Capturing DV Type-1 or 2 from DV Camcorder

[bunclark]

PLEASE HELP

Video Studio 10 says "The maximum captured file size per video file is 4 GB in Windows operating systems that use the FAT 32 partition file system. In Windows XP which can use the NTFS file system, there is no limit in the captured file size."

I have changed my hard drive I use for captureing to NTFS , but unfortuneatly, after waiting another 90 minutes while running my DV Camcrder to Capture, I have still ended up with 5 seperate files of 4 GB maximum

How can I Capture to end up with one large file? Do I need to change a setting in VS10 or in my Disc Properties?

Thanks in anticipation.

Regards JB

[Ron P.]

You mentioned that you changed the drive you capture to, however is your OS using NTFS also? This might be causing the limitation.

Please complete your System Information in your profile. Clicking on this button --> will take you to a short tutorial, explaining how to find and complete that information. This way it will always be available, and will save you from retyping it in the future.

[bunclark]

Thanks to you vidoman and sjj1805

I'll try and reduce the size of my mug later after Church.

I've done the profile, but can't get the Motherboard detaild or identifie if OS is using NTFS.

Maybe you can supply more info?

THANKS in anticiparion. Regards JB

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi
Your OP is usually installed on the C:drive.


Double click My Computer on the desktop.

Righy click the C: drive

Select properties.

I see NTFS as the file system.

Trevor

merry Xmas

[bunclark]

Hi Trevor,

THANKS and Merry Christmas 2U2.

Yes, My C: Drive was NTFS, factory installed on the Laptop.

I got myself 2 x 320GB Seagate External Hard Drives (one to Capture to and the other to save Projects). They were originally Fat32 till I read about the so called benifits of NTFS. So I Formated them and they became NTFS - But as you know, they don't accept continuious Capture to a single file over 4GB as the book says

Was changeing to NTFS by Formating to easy and wrong?

Thanks again.

Regards JB

[Ron P.]

JB,

There have been some users that have problems capturing to external HDDs. One problem being the USB connection, however I think some have also had problems with Firewire External HDDs. If you are capturing using Firewire from your DV cam, then it is merely transferring data, not capturing in the true sense, so I'm a little perplexed as to why your system is splitting the files. This is generally a limitation of the file system or can be a limitation imposed by capturing software. VS does not impose a file limit on DV transfers. Most of the time I capture/transfer from my DV cam, 1 hour of video, in DV format which always produces around a 13 gig file, but I don't use external HDDs (yet).

Another possibility is the recorded video. Is the video clip one continuous stream, or does it contain several points where the camera has been turned off and on, and there are blank areas between? I have read where this might be affecting the capture, where each new (start point) is read as a split or new file. It's a wildshot but might be???

[bunclark]

Vidoman,

I¡¦m very appreciative of your patience on this matter.

(1) External HDDs are USB
(2) DV Cam Capture is Firewire
(3) Recording is 90 minutes non stop

(a) Could it be the long play 90 minutes that¡¦s the problem?
(b) Or is it that I got NTFS by Formatting instead of the Mind Boggling suggested procedure in links:

Windows Product Activation (WPA)
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm]

and

CONVERTING FAT32 to NTFS
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm]

JB

[Ron P.]

I'm unsure about the HDDs being USB, if that could be the problem, however I really doubt that it is. The 90 min non-stop videos, nope can not cause the splitting.

Now as for how your NTSF HDD was setup, it may. Referring to this article :
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm. It must be important to get the partition(s) realigned for NTSF. Since not doing so before converting from FAT to NTSF can cause NTSF not to find the clusters not aligned to the 4KB boundries.

Now what is confusing to me, is that you formatted the disk, so that should have wiped out everything on the disk, and started it new, but formatting does not overwrite the entire disc. All formatting does especially with FAT, is to delete the Tables, or markers to everything. You see on your HDD, in FAT you have 1). The MBR (Master Boot Record), which spells out where everything is located, including the OS, so that your system can start up. 2). Then once it starts booting up, it needs the FAT (File Allocation Tables) to tell it where all the files are, among a myriad of other things.

Since you Re-Formatted your HDD, did you do a "quick format" or a complete format? The quick format just erases the pointers, indexes to all the files on the drive.

[bunclark]

GOOD NEWS - My Canon MV770i Broke (the one that would only capture to 4GB in NTFS)
BETTER NEWS - It still had 1 month Guarantee
So the lovely people at John Lewis store gave me a lone Camcorder
EVEN BETTER NEWS - The JVC GR-DX25EX when run to Captured my 90 minutes, did it in one take - 1 file about 20 GB, just what I wanted.

Now Is there anything to be learned for others here?
(1) When my Canon comes back, will it do what I want?
(2) Or is it a fact that some manufacturers don't do it in 1 file?
(3) And, Most important, will my desired purchase of The Sony HDR-HC3 High Def allow capture to one large file?

Thanks for all your help. I do hope others have got something out of this.

God bless you all.

Regards JB

[rhondelon]

I recently had a huge video capture problem using my NTFS / DMA Mode 5 160gb WD Caviar. I added an old 80 gb hard drive for archive / temporary storage so as to not have to recapture cause DL DVD's aren't cheap and AVI's aren't small (catch breath). So anyway, couldn't figure out what the problem was, talked with my brother who builds computers as I do and he suggested forgoing any type of external drive except for backup. He told me to get a 250gb+ Sata and a brother to sit next to it.

I started thinking about the impact all of this would have on my wallet and found this nice little link describing a known 'flaw' in the self preservation code of Windows 2k/XP. Apparently a drive on startup that loads as DMA5 will, as 6+ errors in a row are produced, revert to earlier DMA modes (DMA4, 3, 2, 1) until it enters PIO mode (ugly ultra slow around 2mb per minute it feels like).

Here is the link to the article and a nice VB script to place on your desktop
http://winhlp.com/WxDMA.htm

Okay, now for the video capture problem, it stemmed from moving 30 to 50 gb worth of video files from one drive to another. Being somewhat older drives (1 and 2 years old) they are going to have errors when you move nearly half the drive back and forth. This is what caused Windows XP to force PIO mode on both drives. However, once this script is run, refreshing the hardware fixes the DMA mode and viola, I can capture video again and full HDD speed.

I'm not real good at putting this stuff in plain english but perhaps this might help some of those who are having intermittent video capture problems. What I saw in a post somewhere was, "Step away from the camera and focus on what isn't performing". Chances are, the video camera is fine, the video card is fine (no moving parts) and the CPU is fine (otherwise you wouldn't be reading this) it's the movement of the data that is the problem.

USB Drives - Other than thumb drives, keyboards and mice, USB is the devil. It's use of timesclices and lack of efficiency is why we use Firewire for transferring 'live' video feeds. However, putting a Firewire HDD still requires that the CPU process the signal coming in and going out unless you have the not often found Direct to HDD mode on your Firewire card. Once captured, throw it on a USB drive if ya want, then bring it back when you need to use it.

This is my unprofessional opinion - use at your own risk.

Brian