VF doesn't capture time-lapse...any ideas?

Labatt50 wrote on 4/25/2002, 5:39 PM
Hello...Just purchased Sony TRV-340 and Video Factory 2. Kind of new at both. I have one great time lapse video which I like to include in a movie, but VF can't or won't pick it up. (I have already copied some video to tape, so I have that part figured out.) Anyone have a workaround? One other question--SF offers one free product for new purchasers of VF...Sound Forge 5, three Acids, Music looper and Siren Jukebox. I am not familiar with any of these but wonder if any one in particular complements VF.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 4/25/2002, 10:18 PM
What format is your time-lapse video? What software did you use to create/capture it? From what you've said, i get the feeling that you've already created this video, but that you just can't open the file in VF. Is this correct?

Probably the most useful complement to VideoFactory is Sound Forge. This is a very slick and powerful two-channel sound file editor with tons of effects and processing capability. You can open up audio clips in Sound Forge directly from VF's timeline and the changes you make will automatically appear back in VF.

If, on the other hand, you're happy with the audio editing that is included in VF but would like to create music instead, then ACID is a cool program that lets you build up songs from little snippets like drum beats, guitar riffs, synthesizer chords, etc. It's also a heck of a lot of fun besides.
johnmeyer wrote on 4/25/2002, 11:17 PM
What program did you use to capture the time lapse? Is the video set at 29.97 fps, or is it at some other frame rate?

Labatt50 wrote on 4/26/2002, 12:28 AM
Hi Chienworks:

The camera has a built-in program to make a time-lapse video. The variables are time between shots and the length of each scene. I captured the time lapse video on a Digital 8 tape. I can watch it in the Handycam, just as other segments that are not time-lapse, and I've watched it on TV.

I've already completed two other projects and copied back to tape using VF, manipulating video, stills and two tracks of audio, and everything worked fine. But with my latest project, when I try to capture the time-lapse segment, (which looks like it's being captured just like any other video section) I get a box which says No Video Captured.

I use NTSC, with a size of 720x480, and a frame rate of 29.970.

Thanks for the advice on Sound Forge. That's the one I will go with.

Do the above details shed any light on the problem?

Brian
Labatt50 wrote on 4/26/2002, 12:30 AM
Hi Johnmeyer:

Details are above.

Brian
Stiffler wrote on 4/26/2002, 2:29 AM
""Try unchecking the minimum clip length or setting it to 0 in the Capture Preferences.""

This is the advice I got from SF (Deef), but I'm using Vegas. This fixed my problem.

Interesing, though. I have the same camera (or close to it). This problem didn't come up until I tried to capture the time lapse video. VF/VV has captured just fine up to that point.

Something else to think about: I had my time-lapse set up to record 0.5 seconds every 30 seconds. I had it set up for around 9 hours, and only took up about 20 minutes of tape. I don't remember if VF has DV scene detection. VV does, so after capturing my time-lapse (with scene detection on), I had 800 some clips!!

If VF does not have scene detection, SF should add it.

I'm also looking forward to doing alot more time-lapse with this camera, its a blast and I've always wanted to do it.

Hope to see your video on Cheinworks site, I'll post one there soon.

Hope it works, Jon

Labatt50 wrote on 4/26/2002, 7:56 AM
Hi Stiffler:

That sounds like it might solve my problem, but I can't find "minimum clip length" in any of the preferences. Maybe just a Vegas feature?

Brian
Chienworks wrote on 4/26/2002, 8:59 AM
If you haven't upgraded to VideoFactory 2.0b or 2.0c, please upgrade to 2.0c now. I'll wait for you. I promise. ;)

...

In the VideoCapture program, click Options, Preferences, and the Capture tab. There is a scrollable window with various options that can be checked, and right beneath that is "Minimum clip length (seconds):. Turning this off will allow Video Capture to capture the short scenes from your time-lapse video that would otherwise be ignored.

However, in this case, a better option might be to uncheck (disable) Enable DV scene detection. With this disabled, VideoCapture will import the entire time-lapse sequence as one clip until you press stop. This will avoid having each half-second (or whatever) end up as a separate clip.
Mekon wrote on 4/29/2002, 3:59 PM
I just got VF, but did not see this offer of a free product. Was it in the box with the software?

M.
Labatt50 wrote on 4/29/2002, 6:39 PM
Hi Mekon:

Yes...specially marked with a stick-on label ("Buy one, get one free. Up to a $99 value.")

Hope there's a way you can do a switcheroo.

brian