Trial Ver. video capture getting green-red pixel distortion

[drywash]

I just installed the Trial version and connected my JVC camcorder through firewire. Ulead MovieMaker received the picture and sound yet it kept on getting some sort of static / green-red pixel distortion throughout the capture process. The video on the camcorder itself has no such distortion and plays fine. I have cleaned my connections with an air duster yet I have no idea what is causing this. Can anyone give me some advice here?

You can see example of video at:
http://209.185.182.201/ulead/
click on test1video.mpg and see the static which MovieMaker seemed to create.

Thanks,

-David

[heinz-oz]

What are your project settings, video standard, system spec's?

[heinz-oz]

I had a look at your sample video. That's bad but does not have anything to do with the editor program.

IMHO, there is a hardware issue at work here. Did you try to capture to AVI? There may also be a faulty cable at work or some static.

[drywash]

MPEG files
24 Bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
(DVD-NTSC), 4:3
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 7000 kbps)
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)

[Greg]

Looks like dropped frames to me. A question, why capture to MPEG thru firewire? Doing it this way, you PC needs to compress video in essentially DV format to MPEG format on the fly. If the PC cannot convert fast enough, ie data is coming in the firewire port faster than it can write to the hard drive, incoming data will be buffered. If the buffer gets full, the only way to continue is to drop frames to attempt to 'catch up'. Try capturing to DV avi rather.

Regards,
Greg

[drywash]

When I run DVD MovieFactory 4 (trial ver.). I click on create Video DVD and then on DVD-Video or DVD+VR. Then I click on the icon in the bottom left (on mouse over it says: "Settings & Options") and then choose Preferences. I do not see how or where to change my settings from MPEG to AVI.. How and where can I do that?

I also tried to click on the icon at the bottom which said Project Settings (Alt-J) and could not find any way to do it there either.

Thanks,

-David

[heinz-oz]

DVD MovieFactory is not a NLE program, it's a DVD authoring program if I'm not totally mistaken. I use version 3 'Disk creator, but only to author my videos (DV AVI - edited and converted to mpeg2 in MediaStudioPro 7.3) to DVD. Never captured with it.

If I find the time tonight, I'll check the setting menu to see what options you should have.

[Greg]

Try downloading the trial for Media Studio, and capture with that, into a DV format. This won't solve the problem, but may help pinpoint the cause.

Regards,
Greg

[drywash]

I just installed and ran Media Studio and ran a caputure. I clicked on the icon at the top which shows a window with a camera (capture property setting). It is set to "DV type-1" (also tried type-2). Is type-1 an .avi file?

I seem to be getting a bit less distortion / pixel noise on my SGI lcd display (not much less) yet it is still there. I have even gotten a 2nd new NXG Technology IEEE 1394 firewire 4pin to 6pin cable. That did not help. What could be the issue here?

Thanks,

-David

[heinz-oz]

Both are AVI files, the main diff between the two is type 1 has the audio embedded in the data stream and type 2 has it separate. As a rule I only capture type 1.

You mentioned LCD display? Did you try another monitor, a CRT one? I would not use an LCD for my video work because of the slow refresh rates.

[drywash]

I'm using a Silicone Graphics 1600SW LCD display. It's supposed to be pretty good for video playback.
http://www.sgi.com/pdfs/2348.pdf

I guess I will see if I can try out another monitor somehow.

-David

[drywash]

What is the pixel response time of the 1600SW?
The total rise/fall time of the 1600SW pixels is 40 ms. Rise time is 13 ms and fall time is 27 ms.

What are the vertical and horizontal frequencies?
The vertical frequency is 60 Hz. The horizontal frequency is 63.84 kHz.

What is the pixel frequency?
The pixel frequency clock rate is 53.5 MHz.

http://www.sgi.com/products/legacy/1600sw_faq/tech.html

-David