Blocky Video Capture

[bevgary]

For some reason my Videostudio 10 Plus is playing up when i capture directly from my Camcorder to DVD (MPEG2 format). The output is blocky when played back. It is fine when capturing in MP4 or DV.
It never used to do this so I am wondering whether the Capture Plug in is corrupt. Is there a way of checking this. I have reloaded VS10 but it made no difference.

[Ron P.]

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.

Are you capturing / transferring DV to MPEG2 via Firewire? If so your PC may not able to handle the encoding on the fly.

[bevgary]

I am transferring via Firewire. It used to work. I can also capture using Nero Vision to MPEG2 with no problems. I can only assume that the Capture PlugIn is corrupt.

I was having a few problems with codecs a few weeks ago and I think it may be related. Is there a way I can just reinstall the PlugIn? I tried reloading the package but it made no difference.

I did wonder whether it was contention with Nero but I have had both on the PC for sometime. The only other thing I can think of is that it either something to do with me loading WMP11 or one of the Nero Upgrades.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Happy New Year!

[Ron P.]

You have been able to do this before, and now it falls over? That would seem to indicate a change has caused it.

I also have WMP 11, and use Firewire to transfer video. I can transfer to MPEG2 also. I do not have Nero. However I've never read where Nero interferes with the capturing or transfer process, just that the packet writing software will hijack the burner.

Looking at your system specs 512Mb of RAM is workable, but on the light side when working with video. It just means that things will be slower, and it will need to use the swap file more often. Then if the only HDD you have is 60 GIG, you may find you run out of room real quick. With that small HDD, I certainly would not try capturing to DV. If you have very many programs installed, then you are down to where there is no space for the program to work, the Temp Files it creates need space in addition to the actual video clips.

If you were able to successfully transfer to MPEG2 before, then dependent on how long ago and what all you have changed since, you might try a System Restore to a point where you didn't have the problem. If not, then try uninstalling WMP11, and see if that corrects it. If not, go after Nero. If neither corrects it then I think I would look into getting more RAM, and a second HDD. I used to run with just one HDD (200 gig) and 512 Mb RAM. It seemed to take forever to get any editing done. Then I purchased a second HDD, and 512 Mb more RAM. It makes a world of difference, especially with a hardware profile set just for editing.

You might want to review Steve's tutorial on Creating a Video Editing Profile.

[bevgary]

Thanks for the tips. I will do some experimenting!

[Ken Berry]

My ears pricked up when I heard mention of a problem with codecs. Often, people with such problems install a mega codec pack. And this usually just compounds the problems. We had a couple of people here in the past two weeks who did this and reported problems similar to yours. They deleted the codec pack and found that VS worked properly again.

That being said, I assume you realise it is much better, safer and a greater guarantee of good editing and final product, to capture in DV rather than mpeg-2 -- particularly if you plan to edit the mpeg-2 heavily.

[bevgary]

Thanks Ken. I did actually load the KLite pack at some point to overcome an audio problem in WMP11 (it could not play Dolby on DVD's). I will try the deinstall approach.

I agree with what you say about videoediting in DV, unfortunately human nature results in my lack of patience of rendering at the end of the process!

Keep up the good work. Your help is always valued!

Gary