DV capture probs

[Flying dutchman]

I am now the happy (?) owner of a firewire card. It is a Dawicontrol PCI-1394 OHCI compatible card with Texas Instruments chipset, and comes with VideoStudio 5 LE.

Unfortunately the VideoStudio is crippled, it won't create SVCDs or mpeg-2's so it's perfectly useless to me. The only good thing of the program is that it does batch capturing, but that appears to be useless too, given the fact that VirtualDub etc. don't know how to handle the audio in type-1 DV Avis.

I now try to capture using Avi_IO (3.19) , but the resulting type-2 Avi's are behaving funny. They run at double speed and somehow the audio is messed up (I hear high-pitched beeps every few seconds). I can't seem to get it going properly.

I use Windows 2000 with DirectX 8.0A and the latest DV update. Any hints/tips ? Or does anybody know of a batch conversion program that converts Type-1 to Type-2 Avis?

[Flying dutchman]

It is getting funnier and funnier.

Type-1 AVI's play well without any disturbances, the sound is perfectly OK. But as soon as I convert them into anything else in VideoStudio (e.g. Picvideo MJPG with 44.1 KHz PCM audio) the new clips also contain those intermittent beeps (every 3 seconds).
What the ##+?ß"§$% can be wrong here?

[Karlson]

I would recomend to use another Capture program for DV, I personally think Scenalyzer (shareware) is the best. It will capture batch, also.

If you are interested in the September version, which is for
some reason more interesting than the November version,
send me an email ánd I look where I have it.

With this capture program, I have no problems reading in
and writing DV data.

[Dr Mordrid]

Scenealyzer or MSPro 6.5, whose capture program is VERY DV oriented to the point of doing segmented capture, OpenDML long captures, scene detection and even some combinations of the above.

Dr. Mordrid

[Patrick]

If you want to be able to change Type-1 DV to Type-2 DV (or the other way around), go to the Pure Motion site and download DV Type Convertor. It's free and it's fast. What more could you ask for?

Just in case it helps, why not download and install DirectX 8.1 also?

[Flying dutchman]

I'm getting pretty desperate now. DirectX 8.1 didn't help. Neither did using Windows 98SE instead of 2000. Inserting my DV capture card into another PC also gave the same catastrophic result.

The weird thing is, the type-1 AVI's play correctly with undistorted audio. Only as soon as I convert them into anything else (using video studio 5) do I get this intermittent "morse-beeping" every 3 seconds in the audio stream. It is unimportant whether I select AVI, MPG or MP2 audio as export format- it beeps exactly every 3 seconds.

Recording type-2 AVI directly in Avi_IO? Morsecode also.

Now for the really crazy part: If I set the camera switch to "record" instead of "playback", it behaves flawlessly. The audio gets recorded OK and I can convert the camera image into any format I want with correct audio. Only if I playback my tapes do I get this beeping. I am under the impression that it's some kind of time-code data in the DV signal that's screwing things up. Either the camera is sending something that violates the DV protocol, or the capture card or codecs have a bug. My camera is a PAL Canon MV30 (a.k.a. Elura), by the way.

Boy, do I need help.

[Dr Mordrid]

Beeping in a DV file is almost always a sign of either a dropout (missing data due to bad tape or bad transfer) or a throughput problem during the playback.

Dropouts can even be caused on a good tape by a cell phone being too close to the video hardware. Cams, cables and decks are not exactly known for their extensive shielding

Throughput problems are most often seen when you have a bus contention or drive speed issue. This could be a bus hogging card (SBLive etc.), VIA chipset issues or any number of other things including the CD drive checking for an inserted disk (which happens every few seconds) or even a scheduling program.

As far as the "OK" type 1 files go; the beeps may be there, but their levels might be below the perception threshold. Manipulating the file can sometimes enhance them, making their levels fall into the audible range. Seen it before....

Dr. Mordrid

[Flying dutchman]

As for bus problems, I checked the card in two different PC's. I tend to agree with you that the data get corrupted somehow. I called the manufacturer of the firewire card and he promised to swap it for another one. They give 5 years full warranty, by the way (www.dawicontrol.de). The PCI bus width of my computer is "unlimited", by the way, it still amazes me...

I only hope it's not the camera, its warranty period is over...

[Flying dutchman]

@Patrick:

PureMotion's DV type converter is no longer available on their site. Since you say it is/was a freeware utility, could you by any change mail it to me (arthur.hoornweg(at)wanadoo.nl)? Only if it's legal and not too much of a hassle, of course.

[Patrick]

Try this first...

Arthur, I believe that DV Type Convertor is still available if you download the trial version of EditStudio.

http://www.puremotion.com/editstudio/manual/plugins/tools/dvtypeconvertor/index.htm

It's included in the package and it's functional whether or not you decide to register the EditStudio program.

http://www.puremotion.com/downloads/index.htm

If you have any problems, let me know and I'll see about emailing this program to you.