How to capture video?

[SpywareShooter]

Yesterday I got a Panasonic PV-GS31 video camera. I filmed something last night and I am trying to figure out how to put it on my computer. I have a DV cable and a USB2.0 cable. I can connect them fine but when I go to capture with Windows Movie Maker it says "unknown error" and when I try to capture with WINDVD it gives the regular windows "this program has caused an error and must close" message.

I tried to just open it through My Computer but when I do that it says to make sure the camera is not in use.

How can I import the video to my computer? Do I need to use something like Pinnacle 9? I have it but it's just not installed yet.

[SpywareShooter]

I found out how to capture it from Pinnacle but it never creates the file. I've tried twice and it finishes the capturing process but when I go to find the file it's not there. How do I get it to save the file?

[TheHeartSmasher]

Did you set up the folder in the option's or settings in Pinnacle to save to a folder on your harddrive that you can find easily.

c:\Captured HDV\Nameof whatever you want.

I don't use pinnacle and with the Windows Movie Maker make sure your camcorder is ohci compliant, and you have the Microsoft DV player installed. Without this I had the same problem. I don't even use the stuff that came with my DV camcorder because everytime a used it I got an error so I just uninstalled everything, drivers, software, etc. and everything works fine.

I use Avid DV Pro, Sony Vegas 6, Adobe Premier and Affter Effects.

If it doesn't work with pinnacle download one of adobe or Avids demo's and see if it will let you capture and save files from there.

[SpywareShooter]

Thanks. I tried capturing it to C:\Video\ but it wasn't being created. Where do I get the Microsoft DV Player?

[bothered]

I started with pinnacle 9 yesterday so I'm very new to it but with the video I imported you tell it where to save it, as mentioned above. When you've finished playing with it, click save as and choose a format. It has saved mine like that, then I can open them in media player to view full screen. Once it's saved you can do whatever you want with it. Also, did you upgrade it? There are patches available from http://pinnaclesys.com/docsupport1.asp?division_id=1&langue_id=2&product_id=1501&product_name=Studio%20version%209%20&page_id=987

[TheHeartSmasher]

What version of windows media player do you have and do you have sp2 or even winxp/pro

[SpywareShooter]

I haven't upgraded Pinnacle yet. What do you mean by "When you've finished playing with it, click save as and choose a format."?

President Pain: I have WinXP SP2 Home Edition

[Trumandrummer]

yea yesterday i tried to capture a video from my sony handycam (pluged into USB) with windows movie maker, and it said an error for me to.

[TheHeartSmasher]

One reason you may have gotten an error is because most Video Editing programs(NLE) don't use usb at all only iLink, Firewire, or DVlink (all the same thing)

for format make sure you are importing it as AVI, Mpeg, or Mpeg2, Dvix, HDV. If those programs don't work download ulead video studio it seems to not have that many problems for you new guys in the video editing game. :thumbsup:

[bothered]

I haven't upgraded Pinnacle yet. What do you mean by "When you've finished playing with it, click save as and choose a format."?
I mean you have the video in the album window, top left? Then you drag it down to the timeline and 'mess with it' transitions, audio etc. When you've done click file, save as, pick a format and place to save it.

[SpywareShooter]

President Pain: I have it plugged into a DV Cable (plugs into a firewire port). I tried ripping it in MPEG and AVI but they both had the same result.

Bothered: The video doesn't come up in the album window.

[profdlp]

Do a search for *.avi and *.mpeg, you might want to do *.mpg as well.

This will find all files of those types on your computer. Maybe they're being stashed somewhere weird and you just don't know it and/or can't find them. :)

[TheHeartSmasher]

That might really help good idea. Then download ulead video studio it may help solve all of your problems.

and make sure you have updated all of your windows drivers, installed windows media player 10 and all of the dv encoder plugins :thumbsup:

[bothered]

Bothered: The video doesn't come up in the album window.

I had mine conneted through the Svid cable and it was only in black and white. I used the RCA cable and it's now in colour. I start the VHS, click start capture, click stop capture, then a box pops up saying 'detecting scenes' then a frame from the vid appears in the album window, go to edit mode and I can drag that frame to the timeline and start editing it. I have just burned my first 'test' DVD. I added a menu to scene selection and it works brilliantly. It took about an hour to render and compile the disc at full, 100%, quality but the results are very good, better than the original vid.

[SpywareShooter]

prof: I've tried that but I'll give it another shot.

President Pain: Everything is up to date on Windows and WMP.

Bothered: I don't get a message saying detecting scenes.

[Trumandrummer]

hmmm, see i keep having the same problems, it just wont capture it. but i have a handycam so im thinking if i just put the cd into my cd drive i might be able to take it off the disc because the handycam makes dvds not regular vids, but they have to be finalized in the computer, i think im gonna try that.

[TheHeartSmasher]

Use Ulead and take a screenshot of the error or problem.

[Trumandrummer]

ummmm ill try but im not sure what ulead is but i press print screen and then go to paint and press Ctrl + V to copy the picture then i save it and open it with my picture editor, the prob is the pics always turn out fuzzy. but i think i got a good pic hopefully my photobucket album dont fail while uploading it.

[Trumandrummer]

<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/Trumandrummer/more/error3.bmp" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/Trumandrummer/more/error5.bmp" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> ok there it is ^^^^ its alittle hard to read but as clear as i could make it. i have no clue what a 1394 cable is but i was connected to usb while doing this and my handycam does have a usb driver installed. idk if this is the same error as spyware shooter was getting, but when i tried to capture it with windows movie maker it gave me the same error but only told me "your device isnt connected, make sure it is pluged in correctly and turned on" or something like that.

[primesuspect]

Looks like pinnacle is ONLY looking on the 1394 port for a device (1394 == firewire == iLink == all the same thing). Perhaps it won't support USB video?

[Trumandrummer]

im not sure but why would i get the same error on windows movie maker?

[bothered]

I found out how to capture it from Pinnacle but it never creates the file. I've tried twice and it finishes the capturing process but when I go to find the file it's not there. How do I get it to save the file?
When it is capturing does it show the vid in the preview window?

[SpywareShooter]

No it doesn't but it says under the preview window that it has captured so many minutes of the video, which increases in real time.

[TheHeartSmasher]

Extremely well observation Administrator you are perfectly correct most of the programs don't even think of looking for usb at all none of mine do and they are all top of the line programs.

So get a firewire card, and when you plug your camera in make sure you turn it on and have the firewire cable securely in the Firewire port on your camcorder and computer.

I had to go out and buy a card because I didn't know this at first.

20 to 40 bucks make sure it is ohci compliant before you buy it though because if it is not then it won't let your computer control the camcorder when editing and capturing video.

Go to this website and download Ulead Video Studio.

http://www.ulead.com/vs/trial.htm

you do have to register with them but that is real easy it is to keep track of how many people use their software.

:thumbsup:

[bothered]

No it doesn't but it says under the preview window that it has captured so many minutes of the video, which increases in real time.
Right. Go to 'setup>capture source' and make sure you are capturing from the right device. Also, on the capture 'discometer' (see pic) make sure it is set to the right video input, there is a pop out set of controls on the left. I had the same prob because I'd left it set to svid after I changed the cable to RCA. This is probably why you don't get the capturing frames box.

[TheHeartSmasher]

and if you have video preview on and you don't see any video then there is still a problem use Ulead Video Studio demo it really works, alot easier.

[SpywareShooter]

Thanks, I'm using the Ulead trial now. I'll give the capture a try later and reply if it works or not.

[TheHeartSmasher]

good

[Trumandrummer]

uhhh what is the firewire card? like is it just a program to install or do i actually have to put it on my computer or something?

[SpywareShooter]

I tried it with Ulead but it's still not working. Here's a screenshot. It won't let me select from the "start scan" part.

[TheHeartSmasher]

alright get the manual on your firewire card and tell me if it is OHCI compliant, and if so what type.

and tell me if it IEEE 1394 ilink DV compatible.

If not you have to buy another card.

and for the guy above Firewire card is a card that has firewire ports in the back of it to enable you to capture DV video from camcorders.

[TheHeartSmasher]

and for captureing video you should just be capturing video to a place on your hard drive not using the dvd thing.

[SpywareShooter]

oh... how do I capture it just to the HD? Also this is the stock Firewire card in this OEM computer, so it didn't come with a manual. Will looking it up in System Device Profiles (or whatever it's called) work?

[TheHeartSmasher]

It should tell you what type of firewire card it is, and if you can get me that information I'll try to find out if it is compliant. I hate it when OEMs don't give you the manual to all your stuff that is the same with my computer. Thank god it wasn't the firewire card I bought for $40 bucks at compusa.

[SpywareShooter]

Device Manager shows that my Firewire card is OHCI Compliant.

[profdlp]

It should tell you what type of firewire card it is...
Look in Device Manager under IEEE 1394 Host Controllers. :)

EDIT: Sorry - I shouldn't try to post two messages at the same time... :rolleyes:

Does it say VIA, or something like that before the "OHCI..." stuff?

[bothered]

Thanks, I'm using the Ulead trial now. I'll give the capture a try later and reply if it works or not.
But did you try the setup page and video input in pinnacal?

[TheHeartSmasher]

Ohh man there is a serious problem here. It should be as easy as plug and play, hey wait a minute do you have plug and play enabled.

Goto Control panel then turn on you camcorder after you click on Scanners and Cameras and tell me if your camera appears in the Scanners and Cameras folder.

[SpywareShooter]

Yes, it shows up. It says VIA before 'OHCI Compliant' in Device Manager. What do you mean the setup page in Pinnacle?

[bothered]

I mean if you click setup, capture source, capture format. If you haven't got an image in the preview window you're not capturing.
EDIT, When I had the wrong video input selected the counter in the preview window counted up even though it wasn't capturing anything. I think it's more a timer than a counter.

[TheHeartSmasher]

That is why I don't use low class programs like pinnacle I used to until I found out that it had limitations that would keep me from doing what I wanted to do with my video.

In vegas video if video is not comming from the camcorder then it will stop trying to capture and tell you nothing was captured, and it even stops when frames are dropped, see if there is a trial version of Sony Vegas Video 6, it has more support for more camcorders than pinnacle will ever have, why because it is a professional NLE.

I think your just having one of those crazy windows problems, that is really hard to find out. So lets go through the checklist.

Does WinXP detect the Camera?
If so does the option to capture or play from the camcorder show up in the quick options?
Does Pinnacle and Ulead Video Detect the camcorder?
What type of OHCI compliance is the camcorder?
Did your camcorder come with a Setup CD, if so how old is it?
In the setup screens of the programs did you enable it to capture from ohci compliant device or IEEE 1394, or DV camcorder.
Do you have Microsoft DV encoder/VCR for DV camcorders?
Did you contact Pannasonic, and ask them why the camcorder may not be working?
Did you contact Pinnacle and ask them why it may not be capturing?

[SpywareShooter]

Here is the pic of what is happening in Pinnacle when I try to capture.

Does WinXP detect the Camera?
Yes, it does.

If so does the option to capture or play from the camcorder show up in the quick options?
The option to capture shows up.

Does Pinnacle and Ulead Video Detect the camcorder?
Pinnacle detects "DV Camcorder" and Ulead detects "Panasonic DV Camcorder".

What type of OHCI compliance is the camcorder?
Not sure, how do I find out?

Did your camcorder come with a Setup CD, if so how old is it?
I just got the camera about a week ago and it didn't come with a setup CD.

In the setup screens of the programs did you enable it to capture from ohci compliant device or IEEE 1394, or DV camcorder.
The only option was DV Camcorder.

Do you have Microsoft DV encoder/VCR for DV camcorders?
Not sure, where do I get it?

Did you contact Pannasonic, and ask them why the camcorder may not be working?
Not yet, but I will if I can't figure it out here.

Did you contact Pinnacle and ask them why it may not be capturing?
No, it's not a Pinnacle-Specific problem, it won't capture in Windows Movie Maker or Ulead either.

[profdlp]

Have you checked for software updates from Pinnacle? If the camera is brand new it might be as simple a matter as getting an updated database file so it will properly detect your hardware and its capabilites,

[TheHeartSmasher]

That probably won't help since he said it was not a pinnacle related problem, I think it is the ohci compliance problem. To get the Microsoft DV plugin goto http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/wm7/encoder.aspx

and install everything you can get on the Microsoft DV subject, my programs didn't do anything until I had the program either, how old is your computer and did your windows xp come with service pack 1 or 2

[TheHeartSmasher]

and do you have windows media player 10

[SpywareShooter]

I got the computer in January and it came with SP1. I updated to SP2. Yes, I have WMP 10

[bothered]

Does Pinnacle and Ulead Video Detect the camcorder?
Pinnacle detects "DV Camcorder"

That might be a default option. It's in mine as well and I don't even own one. Can you try any other cables?

[TheHeartSmasher]

Did you plug your firewire cable in the camcorder with the camcorder off and then turn it on to see if that worked in windows movie maker, if it did it should say please connect DV device or something like that, and then when you turn it on it should show something, try turning it on to regular video record mode.

[SpywareShooter]

ok, I'll try it when I get home in about a week.

[SpywareShooter]

This is the closest I've gotten. I tried to capture with Ulead just a few minutes ago. Everything was being recognized, I set it to capture in AVI format to C:\Video\. When I hit 'Capture Video' it gave me an error that said "Cannot build capture graph". What does this mean?

[SpywareShooter]

Sorry to bump but does anyone know a fix?

[SpywareShooter]

I just tried it on my other computer and it's capturing right now! The only problem is that I have the DVD burner on that computer, the compliant hardware on that computer, and the editing software on this computer. Plus the other one is for office work and I don't want to tie it up while I edit a video. So that means I have to use like 4 disks per video.

[profdlp]

First, compare the settings and hardware on the two machines - you might be able to spot the problem now that you know what works (on at least one computer).

Second, if the computers are networked all you need is to do the capture, then copy it over to the other computer for editing and burning. :)

[SpywareShooter]

Office:
3.0GHz P4 processor
512MB RAM
200GB HD
ATI Radeon graphics card

Main computer:
2.1GHz Athlon processor
512MB RAM
160GB HD
Nvidia GEForce-FX 5500 AGP Card

Im' not sure what else to look for.

[profdlp]

...I'm not sure what else to look for.
I was thinking more along the lines of settings within the capture software, along with the type of port you are attaching the camera to.

[SpywareShooter]

I used Windows Media Player to capture the video on the other computer since I didn't have Pinnacle or Ulead installed on it. On this computer it would say "Unknown Error" in WMP. I hooked them both up to a Firewire port, with both cards being OHCI compilant.

[profdlp]

In that case I'd check the version of WMP and the settings and plugins it uses.

[SpywareShooter]

Both computers have the newest version of WMP. The only plugins I have are on this computer and they are audio enhancement (mega bass, etc). What settings should I look for?

[TheHeartSmasher]

Install the codecs at the bottom of this page and then try it maybe this will work.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=abde1e02-b529-469e-ae6a-7417fcde9e12&displaylang=en

[SpywareShooter]

I already installed all the codecs. I've never installed codecs on the other computer though. It's strange.

[TheHeartSmasher]

That's weird and it works on the other computer right. Did you try to capture it from a regular camera through the camera's mpeg mode

I am talking about using a digital camera and using its weird useless movie mode to capture video through usb.