pinnacle movie box capture

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:35 pm

ok new worry. I am capturing analogue vhs through a Pinnacle movie box. Which field should I use and which video type.

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:39 pm

Hi Kaz,

If the Pinnacle Movie box you are using is this one:
http://www.pinnaclesys.com/publicsite/u ... sion+9.htm
That one is an analogue to digital converter, so you should be capturing to DV-AVI, lower field first. Not to confuse you, if the Movie Box is not a converter, then you would capture to upper field first.

Now for the type, do you mean PAL or NTSC? If so, then since you are located in Oz, you should be using PAL.

If you meant DV-AVI, or AVI, or MPEG-1, or MPEG-2, etc.. then that depends on if you are going to do some (or any for that matter ) editing. It is recommended by more experienced people to always capture to DV-AVI. MPEG is a lossy compression format, DV-AVI (results in file sizes of around 13 gig per hour) is considered a lossless format. It is slightly compressed. Raw AVI is uncompressed however yeilds huge files, around 65 gig per hour.

Since you are capturing VHS, your bitrate can be a Constant Bit Rate (CBR) anywhere from 4000-6500 would give you as good a quality as VHS. Setting it any higher, just causes larger file sizes, and you're not going to see any better quality.

Hope that helps..

Ron P.

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:16 pm

I have installed vs9 on my new super duper computer but now when I try to capture with the Movie Box (as above) my computer does not recognise it and I get the message that my 'video capture driver' might not be right??

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:21 pm

I have not installed the Pinnacle video studio program (which comes with the box) as I want to reduce the number of programs on this computer but perhaps that is what is missing??

Post by **Ron P.** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:42 am

Klaus,

I don't know, as you didn't say if the box (the one shown in the link provided above) is the one you are using. Is this the Movie Box you have?

Ron P.

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:11 am

yes, thats the one, and its giving me a giant headache now.
I just installed pinnacle studio 9 with the update patches etc. but still dosn't work capturing analogue vhs

Post by **Ron P.** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:50 am

Ok this does have firewire. You should connect the box to your computer using the firewire, and that is what you are doing correct?

When you plug this into your computer, then open Windows Explorer, (My Computer) where it shows all your drives. It should show that the the box is there. Windows should also play a sound when it recognizes a new device, does this happen, and can you see the device in My Computer? If not then windows is not seeing it, and so VS will not.

Apparently this came with a disc, if you are using the firewire port, then you shouldn't need it to install any drivers. WinXP has those already. My next question is do you have a firewire card or firewire ports on your computer? I'm assuming that you do.

I know for camcorders the following works...

1. Unplug the device, firewire cable from your computer.(which should be similar to turning of the camera).
2. Reboot your system.
3. Launch Video Studio.
4. Plug the firewire cable back in.
5. Turn on your VCR.
6. Go to the Capture Tab in VS, select Capture Video.
7. Place your VCR in play mode.

If windows aknowleged you plugging in your device then VS should also see it..

Ron P.

Jacques de Groen · Post by **Jacques de Groen** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:29 pm

You told before, that you didn't install Pinnacle software on your computer at all. That's o.k, but you really need the hardware installer wich is to be found on the program-CD (drivers). The other solution is to download the hardware-installer from Pinnacle's web-site. Then you'll have to register your software and with your registrated mail-adress you can dowload your copy of the hardware installer.
Without the installer, the moviebox will not work.
I'll hop that this will (and should) work!

Regards,

Jacques de Groen
(Spijkenisse, The Netherlands)

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 1:24 am

Well I tried capturing with 5 different programs now but the movie box still freezes whichever program I am running to capture.
Yes I have it plugged into firewire, even tried the front port.
When I plug in my camera there is no problem but it just won't capture from the vhs tape recorder. My other computer has no problems with this, but I specially bought the new one for this specific purpose

Apparently there are no specific drivers for this device.

Post by **Ron P.** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:31 am

Hi Klaus,

Well seeing the trouble that box is causing you, I'm not going to be buying it..

Have you tried contacting Pinnicle tech support to see what they have to say? Since you have tried it with several different programs, and get the same results, there seems to be a problem with the box. I think I 'd try to get my money back, and find a more reliable device..

Ron P.

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:03 am

The box is actually quite good, have been using it for about 2 years now.
Just dosn't want to work with vhs on this computer, its ok on my other computer and if I plug in my camera

But I think with the speed of computers now I probably won't even need it. I will probably just use one of those cheaper adapters so I can plug the video into the computer. Pity though, can't understand whats wrong. Seems to me that there is a conflict in programs or something like that, although I hardly have anything installed on this new computer. Beats me, just thought one of you experts might have had some experience.

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:10 am

Also I did send and email to Pinnacle and they have quite a good after sales service (seeing its 2 years ago since I bought the box). They replied the next day and I even spoke to the guy in charge, unfortunately after all the updates etc and installing Pinnacle studio it still dosn't work.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:55 am

If I have read everything correctly so far
1. You have a pinnacle Movie box.
2. This box connects to your computer via firewire cable.
3. Your analogue camcorder connects to the movie box, the computer is able to capture video from the camcorder.
(If this is so then we know your movie box and the firewire cable are all working correctly.)
4. Your VHS player connects to the movie box. You are unable to capture from the VHS and it is causing the program to freeze up.

If I have read this correctly then the fault lies somewhere betwen the VHS and the Movie Box.
a) Have you checked the leads between the VHS and the moviebox.
They may have become damaged.
b) Have you checked more than 1 VHS tape. If the tape is faulty it may affect the attempted capture process.
c) The VHS-Moviebox-Computer set up worked on your old computer.
Do you still have that old computer and have you tried to see if it still works with that computer and with whichever VHS tape you are trying to transfer.

Steve J

Klaus Christo · Post by **Klaus Christo** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:36 pm

Yes Steve you got it.
I have the old computer right here and when I connect the vhs and movie box it still works fine. I can connect between the two computers in a matter of seconds (I have a kvm switch for the 2 computers) it all would be a perfect set up to do my old vhs movies but unfortunately........

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 1:39 pm

OK thanks for that, this means that
1. The VHS tape and player are OK
2. The cable to the Pinnacle box is OK
3. The Pinnacle Box is OK
4. The lead from the Pinnacle box to the computer is OK.
5. The camcorder connected via the Pinnacle box transfers its contents without problem.
6. The transfer from VHS causes a system freeze.
7. The same set up on your old computer works.

Right... We need to double check all your capture settings.
a.) write down all the settings when capturing from the camcorder (to the New PC)
b.) write down all the settings when capturing to the old computer from VHS.
c.) write down all the settings when capturing from VHS to the New PC.

Are all these settings the same?

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pinnacle movie box capture

pinnacle movie box capture

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