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Capturing DV from Camera via Firewire
The tech (an AVID tech, as it happens) of an acquaintance told him that DVD capture / Device COntrol IEE1394 from cameras over firewire is frequently unreliable because firewire can’t transfer those data rates effectively.
I”ve had capture problems with Premiere Pro, so I’m curious if anyone else has been able to identify firewire as an unreliable connection type.
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10 Replies
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I don’t know what kind of Tech you spoke to, but that’s baloney. FW is one of the most stable/speed efficient ways of ingesting and transferring data. I guess the cable connections aren’t as robust as SDI or 422 but that’s only becuase they are for broadcast and cannot afford to be yanked out by mistake with a busy Edit/OB setup so they can be ‘screwed’ into their sockets.
USB is not a solid way to work. FW is and has been for a long time, it still remains even in its older 400MB state an extremely stable and consistent cable.Jon Barrie
aJBprods
http://www.jonbarrie.net -
Hmm. Appreciate the response. What i heard from this guy was that the recommended solution for capturing DV didn’t involve usb, but to capture from DV tapes in a deck.
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Capture of DV via Firewire is good. Capturing from decks is best. Cameras can be quirky. IEEE 1394 is not the problem.
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And decks are $5000.
Any suggestions to optimize cameras for capture (mine’s an XL2.) (Pre-striping, of course, but maybe there’s something else.)
That little connection at the camera seems flimsy to me. I’ve been using a cable holder to keep it from wiggling, but I can’t imagine how that little thing establishes a positive connection.
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If you think it’s the cable – try a new one – they do go bad. THe Ports go bad too. The camera should work.
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yeah, tried the cable already – new cable makes no difference.
Not sure how to test the port. Myae by attempting capture while holding it in different positions (there’s a bit of play in the connection.)
The video and audio previews in the capture window; and it scrubs without visible or audible artifacts. I haven’t used the camera capture very much. The port has a tiny bit more play in it than the identical port on my laptop, but not an enorumous amount.
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Can you successfully capture with software other than PPro?
Have a look at this page and hopefully you will spot something you haven’t tried in your troubleshooting.
Cheers
Eddie -
Been to that page, thanks, and tried most of the fixxes. THe computer’s in the shop for a second time having everything reinstalled to try to address this problem, and the rest will be attempted through that troubleshooting.
As to other software, it’s got a matrox card and the matrox ware has a capture function I haven’t tried, because while previewing it won’t display 16×9 with the proper aspect ratio. Can’t try that til the machine is re-re-configured.
There’ve been so many other propblesm with the system that I just figured it was another prblem with the NLE – but lately all other issues are solved with this one lingering on so I’m wondering about camera problems.
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Thankyou all for your comments.
It turns out that Project>settings>Capture>DeviceControlSettings isn’t the complete list of settings one would have every reason to think it is. There’s also Edit>Preferences>Device Control>Devices>Matrox1394DeviceControl>Options> where Drop-Frame or Non-Drop frame is set separately for the Matrox Device Control as opposed to setting that for the entire project. Changed that setting and that appears to have fixed Batch Capture.
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I don’t have one of those but others do. I would hope that the settings you mention are well documented in the Matrox Help.
Cheers
Eddie
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