problems. Can you capture with the software that came with the camera? Do you connect one end of your cable to the iLink port on your camera and the other to the IEEE1394 port on your PC?

Please describe the way you connect your camera, the cable you use, the settings you use in the capture module of VS etc. The more detail you can give the sooner someone might have the right idea.

If your firewire port functions in one program but not in others, chances are this program prevents other programs from using it.

captainzeb · Post by **captainzeb** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 5:08 am

I have not been able to control my camera with any software to date.

The manual doesn't indicate that you cannot control the device. It says the camera is an i.LINK compliant DV Interface.

The software that came with the camera is USB based and I don't have any interest in that. It can 'capture video' meaning, the contents of the dv can be imported or transferred to the PC via USB.

I connect my camera via firewire, its a 6 pin to 4 pin cable. Here are a few things I've tried to do:

Under "Tools" "Device control" make sure the "MS 1394 Device Control" is selected.

I tried this but it says, "Unable to open the specified device. Please check if your device is ready."

Under "Format" on the Capture screen make sure "DV" is selected. I chose DV format but it returns to AVI automatically.

And under "Tools" "Change Capture Plugin" tab make sure "Ulead Direct Show Plugin" is selected. Ulead direct show plugin is set.

Also make sure DV Type 1 is selected under "Options" in the Capture screen. I tried but was unable to select DV type I, likely due to the fact that AVI keeps popping up in the format field.

Thanks for your help thus far!

captainzeb · Post by **captainzeb** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:24 am

Sony support says:

"The camcorder has the ability to be controlled via I.Link when connected to another I.Link recording device."

I am using firewire so I assume I should be able to control my camera via my PC / software package (ulead, WINDV, pinnacle, etc.).

Arghh!

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:55 am

Yes, absolutely, you should be able to control your device from the capture module. I had such a problem initially with my PANASONIC DA1 camcorder. When I connected another camcorder via iLink (4 pin to 4 pin cable) I could see the other camera on my screen but nothing on the other. Had the camera checked and found the iLink circuitry on my camera was faulty.

I'm not saying that yours is faulty now, could just be the cable. Do you have another cable or access to one from a friend? If it works then, it's your cable, if not, get your cam checked.