Cannont capture --- Device not available?

[Phil Gosselin]

Hi all,

I have to capture HDV tapes but alas all I get is a "Device not available" in Vegas 10. I am trying to capture through a HVR-M25U tape deck. This is the first time I connected the unit to my computer and it saw and installed the driver in an instant, so my comp see the unit just fine.

I've tried another cable, I've tried switching to the Legacy driver all to no vail so far.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Phil

[Don Bloom]

which capture program are you using, Internal or external? I can't remember which it is but one os for DV and one is for HDV. Whichever one you're using try the other one and see if that takes care of it.

[Phil Gosselin]

Internal, HDV

[Leslie Wand]

what os?

if win 7, check that you've select legacy firewire driver.

[D.J. Ammons]

When I capture from my Sony V1 camera if I have the capture box open before I turn the camera to VCR Vegas does not see the camera. I have to exit out of the capture box and reopen it and then it does.

I know you are not using a camera but the problem might be something similar. Did you have all of your proper output settings, power on, etc before you brought up the capture box in Vegas?

[Seth Bloombaum]

One of the issues with a deck like the M25U is that by default, it auto-senses the tape format during playback and auto-selects DV or HDV to send out over the firewire port.

If Vegas doesn't see DV when using external capture, or HDV when using internal capture, it doesn't see a controllable device.

The easy fix is to go into the menus of the M25 and select what you want for a capture session. Menu | HDV/DV SEL | then AUTO, HDV or DV.

Now, as soon as it is powered on, Vegas will see it as an HDV or a DV deck.

This is also where you can have the M25 downconvert to DV for a capture, if that's what you want.

There are also some less-common problems where Windows selects an incompatible driver for the deck, different than the legacy firewire driver issue. If the above doesn't do the trick, please post again and somebody will dig up some older threads...

[Leslie Wand]

i use a 15 vtr and usually let the tape play when kicking in capture 9using the correct capture for the tape obviously).

this auto sensing thing seems not to work.

[Victor Wilcox]

I've found HDVSplit to be better than the capture features of Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere, though I haven't used tape for over a year.

HDVSplit utility for HDV capturing with scene split - HDV capture utility

Not bad for a free application that's 4 years old.

[Phil Gosselin]

Thanks guys!

Ok so I've set the deck to "HDV" instead of "Auto" and it didn't do anything. I've also tried to open Vegas before powering on the deck (and vice versa) still nothing happens.

Lastly I got the HDVsplit, which I found while browsing old threads, and it too doesn't seem to see the deck.

So I have a computer that perfectly sees the deck but none of the applications will.....that's a head scratcher.

Anything else?

Phil

[Mike Kujbida]

Phil, I found an old post on the Sony Vegas forum by a guy with the same issue as you.
Here's one poster's response.
Hope it helps.


I use a Canopus AVC 300 via firewire to bring in SD, and a Sony HVR-M25U deck via firewire for HDV. Of course I also have a card reader for AVCHD, but it acts differently.
What I'm getting at is, if I am loading video thru firewire from either source (AVC300 or HVR-25U) either Vidcap or the internal HDV capture app was insisting that I reset or turn on my capture device, when it was already on, just as in your situation.
I discovered my solution on the Grass Valley (Canopus) web site. It was simply that any firewire capture device has to be powered up before the computer is powered up, and the reverse is also required. When powering down, first the computer is shut off, then the firewire capture device.
Believe it or not, this worked for me. When I need to capture video from either source (AVC 300 or HVR-25U) I power it up first, then the computer (restart won't work, must be from computer off, to power up). The firewire device then is available within Vidcap or the internal HDV - SDI App.
Don't really know why this works it just does.I hope it works for you

[Seth Bloombaum]

If Mike's suggestion works, that's great.

Still more to check, if it doesn't. Please see post #5 in this thread:
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-hvr...ot-see-z1.html

This is in reference to the issue where Windows has a good driver for your firewire interface, but then chooses a wrong driver for your HDV deck. Exact steps may be different in newer OS', but even Win7 has Device Manager.

Shout out to Spot :-)

PS. The fact that HDVSplit isn't working either does point to a problem with Windows recognition of the device, or, an actual hardware problem with the M25U (hope not!)

[Phil Gosselin]

Well what do you know, looks like Mike's suggestion did the trick.

Thank you all for the tips!

Phil

[Mike Kujbida]

Phil, I'm glad to hear that my suggestion worked.
I just wish I could solve the issues a lot of folks are having with Pro 11 as easily :(