Lost first second of video capture.

[nkaba2]

When I click capture video, the tape starts rolling and I hear the sound, then there is a short ( maybe 1 second) cut out and then the sound and video continue. When I go to edit, only the part after the cut out is captured. While the missing part is short it is sometimes important. Why is this happening and is there a way to avoid it?
This was happening in Video Studio Ult 2020, when I called Customer support the agent said that version is not supported any more and I need to upgrade, and to let her know if the issue still exists in the new version so she can forward it to support. I upgraded to the 2023 version, same issue, I let her know, she responded that she did forward the email to support, 5 days later I am still waiting. So I am looking for help here.

System specs:
Ryzen 5 1600.
16 GB memory
AMD Radeon 580 with 8 GB ram
Capturing from Sony DCR TRV 103

Thanks.

[lata]

You are using a Sony DCR TRV 103 that is a mini DV type.
Are you connecting to the pc using Firewire (i-Link) IEEE1394
The first sounds you hear from the camera I assume is the Pre Roll effect that these cameras have, I believe the duration can be set from the cameras menu.

Is there any reason why you cannot rewind the tape to start capture a little earlier?

When i captured from my Mini DV camera I always played or set the tape to the starting point, then left the camera Paused not Stopped, this seemed to overcome the pre-roll.

[nkaba2]

Thanks for the reply,
DCR TRV 103 is a Hi8/Digital8 camcorder, tapes are digital 8.

The connection to the pc is Firewire.

The sounds are not coming from the camera. The video seems to start as soon as I press the Capture video button, then it cuts out and resumes, The capture timer stays at 0.00 and starts up after the cut out with a readout 0f about 0.00.04.000 so it seems that it is actually missing the first 4 seconds of tape. I have a short video clip of about 37MB, but the board doesn't allow attachments with MP4 ext.

Even if I pause the camera, the same thing happens when it starts up again.

[nkaba2]

Just noticed that .zip files are accepted, so here is the video clip

[lata]

Hi
Confused..... Ignore this reply....
I assumed that the camera would record to Dv.avi given that it is a DV camcorder having DV In - Out terminals
You say connected via firewire should give the option to capture to DV
The format would be Standard Video not HD.
The video clip you provided is Mpeg4 which as far as i can tell the camcorder would not support, with a frame size HD 1080 x 1920 is in portrait, the frame rate is not standard and indicates being a variable rate something that the camera would not support.
As i say confused, unless you have simply uploaded the wrong video file?

Are you capturing footage that was recorded by the camera or using the camera as Passthrough aka Throughput, where we connect an analogue device to AV In, connecting DV Out to the computer.
effectively using the camera as a AV / DV converter, should the camera support that option.

[lata]

Apologies, i was expecting the video to be one of your captured video files, I understand now

Yes I am aware of the shore delay pause in capture as the camera goes through a pre-roll
Are you able to control the camera from the navigation buttons below the preview screen

Are you able to set the camera to Play, then Pause, you should now be able to press Home button to rewind the tape.
Now choose Capture whilst the camera is Paused.

There is an app called Win DV this can be used to transfer footage from Mini DV to the computer
http://windv.mourek.cz/
Once you have transferred the footage as .avi, those files can be inserted to VS timelines to continue editing

If the problem continues then its a problem with the tape.
You could remove the tape then try manually rewinding towards the leading edge of the tape.
You will have to press a little square button to allow you to rewind.
However you may still have issues if the time code cannot be read at the start of the tape.

All new tapes should have had a timecode embedded to the tape before using to record video.

[nkaba2]

Thanks for replying.
In capture mode all buttons are greyed out and the only option is to stop capture. So I can roll the tape back and forth all I want if I am previewing the tape, but as soon as I click capture, there is that pause and the capture starts, If I was starting capture in the , say, middle of the tape then it is not an issue, I can start capture a little early then trim the unwanted part, but since I am at the very beginning of the tape then there is that lost part.
I don't think the issue is with the camera or the tape (I've captured 22 with the same issue.)
As you can see in the video clip I attached earlier, when I click capture, the tape starts to roll with sound, then there is a short preview freeze ( but the tape keeps rolling), when the capture actually starts we are at 04.000 seconds, it is a very vexing problem, and I cant figure out why it is happening.
I will try the Win DV app and report here what happens.

[nkaba2]

Downloaded Win DV and tried it, works perfectly. Amazing that a free app can do better than the paid software. Go figure.

[nkaba2]

It seems that a good work around would be to capture the first scene of each tape with Win DV then add it to the VS capture, a bit clunky but seems to be the only solution unless the Tech support crew or this forum can find a fix.

[Ken Berry]

If you can capture using WinDV, why would you bother using such a workaround? Capturing to DV/AVI format will take exactly the same time as using VS: capturing one hour of video will take one hour using either WinDV or VS. If you use WinDV, you will then have the entire video on your computer, and you can then simply insert the whole capture into the VS timeline for editing and sharing.

[nkaba2]

Because I already have the tapes captured to the computer and the only part missing is the first 4 seconds.