Please Help - Videostuio will not recognize my camcorder

[parrotzbay]

Hello,

I've been having this problem ever since I installed Ulead Videostudio 7.0 over two years ago. I paid good money for it, and it has never worked for me-

I'm running a 3.4 ghz PC with a gig of ram along with Windows XP

EVERY time I try to connect my Sony TRV30 camcorder- Ulead studio will not recognize it. When I select the Capture tab- the only option I get is Conexant Capture, which is a t.v. tuner.

I am frustrated beyond belief. I've tried searching forums for the answer, but haven't had any luck.

The thing that makes me the angriest is when I turn the camera on (select VCR mode) the comp. makes a noise and I get the option of using the camera with several programs (ulead included), but Ulead usually freezes when I try to work with it. It just will NOT work. I know the compouter recognizes the camera or I wouldn't get the list of programs/options.

I have tried EVERYTHING I know- read Uleads help manual several,several times, tried every single thing I can and it just will not work. I have hundreds of hours of family videos that are basically useless as I cannot capture them.

I even downloaded Ulead videostudio version 11 today and still no luck- it just won't recognize the camera.

I would be so appreciative if someone could tell me what I'm doing wrong. In my opinion this shouldn't happen, I've paid thousands of dollars for my PC, OS, video software and camcorder and it is unbearably frustrating to not have it work.

When I was using Videostudio 5 with Windows ME, things worked pretty good- I don't see why I'm taking a step backwards after paying all of that money.

Don't mean to rant, so I'll shut up.

PLEASE help me

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi

and welcome to the forum, if you have been having problems for two years, what kept you?

You do not say how you are connecting your camera to the pc.

i did a search and your camera is a Mini-Dv type with Dv 'in and out'

Are you using this connection.

You should be connecting using a Firewire card.

The firewire cable has to be purchased separately. It is not normally part of the camera kit.

So how are you connecting the camera?

[etech6355]

When I was using Videostudio 5 with Windows ME, things worked pretty good- I don't see why I'm taking a step backwards after paying all of that money.

I would assume if VS_5 worked you must have been capturing via firewire.
The Conexant Capture sounds like the ATI capture card which uses a different Capture Plugin"
So to capture firewire in VS7 I think you goto "Tools -> Change Capture Plugin" and select the Ulead DirectShow Plugin". VS7 is defaulting to it's Mpeg capture plugin to capture from the Conexant chipset TV card.
Try that.

[parrotzbay]

Hey Guys,

Thanks so much for trying to help out.

I'm connecting via Firewire and my computer recognizes the camera,

However Ulead 7 does not.

I've tried the File->Change Capture Plug-in->Ulead DirectShow , but it already appears to have been selected. Selected the Mpeg,and Windows Media Plugins doesn't work as well.

I've also tried: File->Select Device Control->MS 1394 , but I get "unable to open the specified device- check to see if your device machine is ready"

Like I said in my first post, I was using this camera just fine with Ulead 5 for many years. I upgraded to Ulead 7 a couple of years ago and it's all been downhill since. When I upgraded Version 7 required too much memory and my old computer would crash- then I got a new computer last year and Installed Version 7 but have yet to use it for any capturing.

Also, in version 5 I could crop videos and do a bunch of other stuff and in version 7 many effects/filters seemed to have dissapeared. I'm sure I'm wrong but I haven't been able to see one single thing better about Version 7 than Version 5.

I waited 2 yrs. to ask for help because I thought at some point I would eventually figure it out. I even downloaded the drivers for my Sony Cam a couple weeks ago thinking I just needed them updated to work with XP and that didn't work either. I also thought that in order to get any help (from Ulead) I would have to provide my Ulead registration code and all that stuff- which I have no idea where it is. So I've just kept putting it off and putting it off, but I've finally had enough and am begging for help, on my hands and knees.

I could probably post a short video on youtube (I can transfer mpeg's from my cameras memorystick via USB cable with no problems at all) if that would help diagnose the problem. I could show exactly what I'm doing step by step.

Let me know if you guys have any more ideas, and I sure appreciate the help.

Thanks again:)

[Ken Berry]

If you have XP on your computer, you could first experiment by using Windows Movie Maker and see if you can capture using firewire with that. If you can't, then that suggests there may be a hardware problem involved. This could be a faulty firewire card in your computer, a faulty firewire cable or a fault in the firewire plug in your camera. There is also a tiny freeware program called WinDV which you can download at windv.mourek.cz/ A lot of us here use it. Again, if WinDV has any problem capturing, then it is going to be a hardware problem.

As for finding your registration number, if you registered the program, then you should be able to recover it from the Ulead registered users page by first signing in at http://www.ulead.com/tech/runme.htm . Or if you open the program and press the ? > About VS7 buttons, the serial number will appear below the big Ulead splash screen image...