VV3.0a supported hardware

jandrea wrote on 3/11/2002, 4:09 AM
Couple of weeks back, I highlighted some problems I was having getting my Sony DHR 1000 deck (PAL) to communicate with VV3.0a. I'm a little closer now that my PC sees it as a Microsoft DV device, but VV3.0a still doesn't recognise it - just sits there mutely, with a "Please connect a device" message. My Sony PC3 camera works perfectly with VV3.0a, but I'd rather use the deck for editing. I've done all the things I can think of, including changing the Adaptec 1394 card (at the suggestion of the one kind respondee to my earlier post), however it still won't work.
I did ask in my previous posting if anybody from Sonic Foundry could advise whether the PAL DHR 1000 was supported or not, but apparently they missed seeing the post. Does anybody know if there is a supported device listing anywhere I could refer to? If the DHR 1000 isn't supported, I'll stop wasting my time trying to get it running in VV3.0a, and go back to using the deck with my DV Raptor and Premiere 5.1c, in which environment it works perfectly. I'd much rather use VV3.0a though, for a whole bunch or reasons.
Does anybody have any helpful pointers as to how I might get the deck working? - I'd greatly appreciate it you do.

Comments

MyST wrote on 3/11/2002, 7:57 AM
You're much better off sending an e-mail to tech support instead of hoping they come across your post here.
Check under "support" at the top of the page for the various ways to get hold of them. Anything regarding compatibility, I'd rather ask SF directly instead of other users.

¢¢
deef wrote on 3/11/2002, 5:51 PM
Not true, both tech support and us developers peruse this forum daily <g>

Jandrea, Vegas and Video Capture should work with all OHCI IEEE 1394 cards and DV devices. We are currently updating our internal list of devices that we test with and I'll check into getting an updated list made available.

That said, we still won't be close to being able to test all of the various brands/models that are out there. Since we're DV device "generic", if it's DV, it should work, so I'm thinking it's something with your setup/drivers.

When you use the DV deck (connected and turned on), does it show up under Imaging Devices in Device Manager? Also, does it show up under Video Capture's Video menu as "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR"
jandrea wrote on 3/12/2002, 4:51 AM
Thank you both for your responses. Deef, Device Manager has two new device classes added when the DHR 1000 deck is on and connected, which are: '61883 Device Class', and 'AVC Device Class'. In addition, under Imaging Device, the entry is 'Sony AV Device', so the PC seems to be recognising the deck O.K. (O.S. is Windows ME by the way - could this be the problem???)

When I fire up VV3.0a,(which takes about three times longer with the deck on and connected than it does with a camera) and then VidCap, I get a message that says 'The device "Microsoft DV Camera & VCR could not be opened". If I click on 'Options-reconnect to current device', the same message appears. The capture screen also has a message "Preview is turned off". I don't get either of these messages with my Sony PC3 video camera

If I use the camera rather than the deck, VidCap operates as it should, with full device control over the PC3, and no hassles. It's this fact that led me to think that the deck itself may not have been supported. I know Sony fiddled with their implementation of IEEE1394 (iLink) over the years, and the PC3 is a much later release than the other DV devices I have.

Also curious, is the fact that the Canopus DV Raptor installed in the same PC works flawlessly with the deck, AND that the deck worked fine with Video Factory 2.0c. It's only since I upgraded to VV3.0a that this problem seems to have arisen.

I was one of the earliest adopters of DV in Australia, buying a Sony VX1000, and the DHR1000 deck in 1995. I mention this, because I am very familiar with the operation of the deck, having used it constantly for all those years. It's never let me down.

But this issue has me completely bamboozled. Deef, you may well be right, it could have a lot to do with the setup, and it's probably the simplest thing, but what am I missing????
deef wrote on 3/12/2002, 11:52 AM
Very strange...since the much of the capture stuff is similar between VideoFactory and Vegas. Can you go back to Vegas 3.0 release (not 3.0a) and see if you still have any problems. Does the deck still work ok with VideoFactory?

If you disable DV device control and then try to connect with the deck, what happens?

Thanks!
deef wrote on 3/12/2002, 9:59 PM
Also do you have valid capture paths setup in Disk Management preferences?
jandrea wrote on 3/13/2002, 3:57 AM
Deef, thank you for those responses.
I'll answer the second one first. Disk management preferences point to drive D, which is my video scratch disk, an 18Gb IBM SCSI disk, currently empty of data. This is the disk I normally capture to. Since my system is PAL, I have also checked that all other preferences are correct (Did a double check to see that I hadn't been trying to capture as NTSC, etc.).
Over the next few days, I'll reload VV3.0 and try again. Video Factory 2.0 is not currently installed, I'll reinstall that too, and see if that still works. Also please be aware that it takes about 24 hours to post responses, because Melbourne Australia is around 16 hours ahead of the US west coast, so bear with me.
I will take a careful note of events, so if the deck works under VV3.0 and/or VF2.0, I'll hopefully be able to identify the problem, and the fix, which I'll post in case anybody else is experiencing the same thing.

Regards

John Andrea
jandrea wrote on 3/17/2002, 4:53 AM
Deef
I uninstalled VV3.0a, and re-installed VV3.0. I also re-installed Video Factory 2.0, and updated it to 2.0c.
Since the Sony PC3 is known to work, I checked it with both applications. Works like they were meant to, no problems at all. Just to be sure, I captured a full tape, only slight hickup was that VidCap dropped the first frame (not really an issue). Dragged out the trusty Sony VX1000, plugged it into the IEEE 1394 card. The PC recognised it O.K., and I managed to get VidCap in both apps to recognise it also, but capture stopped after 6 seconds on a full tape (shot with the VX1000). Couldn't get it going again unless I rebooted the system.
Tried the Sony DHR1000 deck. First VV3.0a wouldn't start up with the deck connected and powered up, so I rebooted. It took about 5 minutes for VV3.0a to start. VidCap wouldn't recognise the DHR1000, even though the PC did. I disabled Device Control in preferences, still no joy. Tried switching the deck on after VV had come up. Nope, no luck. I unplugged the firewire on the deck (supposed to be hot pluggable), then the system locked up. Rebooted, tried the PC3 again, worked perfectly in VV3.0, and VF 2.0c.
Reloaded VV3.0a again, checked the PC3, worked normally, but the deck is still not recognised by either VV3.0a, or VF 2.0c. Tried the VX1000 with VV3.0a, same problem as with VV3.0.
Now I'm really stumped, after all that messing around. Someone suggested it could be the VIA chipset on the Gigabyte 6BX-4X mobo I'm using, but if the PC3 works fine with both apps, and the DV Raptor/Premiere setup on the same machine has no trouble with the DHR1000, or the VX1000 (or of course the PC3), the VIA chipset is not likely to be the culprit. I've double checked all connections, changed the firewire cables, moved them to avoid any potential EMF interference, double checked all preferences and capture directory locations, but still the problem continues.
I really like the power of VV3.0a, and naturally I can use all its features if I stick with the PC3, but I'd much rather use the deck for editing.
I'm using Windows ME, don't particularly want to move to Windows 2K or XP, reason being I have a substantial amount of software loaded on this machine, and it's been stable for a long time (havn't had a blue screen for a couple of years now).
Can you think of anything else I might try?

Thanks

John Andrea
deef wrote on 3/17/2002, 7:58 PM
hmmm...thinking...very strange...anybody else out there using the VX1000 or DHR1000??

I'll redo some testing with our VX1000 and repost.

Thanks!
deef wrote on 3/21/2002, 6:18 PM
I tested capture, batch capture, and batch print with our VX2000 (thought it was a VX1000) and all was successful.

Do you have another system to test these other devices with?
deef wrote on 3/21/2002, 9:16 PM
Have you installed the most up-to-date VIA 4-in-1 drivers?
deef wrote on 3/21/2002, 9:41 PM
What happens if you put the VX1000 into record mode (not VTR)? Can you capture live footage ok?
Stany wrote on 3/22/2002, 2:34 PM
Just to let you know: I'm also using the Sony DHR-1000 with an Adaptec Fireconnect 4300 and it works very well. The VCR is recognised as a "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR" by default. It seems to work more stable in 3.0a(build 107) then in the previous release. Maybe the problem is OS -related. I'm using Windows XP Pro on a AMD 1.4 Ghz and MSI motherboard (6330)with the most recent VIA 4in1-drivers). Works great!

Stany
VideoArizona wrote on 3/22/2002, 6:49 PM
John,

I'm running a MSI MB (6330) same as you, Windows ME, using a Pyro OHCI compliant IEEE card. Running VV3a (build 107)

My deck is the JVC DV600.

I have found that when I use VV3 and go to capture, I need to click on the device(microsoft DV, etc.) to activate the driver otherwise VV3 doesn't see the JVC or control it. Even though after loading up the capture code it shows the proper device. It won't capture and the preview window doesn't show a black screen or any video for that window. Its an extra step but seems to be required to get my card or deck to work.

If VV3 has other choices for devices, have you tried them? Your deck may not be recognized like it is in Premier. Also, does your device have a "master/slave" type setting? If you remember the days of LANC, this caused lots of issues when software couldn't control decks cause the decks were not set to slave mode. My JVC must be in "remote" to be recognized and controlled by VV3.

The VIA chipsets (133, 133A, 266 and 266A) are fine with VV3 but problematic with Canopus Soft MPEG. It seems to be a bug in that the chipset is making a code call to an address that Canopus doesn't need....and a dreaded buffer under run is the result. So far, VV3 has been fairly rock solid with me under the MSI motherboard. It is important that the latest (december?) 4 in 1 drivewrs for the chipset be loaded. Easy to do right on the web on line with MSI.

Hope any of this helps...

David
jandrea wrote on 3/23/2002, 4:15 AM
Deef, Stany, and David.
Thank you all for your responses, all valid suggestions. I had intended to remove the Adaptec 4300 Firewire card and re-install it on another machine using an Intel chipset, but before I do that, I'll download the latest VIA 4in1 drivers, and try that first. If I go the alternative machine, I'll have to install VV3.0a as well, But I don't think SoFo should object too much if it's for debugging purposes. My other PC is only a 350Mhz PIII, so it probably will perform like a dog, but it might at least prove a point.
David, the DHR1000 can indeed be set up either as master or slave under lanc, but this is normally only necessary when it's used with another lanc device (usually a camera). The manual states that it is not critical which way it's set if lanc is not used, but I'll try it both ways anyway. The DHR1000 is currently set as slave, because I sometimes transfer DV to SVHS from the DHR1000 to a Panasonic AG4700 SVHS editing deck, which also has lanc (except that Panasonic don't call it that).
I'll try all your suggestions one at a time, and report back the results.
Again, thanks for your responses, they've certainly given me some additional pointers.

John Andrea