Quality when recording straight to disk? at DVinfo.net

Christian Schmitt · April 3rd, 2006, 01:29 PM

Anyone using Canons DV-PC Recorder for firewire recording to a laptop and having problems with its quality?

Patrick King · April 3rd, 2006, 06:32 PM

Christian,

I've recorded several 15-20 minute clips over the last six months on separate occasions and had no problems whatsoever.

I had a major difficulty even getting the dang program downloaded from the Canon website because of poor website design, but since I've installed it, I haven't had a dropped frame or any other glitches.

Since you mention your are recording to a laptop, that would lead me to suspect a slow hard-drive. Most (but not all) laptops have 5400rpm drives which puts you on the margin for recording performance anyway. If you have any other programs or background services that are accessing the hard-drive while recording, you may fall below the steady throughput capability of the drive to record.

Check Device Manager to ensure your drive is configured as DMA and not PIO, and then make sure as many background services as possible are off. DV-PC Recorder has a Test you can run in the Options menu that will check to see if your drive can sustain the required throughput. If it cannot, that isn't Canon's fault, the rate is the DV-AVI standard and would be the same for a Panasonic cam recording on DVRack software. You might try hooking up a 7200 rpm USB 2.0 external hard drive and recording to it. They are pretty small and cheap now days. Best of luck. Tell us if you figure out what the long pole in the tent is.

Christian Schmitt · April 4th, 2006, 03:52 AM

Patrick,
the internal HDD is 7200rpm, we also recorded to an external HDD via USB2.0, the software said no dropped frames.
Actually I don´t believe a noisy picture would come from a slow HDD, either it records or it drops frames.
I was thinking it maybe was a codec issue or there was sth with the early xl2 (noise button) models...

Chris Bottrell · April 18th, 2006, 03:16 PM

Your right about the Hard Drive a slow one cant make a picture noisy, one thing to try is use the function that allows you to record to tape and the hard drive simultaneously then play back the tape and compare the two recordings.

Patrick King · April 21st, 2006, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christian Schmitt

Patrick,
the internal HDD is 7200rpm, we also recorded to an external HDD via USB2.0, the software said no dropped frames.
Actually I don´t believe a noisy picture would come from a slow HDD, either it records or it drops frames.
I was thinking it maybe was a codec issue or there was sth with the early xl2 (noise button) models...

Christian,
You didn't mention in your original post that the quality problem was "noise", only that you had quality problems recording to a laptop which led me to suspect the drive speed.

For a "noisy" PC-DV recording that is also "noisy" on the tape, the problem is obviously not a PC-DV problem.

For a "noisy" PC-DV recording that is not "noisy" on the tape, I would suspect some interference in the actual firewire cable or connection. Did you have a cell phone close by during recording? Was it close to any other strong transmitter or electrical source?

Other than that, I wouldn't know where else to troubleshoot. Sorry this hasn't been much help to you.

April 3rd, 2006, 01:29 PM	#1
Christian Schmitt Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 59	Quality when recording straight to disk? Anyone using Canons DV-PC Recorder for firewire recording to a laptop and having problems with its quality?

April 3rd, 2006, 06:32 PM	#2
Patrick King Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Enterprise, AL Posts: 857	Christian, I've recorded several 15-20 minute clips over the last six months on separate occasions and had no problems whatsoever. I had a major difficulty even getting the dang program downloaded from the Canon website because of poor website design, but since I've installed it, I haven't had a dropped frame or any other glitches. Since you mention your are recording to a laptop, that would lead me to suspect a slow hard-drive. Most (but not all) laptops have 5400rpm drives which puts you on the margin for recording performance anyway. If you have any other programs or background services that are accessing the hard-drive while recording, you may fall below the steady throughput capability of the drive to record. Check Device Manager to ensure your drive is configured as DMA and not PIO, and then make sure as many background services as possible are off. DV-PC Recorder has a Test you can run in the Options menu that will check to see if your drive can sustain the required throughput. If it cannot, that isn't Canon's fault, the rate is the DV-AVI standard and would be the same for a Panasonic cam recording on DVRack software. You might try hooking up a 7200 rpm USB 2.0 external hard drive and recording to it. They are pretty small and cheap now days. Best of luck. Tell us if you figure out what the long pole in the tent is. __________________ Fear No Weevil!

April 18th, 2006, 03:16 PM	#4
Chris Bottrell New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Norwich UK Posts: 23	Your right about the Hard Drive a slow one cant make a picture noisy, one thing to try is use the function that allows you to record to tape and the hard drive simultaneously then play back the tape and compare the two recordings. __________________ Chris Bottrell Director R18 Wholesale LTD Canon XL2

April 4th, 2006, 03:52 AM	#3
Christian Schmitt Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 59	Patrick, the internal HDD is 7200rpm, we also recorded to an external HDD via USB2.0, the software said no dropped frames. Actually I don´t believe a noisy picture would come from a slow HDD, either it records or it drops frames. I was thinking it maybe was a codec issue or there was sth with the early xl2 (noise button) models...