help please

maxuk · Post by **maxuk** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:06 pm

hi all
what am i doing wrong i bought vs10+ i have just tried dv to dvd wizard,which i thought would be straight forward, put camcorder on selected dv to dvd wizard and all the settings are grey

Post by **Ken Berry** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:25 pm

Sorry, I don't mean to sound rude, but your question is a bit like ringing a mechanic and saying "I put the key in the car but it didn't start". We are not there to see your set-up and we don't even know the model of your "car", that is to say, your computer.

My first thought is that perhaps your 'camcorder' is not necessarily a digital one. What is the exact make and model? How have you connected it exactly to the computer? What is the computer's operating system and specifications?

And if it is a digital video camera, does your operating system recognise it? And have you first connected it, switched it on and put it into the PLAY (and not REC) Mode before opening VS10?

maxuk · Post by **maxuk** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:33 pm

hi all
i hope someone can help me out here, ok a few days ago i bought uleads vs10+ the problem i'm having is i am unable to captrue video from my sony dcr-hc22e or import from dvd, the camcorder is recognized but all i get when i try to capture from it is a blank preview pane and no capture, with the message faild to build a preview graph, also when i try to import from my dvd drive, it wont import, can anyone help ??

camcorder is connected via firewire
dell dimension 2400
intel 4 cpu 2.80 ghz
graphics card geforce nvidia fx 5200
70 gb hard drive
640 mb ram
windows xp home service pk2

Post by **Ken Berry** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:04 pm

Thanks for all that extra information. There is no obvious compatibility reason why your specific camera is not recognised. It is a rock standard mini DV model. I am assuming you have the camera connected directly to the computer. Or are you using the optional docking cradle that comes with your particular model and connects via Firewire?

But can you please clarify what you mean by the camera being recognised? Do you mean that the computer operating system can see it but not VS? And as I already asked, can you confirm that you first connect the camera (via firewire) to the computer, put it in PLAY mode, and only then start up Video Studio? Can you also check to confirm that the correct capture plug-in has been selected (Ulead Direct Show)? Normally, this is set automatically, but it is still worth checking.

Can you also ignore the DV to DVD wizard for the moment. (Few of us here ever use it, so I am not sure how much help you will get with it anyway.) Select the top option instead: the VideoStudio Editor. This will open the main program. Then click on the Capture tab along the top of your screen. Then select 'Capture Video' in the centre right of the screen. A new interface will slide into place in the centre right. You have to wait 10 seconds or more as the program analyses the possible capture sources, then if it recognises your camera, this should appear beside 'Source', and saying something like 'Sony MSDV'. Below it you make sure DV is selected as the format.

Another thing you might try is to install the capture/editing software that came with the camera. If your camera does not work with that, then your problem is more likely to be a hardware one. For example, your firewire cable could be faulty; or the firewire plug on the camera is faulty; or even the Firewire card in your computer...

I am afraid I don't understand what you mean when you say "when i try to import from my dvd drive, it wont import". Can you clarify please?

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 12:20 am

Please view the article
From Camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio

maxuk · Post by **maxuk** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 4:09 pm

hi ken
ok camera is connected from docking cradle to computer with a firewire,i use this connection with another program i use and it works fine so i dont think it could be a hardware problem.

i switch camera on and it is recognised by the computer,i then open vs select capture video, source shows as sony msdv, format dv, then a message appears unable to switch to capture mode check if your capture driver is working properly failed to build a preview graph.

Post by **lancecarr** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 6:05 pm

Hi Maxuk, Ken is probably asleep now so let me make a suggestion. If you have other software that can use the connection and Windoze is recognising the cam then probably what's happening is that VS is going to the Directx cupboard to haul out the correct filters and stuff to do the capture. BUT! Obviously that's not going too well so probably your installation of VS has become corrupted in some way. So! Try the repair function, go to Add/Remove programs etc and hit the repair option, have the installation disc ready. If you have no disc, just the download then just re-install. If that doesn't work then try the DirectXdiag.exe and do a check to see your directx is all ok. Failing that wait until Ken wakes up!

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 10:39 pm

Now awake and have walked the dogs!

But I am afraid that, apart from Lance's helpful suggestions, the only other thing I can think of is Sony. You may or may not know that Sony is notorious for creating proprietary hardware which will only work with their own software. In this case, the only 'strange' thing about the set up is the docking cradle between the camera and the computer. While it sounds improbable, there is still a faint chance that the cradle is such a proprietary device -- but I still would have thought that a firewire connection is a firewire connection and should behave the same way nomatter where it is located.

What is not clear to me, though, is whether the camera itself has its own mini 4-pin Firewire jack (called i-Link by Sony). Look in the manual. If it does, try connecting the camera directly to the computer via Firewire, without the docking cradle.

Apart from that, is the successful software the Sony program which comes on the CD with the camera? If so, you could always use that to capture and then simply insert the captured files into VS for editing/authoring... A lot of us here don't always use the same program for capturing, editing and burning. I, for example, often use the small freeware program WinDV for capturing as it captures DV with no risk of dropped frames and otherwise seamlessly. Or if I cam using my TV capture card, I use the Winfast software which came with it as I find it more flexible and it gives more options than VS (though it cannot capture DV/AVI format)...