VS6 Basic unable to capture

sumujumdar · Post by **sumujumdar** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:55 pm

Hey all,
I am using VS 6 Basic (came bundled with IEEE card) to capture video from a samsung camcorder. this had worked before, but i dont know what i screwed up, because it does not work now. i try to capture in DV format, it captures only one frame and freezes. i get an error messsage "Catastrophic error . Captured file is corrupt and will be automatically deleted." The MPEG format is also not working : complains about the wrong bit rate and frame size. However, i am unable to change the frame size as i dont get that option in the edit menus. system details : free disk space about 6 gigs, 256 mb ram, using IEEE card, version VS6 Basic.
Thanx, SM.

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:14 am

You left out which operating system you have, but if it's Windows 2000 or later, make sure the OS didn't install a IEEE 1394 Network Bridge. Also, if you have XP SP2, disable the firewall for the IEEE 1394 network adapter if it is listed.

kebrinton · Post by **kebrinton** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 1:39 am

You might want to consider having more than 6GB free HD space, when planning work with video.

You'll need 13GB for one hour of captured video in .AVI format, and even if you follow jchunter's example and capture in .MPEG2 format (not recommended if you don't have a fast new computer), you'd need 4GB for an hour of video. That would fit, but you'd be short of space for editing and creating new files, etc.

sumujumdar · Post by **sumujumdar** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:39 am

thanx guys.

how do i find out whether the OS installed the network bridge? (sorry if its a stupid question). this sounds promising, since i had indeed reinstalled win2k recently. i did not know this would matter.

about the disk space, i only want aboput 5- 10 minutes of DV transferred.
thanx, SM.

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:02 am

Check in Settings -> Network Connections. If there is a IEEE 1394 Network Adapter or Bridge shown, delete it unless you are planning on connecting two PCs using FireWire to build a small LAN.

sumujumdar · Post by **sumujumdar** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 4:08 am

checked it out...no ieee bridge found. here's more data for you experts.

i uninstalled all VS files, directories and components, and reinstalled then afresh. no use.

i had reinstalled win2k recently, and did not do any windows updates (none at all). i am now having the basic win2k that came with my laptop. is that a problem???

more symptoms :

1. when i try to capture in DV format : it captures only one frame, freezes and says "Catastrophic failure : The captured file cannot be inserted into the timeline. The file may be corrupt? Do you want to delete this file?" ( Wouldn't anybody?)
The only Capture options I have is "capture to library". does not matter what i choose.

2. when i try to capture in MPEG format : it does not capture, immediately complains : "The capture video bit rate is 1500. the frame size is 720 X 480. In the frame size, video bit rate should be in 1775 and 9943. Capturing failed. The file created will be corrupt and unusable. It will be automatically deleted.
I then go to Capture Options: MPEG Options: Change the video bit rate to 1775or more. Then it captures only one frame, freezes and complains : " File format mismatch. The captured file cannot be inserted into the timeline. The file may be corrupt? Do you want to delete this file?"
Here's something interesting : I go to Capture Options:MPEG Options: I change the Performance field from 2 to 1. The options are from 1 to 15. (1 is fast and 15 is slow.) I hit Capture, and it DOES START capturing frames (more than one). But the preview window shows all broken frames, not a continuous movie, as if the capture is too fast for the computer.

exasperation setting in.
any ideas?
thanx, SM.

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 4:36 am

Let's try another application that can capture DV just so we can rule out UVS -- download WinDV and see if that works with your setup.

sumujumdar · Post by **sumujumdar** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:40 am

hey there...i tried using WinDV...same issue!!! it makes one avi file only which is 299 KB, and consists of only the first frame. so this is happening regardless of the software. bad news? any further suggestions?

SM.

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 7:32 am

At least we can rule out UVS and its capture drivers.

When you go into Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager, are there any red X's or yellow exclamation marks next to any of the devices? If the driver for your card allows you to configure the FireWire bus speed, what is it set to? Have you checked with the vendor to see if new drivers are available?

sumujumdar · Post by **sumujumdar** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:56 am

no red or yellow marks in front of any of the devices....

i checked out the drivers status...it uses the drivers provided by Microsoft (1394.inf)...i asked the device manager to search for updated drivers through the Microsoft updates website, did not find any. the card itself did not come with any driver CD etc, so I guess one was always expected to use the default Microsoft provided driver.

this is a Cicero Card...manufactured by texas instruments...

SM.

sumujumdar · Post by **sumujumdar** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:59 am

sorry, continuing further...

i did not find any configuration choices while updating/reinstalling the driver. i don't know what speed it has ( i know its capable of 400 mbps, so says the manual).

i shall contact the vendor about this, but i checked out their website...no mention of any updated drivers for this product.( i don't know if they ever provide drivers anyway.)

meanwhile, any more ideas/brainwaves are most welcome at this juncture.

SM.

rwindeyer · Post by **rwindeyer** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:15 pm

May not be any help, but is it worth looking at the other end of the system? Can you successfully capture from another tape??

sumujumdar · Post by **sumujumdar** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:45 pm

I cannot capture from any of the tapes. I tried the IEEE card and VS6 software on my friend's laptop. It worked fine.

Does that mean this discussion is outside of the VS forum? Maybe, but if you experts can still suggest something, it will be great. I don't know if this is of any help but I have recently installed SUSE linux 9 on my laptop, making it a dual boot with win2k and linux. (Since then I have some trouble with the touchpad.) Maybe that's connected?

Any ideas? Are there any crucial DLL files that are required, which I might have lost somehow?

SM.