i can't help but notice that when transfering a video from my sony handycam that the recording on the display looks way better then what then gets transfered onto the pc. especially during motion. it just looks fine during playback on handycam. but on the pc, it looks as though it skips frames and looses some pixels during the effect.
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Transfering From MiniDv 2 The PC
- Thread starter kases
- Start date
-Pentium 4, 2,27GHz, 1GB RAM, running windows xp.
-i have no idea how fast my hard drive is, it's a 120gb samsung hard drive, almost full though, but i really don't know.
-Through Firewire
-what else is running while im doing this: azureus, pc-cillin internet security, bsplayer, direct connect (does that really have an effect)?
-i have no idea how fast my hard drive is, it's a 120gb samsung hard drive, almost full though, but i really don't know.
-Through Firewire
-what else is running while im doing this: azureus, pc-cillin internet security, bsplayer, direct connect (does that really have an effect)?
Things running in the background have a huge effect.
And so does an almost full capture drive.
Try cleaning up the capture drive (and preferably setting say 20-30gb on a new partition for just video), and also try shutting down as many of the background things as possible. PTP, antivirus, all of those affect whether you get dropped frames or not.
And so does an almost full capture drive.
Try cleaning up the capture drive (and preferably setting say 20-30gb on a new partition for just video), and also try shutting down as many of the background things as possible. PTP, antivirus, all of those affect whether you get dropped frames or not.
It's generally recommended to stop all unnecessary background applications when running video editing software. For example, I "pull the plug" on my ethernet connection, remove all background applications (firewall, anti-virus, etc) because these apps can really slow a PC down. This may seem radical, but this really does work! Give it a try.
Ideally, you should have a second harddrive to do your video work on.
You can get FireWire/USB2 external drives pretty cheaply these days.
Btw, the minimum speed of your harddrive(s) needs to be 7200rpm or faster. You'll be guaranteed crappy footage on the 5400 or 4800rpm drives, which are still quite common on PC laptops.
You can get FireWire/USB2 external drives pretty cheaply these days.
Btw, the minimum speed of your harddrive(s) needs to be 7200rpm or faster. You'll be guaranteed crappy footage on the 5400 or 4800rpm drives, which are still quite common on PC laptops.
When this question comes up, the first thing I always suggest is to save your imported video clips to a secondary hard drive (Zensteve also said this above). PCs can get confused when you try to write onto the same drive that runs the operating system and program files (okay--they don't get confused per se, but the system has to alternate between reading tasks and writing tasks--it causes delays in the task management which leads to skips in the video). My PC is slightly less than yours in specs. I was able to import just fine onto a secondary drive. BUT, when that drive filled up and I tried to import onto my main c: drive--I got crappy, skipping video. I would suggest picking up and installing a big whopper of a second hard drive (7200 rpm).
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Yes, make sure your drive is a minimum of 7200RPM. Anything less than that may not have the amount of bandwidth needed to record at DV speeds.
I am assuming this is DV and not HD or HDV right? I saw that you were possibly working in widescreen.
Also, what program are you using to bring in the footage?
Don't forget to disable your network connection too. That's a big help.
I am assuming this is DV and not HD or HDV right? I saw that you were possibly working in widescreen.
Also, what program are you using to bring in the footage?
Don't forget to disable your network connection too. That's a big help.
Well it is free after all or at least included in the price. Here is a list of better ones. Some are free, some are good, a few are free and good. 
xttp://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_capture_tools/
There are better codecs out there too, find a match that's good for you and you'll be cooking with gas.
Most better quality video editors should include an importing process as part of the software. I know that Pinnacle Studio and Sony Vegas Movie Studio both do this, and you should be able to buy either of these editing programs for $99. (I have tried them both, and my recommendation would be for Sony Vegas Movie Studio).
what exactly is the difference when transfering from a minidv to a pc using firewire? i mean dont the softwares use the same codecs?
i've finally gotten my hands on that new harddrive. 200gb, 7200rpm (couldn't afford a faster one). and installed it last night, just did a fresh boot from my computer. and for some reason my hard drive is slow as hell. but i dont know why. first of all capturing onto the drive, it skips way too many frames. and i cant even play video files on that drive in dv quality they just play way too slow. so now what do i do?
i've finally gotten my hands on that new harddrive. 200gb, 7200rpm (couldn't afford a faster one). and installed it last night, just did a fresh boot from my computer. and for some reason my hard drive is slow as hell. but i dont know why. first of all capturing onto the drive, it skips way too many frames. and i cant even play video files on that drive in dv quality they just play way too slow. so now what do i do?
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You ask what the difference is when transfering MiniDV to PC via Firewall, but don't mention the other way we are supposed to comment the difference of.
OK, So you have your MiniDV cam plugged into the firewire port, right?
Then you bring up your software, (Which software is it?) and choose import from device, right?
Are you sure you are importing to the new drive?
What size is the video you're bringing in? 740x468, 320x240, etc?
Are you bringing it in as an AVI, or MPEG file?
Is it compressed or uncompressed?
Have you run a diagnostics on your PC to see if there are any conflicts?
Basically, you plug the firewire cable into the cam, then into the PC. Then turn on the cam and start the application. I use Sony Vegas. Then you choose import video. I start the cam and walla... it's importing. Although my drives are different than yours, it should be pretty much the same.
I don't know if it would be a problem, but what kind of graphics card do you have? Is it built into the mother board or do you have a separate one?
One other thing I just thought about is the sound... We've been talking about the video, but there's a sound track on there too. What are you doing with it? What compression are you using to handle the sound, if any?
OK, So you have your MiniDV cam plugged into the firewire port, right?
Then you bring up your software, (Which software is it?) and choose import from device, right?
Are you sure you are importing to the new drive?
What size is the video you're bringing in? 740x468, 320x240, etc?
Are you bringing it in as an AVI, or MPEG file?
Is it compressed or uncompressed?
Have you run a diagnostics on your PC to see if there are any conflicts?
Basically, you plug the firewire cable into the cam, then into the PC. Then turn on the cam and start the application. I use Sony Vegas. Then you choose import video. I start the cam and walla... it's importing. Although my drives are different than yours, it should be pretty much the same.
I don't know if it would be a problem, but what kind of graphics card do you have? Is it built into the mother board or do you have a separate one?
One other thing I just thought about is the sound... We've been talking about the video, but there's a sound track on there too. What are you doing with it? What compression are you using to handle the sound, if any?
cooldog thanks for replying so quickly. my post was based on the previous discussions in this thread.
1) what's the difference between softwares? i use windows movie make, but i was told here i shouldn't be i should be using something else. and i was wondering what makes the transfering via firewall so different between the softwares?
2) i usually use windows movie maker. but this time i tried adobe premiere. which is the capture from device option (not import from device). it ask where you want to save the file too, i choose drive G my second hard drive (slave). and i'm capturing at the best quality dv, no codecs. the size of the video is canceled out in adobe premiere, probably because i set it to widescreen. and it is coming in as an avi file. it should be uncompressed. audio wize it just asks for the hz which i set to 4800.
3) i've got an asus geforce 4 graphics card, directly hooked up to my motherboard.
so now, how do i run a diognostic to check for conflicts?
1) what's the difference between softwares? i use windows movie make, but i was told here i shouldn't be i should be using something else. and i was wondering what makes the transfering via firewall so different between the softwares?
2) i usually use windows movie maker. but this time i tried adobe premiere. which is the capture from device option (not import from device). it ask where you want to save the file too, i choose drive G my second hard drive (slave). and i'm capturing at the best quality dv, no codecs. the size of the video is canceled out in adobe premiere, probably because i set it to widescreen. and it is coming in as an avi file. it should be uncompressed. audio wize it just asks for the hz which i set to 4800.
3) i've got an asus geforce 4 graphics card, directly hooked up to my motherboard.
so now, how do i run a diognostic to check for conflicts?
ok, now i've fixed the hard drive speed. it's on point now. but what is wrong with transfering clips.
see when i used to transfer videos, i didn't get all of these lines, what could be the problem? how come i've got all these error lines in the picture? is it really just the camera recording? or is it something else?
see when i used to transfer videos, i didn't get all of these lines, what could be the problem? how come i've got all these error lines in the picture? is it really just the camera recording? or is it something else?