DV capture without 1394 card?

[Gerald Shropshire]

Is there a known work around for capturing DV without using a firewire (1394) card? Frustrated with issues regarding detection and connection to internet.

Set-up:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name GERALDSH
System Manufacturer micronpc.com
System Model Millennia
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 4 Stepping 2 AuthenticAMD ~801 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG, 10/2/2000
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\System32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920)"
Total Physical Memory 256.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 57.40 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.46 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.09 GB
Page File Space 2.21 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
WD 120 HD
Capture card TBD
DVX 100 camera

[Glenn Chan]

You could capture on another computer and move the files over?

Maybe you can try a firewire card with a different chipset. Or take the existing firewire card and move it to another PCI slot. You should probably try pinpointing the problem you are having. It's probably on the Microsoft knowledge base (google search for it).

[Adrian Douglas]

Unless your system has some form of analogue capture then 1394 is the only way. You could go with Glenn's suggestion and capture to another computer but that could turn into a royal pain in the arse.

You haven't mentioned what software you are using for capture, some apps have issues with the DVX and its 24p mode. try Glenn's other suggestion of trying the capture card in another PCI slot and try assigning it to its own IRQ. If the card uses the Texas Instruments chipset sharing an IRQ can sometimes cause problems. To manually allocate and IRQ check your motherboard documentation as this has to be done through the BIOS. If you don't know how to do this then it might be a good idea to take your system to someone who builds NLEs and get them to set it up for you.

A couple of other little things based on your system specs is your RAM and virtual memory, you might need to make a few changes there. First off, 256MB or RAM is a little light for video editing, it's a bare minimum, i'd double it to 512 at least. You virtual memore should be set to around 3x your installed RAM so if you have 256 then VM should be around 768MB, if you have 512, then 1.5GB. It's also a good idea to create a partition and allocate your VM/swap file to that partition. A second HD is also a good idea to store your video files on. Storing you video files on the same disc as your system files/OS often causes problems. Basically your system should look something like this:

Disk 1

C: WinXP Pro
X: VM/Swap file (3x installed RAM)


Disk 2:

E: Capture/Raw media storage
F: Render/Edited media storage

Optical Drives

D: CD/DVD ROM
Z: CD/DVD burner


As you can see setting up a PC for reliable editing can be pretty complex. Good luck, if you need any more help post away.

[Gerald Shropshire]

Thanks Glenn, Adrian for your quick response. I am using Premiere 6. So far the issues revolve around XP detecting the dvx 100 as a av/c subunit and needing software to be loaded for the device. Inability to reconnect to the internet via Linksys NIC adapter after installation of 1394 card. No irq conflicts. Just returned a TI chip set card and purchased non TI card with the same results. I do have an analog capture card, I may try that just to see what happens. I will also check MS knowledge base as suggested.

Thx

Gerald

[Adrian Douglas]

As Premiere 6 came out a long time before the DVX you might try using 'Generic DV Device' in your capture settings. this might help but then the 24p could still cause problems.

[Glen Elliott]

Buy an Audigy card- use that to capture.

Plus, after looking at your stats, your gonna wanna upgrade your ram regardless.

[Gerald Shropshire]

I've decided too rent editing time for this small wedding project and then either purchase a Mac set-up for video editing or have a custom PC built from scratch.

Will keep you guys up dated.

Gerald