Capturing Live Footage at DVinfo.net

Albert Rodgers · February 19th, 2004, 11:10 PM

Hey guys and gals,

Is there anyway to capture live footage via camera mode using the capture function in Vegas or does the capture function just work in VTR mode?

I would love to capture live footage. This would definite save time. I would still back my footage up on mini dv tape.

Thank you.

Albert Rodgers

Edward Troxel · February 20th, 2004, 08:36 AM

Yes. Just hook it up via firewire, and turn on capture in Vegas. Just make sure that "Enable Device Control" is turned OFF.

Cosmin Rotaru · February 20th, 2004, 08:38 AM

I think you have to disable "DV control" (or something like that) in capturing options...

I'm capturing some VHS tapes ("AV->DV") and I have disabled that option so Vegas would not send a "play" message to the camcorder when starting the capture process.

I didn't tried live capture, though...

Albert Rodgers · February 22nd, 2004, 09:35 PM

Yes!! It works.

I have done several test to see how I can use Vegas for capturing live footage -Here are two:

first I I went from my GL2 ( in camera mode) to computer via firewire and it captured 5 mins. successfully.

Then, the big test. I went from 3 cam set > Panasonic MX 50 Mixer (which is analog) > Pansonic S-VHS Deck>Sony D8 cam (for analog to digital conversion)> HP computer with Vegas.
It worked successfully!! I was able to capture two 1 hour segments without any drop-outs. This will truly expedite editing time.

Thanks a million for your help.

Sincerely,

Albert Rodgers

Edward Troxel · February 22nd, 2004, 09:51 PM

We do this on a show taped weekly. Up to 4 cameras hooked up to a video mixer via S-Video, S-Video to a Panasonic AG-DV2000, Firewire to the computer, and live capture. It's great because editing can begin immediately. However, you do run the risk of a live edit (which is acceptable in this case).

We DO also record on tape in the cameras AND the deck "just in case".

Albert Rodgers · February 23rd, 2004, 09:20 AM

What is the longest 'live capture' you've done? The program that we shot is actually two hours long, but is edited down to an hour. Would I be able to capture two hours live non-stop without the risk of the computer crashing or so other error occur. In my test, I broke the 2 hours up into 1 hour segments. Is that recommended?

Thanks for your input.

Albert Rodgers

ps Edward, If the 4 cam are digital, what type of monitors are you using in the control room? We have 3 Panasonic Monitors that allow for only a BNC connector. What is an economical way to connect 3 (Sony pd-170) cams to these monitors? We are using the Panasonic MX-50 mixer which (to my knowledge) does not have video outs for each source.

Joe Sacher · February 23rd, 2004, 09:47 AM

I've done a capture of a 6 hr VHS tape. It was the only copy of the footage and I needed to clean it up and do what I could with it. I wound up with about 80 Gb of video, but it worked fine. Without an NTFS drive, your files will be split, but it should still work.

Edward Troxel · February 23rd, 2004, 11:17 AM

Ours is a church service. The longest service we have recorded live was about 1 hr 45 min. However, length should not be a problem assuming you hav sufficient drive space.

As for monitors, the Mixer outputs to a TV which will show up to 4 cameras in a variety of formats with or without the controlling options visible. So, we monitor the different cameras on one TV and the live output on a TV connected to the deck.

Albert Rodgers · February 24th, 2004, 01:36 AM

Hey Edward,

Actually, I am trying to capture live for a church service also. What type of mixer and monitor are you using that allows you to view up to four sources on one screen? What type of cameras are you using?

Thanks for all the help. Our video department would like to go all digital. Proper transition is crucial. The first phase is buying 3 digital cams ( probably Sony pd-170 or Panasonic DVX 100) with accessories (zoom, focus controllers, camera-mount monitors etc.). The second phase is getting a digital mixer and a dv deck. Also we need to purchase a laptop for video editing.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Albert Rodgers

Rob Lohman · February 24th, 2004, 06:06 AM

I'm not sure if I would trust my computer to capture for that long
without dropping frames, but then again, my systems are being
used for other things as well. It's just a personal "fear".

With that being said. I do suggest you turn of the option that
it should stop the capture if it drops frames (I have this turned
on, since I'm always capturing from tape and I want to be sure
that I didn't miss the number of dropped frames). In a live
situation you do want it to continue, ofcourse.

Joe Sacher · February 24th, 2004, 09:33 AM

One thing I always do for long or important captures is go into task manager and right-click on the vidcap process and set priority to High. I've never dropped a frame after doing this, unless I did something stupid, like trying to copy 4 Gig to the capture drive. (Forgot which drive I was capturing to.)

Edward Troxel · February 24th, 2004, 10:12 AM

We are capturing on a PIII 750MHz and have never dropped a frame in a church service (which is more than I can say for the backup tapes!). As long as the computer is left alone during the capture, you should have no problems at all - even without resorting to changing priorities in the task manager.

The one time we DID get a glitch in the capture, it was traced back to someone trying to access the internet while the system was capturing.

We have two Canon XL-1 cameras connected the a Videonics MX-Pro DV via S-Video. We initially tested the firewire connections but, because of distance and the fact we couldn't see a difference in the image, opted to go S-Video. We then run S-video to a Panasonic AG-DV2000. This is then connected via firewire to the PC. We use Scenalyzer Live to capture and Vegas to edit.

The main reason for using Scenalyzer Live to capture is the sheer simplicity of the app. Just double-click the application icon and then click on Capture - DONE. However, Vegas capture would work just fine as well.

Naturally, Vegas is used for creating the final edit.

Stephen Warriner · February 25th, 2004, 10:48 AM

Quick question with regard to your switching setup.

Do you run the audio separately from the video mixer and is it in synch?

Or do you pipe the audio through the mixer and is that in synch?

Thanks

Edward Troxel · February 25th, 2004, 01:37 PM

We run a separate audio line from the sound board straight to the video mixer. The audio is then run out of the video mixer to the Panasonic deck. I have not noticed any sync problems. We have separate outs on the board assigned to TV, Radio, CD Burner, House, and Monitors.

Stephen Warriner · February 25th, 2004, 06:45 PM

Have you tried it without piping it through the video mixer? (Directly to the deck) Do you know if there is a built in audio delay to match video?

TIA

February 19th, 2004, 11:10 PM	#1
Albert Rodgers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ypsilanti, MI Posts: 87	Capturing Live Footage Hey guys and gals, Is there anyway to capture live footage via camera mode using the capture function in Vegas or does the capture function just work in VTR mode? I would love to capture live footage. This would definite save time. I would still back my footage up on mini dv tape. Thank you. Albert Rodgers __________________ Jack-of-all-trades trying to master one (Videography) www.sdfvideo.com

February 20th, 2004, 08:38 AM	#3
Cosmin Rotaru Major Player Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Romania, Timisoara Posts: 453	I think you have to disable "DV control" (or something like that) in capturing options... I'm capturing some VHS tapes ("AV->DV") and I have disabled that option so Vegas would not send a "play" message to the camcorder when starting the capture process. I didn't tried live capture, though... __________________ Cosmin Rotaru

February 22nd, 2004, 09:35 PM	#4
Albert Rodgers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ypsilanti, MI Posts: 87	Yes!! It works. I have done several test to see how I can use Vegas for capturing live footage -Here are two: first I I went from my GL2 ( in camera mode) to computer via firewire and it captured 5 mins. successfully. Then, the big test. I went from 3 cam set > Panasonic MX 50 Mixer (which is analog) > Pansonic S-VHS Deck>Sony D8 cam (for analog to digital conversion)> HP computer with Vegas. It worked successfully!! I was able to capture two 1 hour segments without any drop-outs. This will truly expedite editing time. Thanks a million for your help. Sincerely, Albert Rodgers __________________ Jack-of-all-trades trying to master one (Videography) www.sdfvideo.com

February 23rd, 2004, 09:20 AM	#6
Albert Rodgers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ypsilanti, MI Posts: 87	What is the longest 'live capture' you've done? The program that we shot is actually two hours long, but is edited down to an hour. Would I be able to capture two hours live non-stop without the risk of the computer crashing or so other error occur. In my test, I broke the 2 hours up into 1 hour segments. Is that recommended? Thanks for your input. Albert Rodgers ps Edward, If the 4 cam are digital, what type of monitors are you using in the control room? We have 3 Panasonic Monitors that allow for only a BNC connector. What is an economical way to connect 3 (Sony pd-170) cams to these monitors? We are using the Panasonic MX-50 mixer which (to my knowledge) does not have video outs for each source. __________________ Jack-of-all-trades trying to master one (Videography) www.sdfvideo.com

February 24th, 2004, 01:36 AM	#9
Albert Rodgers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ypsilanti, MI Posts: 87	Hey Edward, Actually, I am trying to capture live for a church service also. What type of mixer and monitor are you using that allows you to view up to four sources on one screen? What type of cameras are you using? Thanks for all the help. Our video department would like to go all digital. Proper transition is crucial. The first phase is buying 3 digital cams ( probably Sony pd-170 or Panasonic DVX 100) with accessories (zoom, focus controllers, camera-mount monitors etc.). The second phase is getting a digital mixer and a dv deck. Also we need to purchase a laptop for video editing. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Albert Rodgers __________________ Jack-of-all-trades trying to master one (Videography) www.sdfvideo.com

February 20th, 2004, 08:36 AM	#2
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Yes. Just hook it up via firewire, and turn on capture in Vegas. Just make sure that "Enable Device Control" is turned OFF.

February 22nd, 2004, 09:51 PM	#5
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	We do this on a show taped weekly. Up to 4 cameras hooked up to a video mixer via S-Video, S-Video to a Panasonic AG-DV2000, Firewire to the computer, and live capture. It's great because editing can begin immediately. However, you do run the risk of a live edit (which is acceptable in this case). We DO also record on tape in the cameras AND the deck "just in case".

February 23rd, 2004, 09:47 AM	#7
Joe Sacher Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 177	I've done a capture of a 6 hr VHS tape. It was the only copy of the footage and I needed to clean it up and do what I could with it. I wound up with about 80 Gb of video, but it worked fine. Without an NTFS drive, your files will be split, but it should still work.

February 23rd, 2004, 11:17 AM	#8
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Ours is a church service. The longest service we have recorded live was about 1 hr 45 min. However, length should not be a problem assuming you hav sufficient drive space. As for monitors, the Mixer outputs to a TV which will show up to 4 cameras in a variety of formats with or without the controlling options visible. So, we monitor the different cameras on one TV and the live output on a TV connected to the deck.

February 24th, 2004, 06:06 AM	#10
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	I'm not sure if I would trust my computer to capture for that long without dropping frames, but then again, my systems are being used for other things as well. It's just a personal "fear". With that being said. I do suggest you turn of the option that it should stop the capture if it drops frames (I have this turned on, since I'm always capturing from tape and I want to be sure that I didn't miss the number of dropped frames). In a live situation you do want it to continue, ofcourse. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 24th, 2004, 09:33 AM	#11
Joe Sacher Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 177	One thing I always do for long or important captures is go into task manager and right-click on the vidcap process and set priority to High. I've never dropped a frame after doing this, unless I did something stupid, like trying to copy 4 Gig to the capture drive. (Forgot which drive I was capturing to.)

February 24th, 2004, 10:12 AM	#12
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	We are capturing on a PIII 750MHz and have never dropped a frame in a church service (which is more than I can say for the backup tapes!). As long as the computer is left alone during the capture, you should have no problems at all - even without resorting to changing priorities in the task manager. The one time we DID get a glitch in the capture, it was traced back to someone trying to access the internet while the system was capturing. We have two Canon XL-1 cameras connected the a Videonics MX-Pro DV via S-Video. We initially tested the firewire connections but, because of distance and the fact we couldn't see a difference in the image, opted to go S-Video. We then run S-video to a Panasonic AG-DV2000. This is then connected via firewire to the PC. We use Scenalyzer Live to capture and Vegas to edit. The main reason for using Scenalyzer Live to capture is the sheer simplicity of the app. Just double-click the application icon and then click on Capture - DONE. However, Vegas capture would work just fine as well. Naturally, Vegas is used for creating the final edit.

February 25th, 2004, 10:48 AM	#13
Stephen Warriner New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Edgartown, MA Posts: 10	OT: For Edward Troxel Quick question with regard to your switching setup. Do you run the audio separately from the video mixer and is it in synch? Or do you pipe the audio through the mixer and is that in synch? Thanks

February 25th, 2004, 01:37 PM	#14
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	We run a separate audio line from the sound board straight to the video mixer. The audio is then run out of the video mixer to the Panasonic deck. I have not noticed any sync problems. We have separate outs on the board assigned to TV, Radio, CD Burner, House, and Monitors.

February 25th, 2004, 06:45 PM	#15
Stephen Warriner New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Edgartown, MA Posts: 10	Thanks Edward Have you tried it without piping it through the video mixer? (Directly to the deck) Do you know if there is a built in audio delay to match video? TIA