Dvc150

[chaplin]

Hello
I have just purchased a sharp camcorder and have Dazzle DVC150 , linked up but at point of capture get
"capture error' I know this could be various things , anybody got any ideas where I start?

[rsquirell]

When did you buy your DVC-150...and what software are you using to capture (is it Pinnacle or MovieStar, or DVXCEL Test Utility?)

[chaplin]

Hello , Im in the UK , purchased approx 1 week ago with Pinnaclke studio 8 , although I do also have Moviestar 5 , have tried both

[rsquirell]

MovieStar sucks...and isn't supported, any more. I noticed a new Pinnacle Driver on the MS Windows XP update site...maybe you need to install it. I picked up my DVC-150 a year ago when Dazzle had it...and you had to download the latest drivers from their site before you could use ( as well as install DirectX 9, and a ton of other things.) I'd suggest you go to www.pinnacle.com and find the DVC-150 user forum and read their FAQ's. When you're starting out you have a slew of beginner issues that only users of your specific device/software will be able to help you with.

[chaplin]

Thanks for your help , I'll try that
Im running 2000

[Micha1138]

Maybe you want to take a look at this ))

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29432&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

[rsquirell]

Geeze Micha...you're gonna scare the boy. He doesn't know what he's stepped into, LOL. Anyway...nobody said this stuff is easy...and all the more reason to go to the Manufacturer's specific Hardware/Software forum to talk to current users. I consider myself an expert with the DVC-150 (with Dazzle software)...but I don't know beans about the new Pinnacle variant.

[Micha1138]

I didnt mean to do so, especially not the part with the "going up in flames" )

Well, since my wonderful Videoh! made like salmon and is now a little smoked, I think Ißll have to go to those pages myself before buying a new one.

Michael

[rsquirell]

LOL...I remember running around in circles trying to build a graphedit graph to convert dazzle's LPCM audio so you could get other editors (besides MovieStar) to work with dazzle capture. It involved finding a TRex driver (from Pinnacle's universal translator), registering it to DirectShow and drawing your lines. Gad, what a mess. I think things are a lot easier, these days...and the Pinnacle DVC-150 is probably pretty straight-forward stuff....

[Micha1138]

maybe I will give the pinnacle device a try.
BTW, I wanted to ask you about the dvxcel test utility anyway, does it allow manipulating color/hue/saturation/brightness of the source material? I also came across a few "dvxcel commands in the settings, but didnt find any documentation about them. I cannot recall what they exactly needed as an input, but it seemed to be hexadecimal. I cannot get the driver to display the settings withpout a connected device. Is there a description of what the dvxcel utility let me do with a dvxcel device on the web? I didnt come across one.

[rsquirell]

The DVXCEL Test Utility does allow you to adjust all the TV settings you identify...as well as "sharpness". It's capture file size is defaulted at about 2GB and can be adjusted smaller. It allows you to select kbps rate-of-capture up to 8000...size of capture from 352X480 to 720X480...and VBR or CBR. It allows No Video, Video Only, and Audio/Video preview (with NoVideo preview CPU usage is around 10%...you can surf the web and post while you're capturing.) I don't know whether Pinnacle supports it anymore, though. I downloaded that Pinnacle driver on the XP Update site and it stopped working on me...had to do a restore. I don't know what I'd recommend these days. Some of these Sony DV cameras have analog pass-through capability...which means you can capture VHS as if it were DV through the firewire to any editor you please...and the price of the cameras has dropped to around $500...plus you have the capabilty to do some real DV home vids...ULead VS7 and Pinnacle Studio9 will capture DV as MPEG2...(the DVXCEL Test Utility is a Dazzle product and requires the DVC-150 or DCS-200 hardware to be connected...it has nothing to do with that chip "DVXCEL" made by LSI...I made the same mistake when I typed DVXCEL into Google when I first started out...The Test Utility comes with the MovieStar software and needs to have a driver update installed in order to work. Dazzle used to have the drivers on their website...but now that Pinnacle has it...)

[Micha1138]

well duh... that really is news to me, that dazzle isnt using the dvxcel chipset ?! Wha are they using instead? You got a clue?

And the dv-cam thing... stupid me bought one about a 6months ago, no dv-in or analog in, cams with those feature were still about 200$ above my limit. but as always, this didnt save me money, instead it seems to cost me more in the end.

BTW, ijust checked that vcr from hell, and guess what,<=1,0Volts on video, 0 Volts on the left audio channel, but whoppin 4 Volts on the right channel, no wonder that my poor videoh! was blown away...

[rsquirell]

My brother told me of his DV Cam/analog pass-thru solution a year ago...but his camera cost $2000 then...a bit beyond my range. Recently new cams have been introduced....I'm told Sony's with the feature can be had for $500...if it's time to upgrade the VHS to DV...and considering a decent VHS capture device goes for $200...and nothing captures easier than DV. (Oh, and the DVXCEL Test Utility is software...can be found in the MovieStar folder labled "dazzle multimedia"...it's not hardware, and doesn't require a chipset...the similarity of the name is pure coincidence.)

[Micha1138]

Hmm, maybe I will sell my "old" DV-cam, or quit on working with digital movie material anyways and go back reading a few books )) who needs movies anyway )

[chaplin]

well guys youre obviously knowledgable however we only get
"capture error" every time we hook up , and cannot get beyond that.
All we want to know is how the ",.$ do we get our video footage onto the software.what options should we look at?