Capture Problem with Plextor M402U-A/V

[frank-l]

I'm running Vidio Studio 10 Evaluation Version. I have a Plextor M402U-A/V Capture Encoder attached and working with WinDVD Creator 2. I have a stable camera source as test input.
When I select the Capture Tab I get a still frame of the camera image in the prevue pain. Under Information the M402U is correctly shown as the capture device.
If I click on Capture Video I get an error message "Failed to build capture graph" and the prevue pain goes black.
If I select Options,Video & Audio Capture Settings the settings are correct, but when I click OK I get an "Ulead Video Studio 10.0: vstudio.dat-Application Error" It shows "Instruction at 0x0f270509 refrences memory at 0x00000020 Cannot write to memory" OK causes the program to shut down.
Sooo, what is happening?

[htchien]

The capture driver seems not compatible with UVS. You might need to capture with WinDVD Creator and then import the captured video into UVS to edit. As I know, Plextor capture driver is very picky on softwares.

Regards,
H.T.

[raygo]

I have the same unit.
UVS 8SE is the only version you can use to CAPTURE with the Plextor encoder. You cannot capture with the encoder using UVS 9 or 10..

I have been using Ulead 9 and just recently 10 with my Panasonic minidv camera for some time now.

Few weeks ago I wanted to capture from my vcr and it would not work right.
Then I remembered the above..

Just use Windvd creator to capture your video, save your video files on your hard drive, then open up new project with Ulead 10 and import your recently captured video files.
At this point you can use any version of UVS to do your editing etc.

[grandoak]

The same still holds true for UVS11. UVS9 would not even recognize my Plextor device, but UVS11 starts to record with plyback, then just playbock stops. Record counter still runs, but when the tape stops and I stop the capture, I get a dialog claiming the file is corrupt and will be deleted.

I've only been able to capture with UVS8 SE, which I believe came with the device.

It is a big disappointment to see that backward compatability does not appear to be maintained with the UVS product line. I can see dropping legacy support after a time for a device that has been discontinued, but Plextor only recently announced an end of life for the M402U. Also, UVS 8SE was/is able to support the capture, but all subsequent release seem to have digressed in their ability to support it. Very disappointing to say the least, and is raising some serious questions for me as a SW engineer on the UVS product line.

[Ken Berry]

Some hardware companies tweak software made by other manufacturers so that it will work with their hardware. It is highly likely this is the case with Plextor and VS8 SE. The hardware companies will not share their tweaks with the software companies for proprietary reasons, so the software companies cannot really be blamed for the failure of their newer software to work with specific hardware.

After what must sound like an apologia for Ulead/Corel, I have to add that whatever the case may have been with VS9 or 10, VS11 in any case contains a reported bug which will not allow it to capture from *any* device -- be it DV video camera being used as a passthrough, a Sony Digital 8 video camera playing back analogue tape, or DV capture devices such as the Plextor -- which are connected via firewire and trying to capture analogue source material. Just won't happen. Nada. Zilch. We all get much the same message as you have now received. It was caused when Corel decided to change the capture plug-ins which happily worked this way with previous versions, with a new single plug-in which simply won't capture analogue source material.

Corel claims to be working on a fix, but they have known about the problem now since VS11 hit the market about 6 months ago...

So in any case, to use the Plextor, you are doubly damned. Mind you, many of us here don't use any version of VS for capture of DV material. A lot of us, for instance, use a tiny but excellent freeware program called WinDV for that, then open the captured video in VS for editing. In that sense, it is really no different from your having to use VS8 with the Plextor.

[grandoak]

VS11 in any case contains a reported bug which will not allow it to capture from *any* device -- be it DV video camera being used as a passthrough, a Sony Digital 8 video camera playing back analogue tape, or DV capture devices such as the Plextor -- which are connected via firewire and trying to capture analogue source material. Just won't happen. Nada. Zilch. Corel claims to be working on a fix, but they have known about the problem now since VS11 hit the market about 6 months ago...

This is most unfortunate to hear as I bought UVS 11 to try an capitalize upon the new/enhanced features while expecting to use those from pervious versions. Sounds like an errata is in order then, but that of course might reduce sales volume. But then again, ticking off your existing customer base certainly does not sound like a sound marketing plan to increase future sales. Looks to me like Corel still has not learned from it's past, at least from my perspective from when I used to be a Draw customer.

A lot of us, for instance, use a tiny but excellent freeware program called WinDV for that, then open the captured video in VS for editing. In that sense, it is really no different from your having to use VS8 with the Plextor.

WinDV seems fine for 1394 capture devices, but how about something for USB (which is what my M402U uses)?

[sjj1805]

Have you updated this link?
Urgent Request from Corel for Information: VS11

[Keevin]

Okay - I just went through a problem in UVS 8 SE that I thought upgrading to UVS 11+ might solve, and ran into what this thread is about - my Plextor PX-M402U is not recognized, and reading this thread, I see it is a known problem. What a jungle - Vista, UVS, Plextor - if the problem is in one place, it's in another.

But I understand, don't use UVS for capturing - only go to it for editing. For that DMF used to be better for authoring...