Skip navigation
fb_13
fb_13 Calculating status...
Currently Being Moderated

HDV capture - laptop spec.

Apr 23, 2012 4:23 AM

Tags: #premiere #capture #premiere_cs5.5

I have a user at work who is recording simple video in HDV with a Sony camera. He's having problems capturing the clip on his laptop.

It's a Dell E6320 with 64-bit Win7, i7 2.7GHz dual core cpu and 8Gb of RAM. He's getting occasional artefacts on capture (red blocks). We tried

tweaking various settings which helped but haven't cured the problem. I suspect that the overall spec isn't up to the job, but don't

know enough about video capture to say definitely that he needs new kit (he has a limited budget and I don't want to order a pc

only to find that it doesn't help). There is a pc in the library which is used for video capture and it has the same 8Gb of ram, but

with a quad-core cpu - HDV capture works there. Adobe's system requirements state that HDV requires a 3.4GHz cpu, but doesn't

mention multi-core systems.

 

Can anyone advise on where the problem might lie? He's using CS5.5.

894 Views   11 Replies   Latest reply: fb_13, May 14, 2012 1:32 AM
 
Replies
  • Harm Millaard
    Currently Being Moderated
    1. Harm Millaard,
    Apr 23, 2012 4:47 AM   in reply to fb_13
    Report

    See http://forums.adobe.com/thread/810750?tstart=0

     

    He could also try if HDVSplit, a free capture program, gives better results on an underpowered system.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Alan Craven
    Currently Being Moderated
    2. Alan Craven,
    Apr 23, 2012 5:56 AM   in reply to fb_13
    Report

    Your user should have no problems editing HDV on the laptop you describe.  I used to capture and edit HDV on a far lower spec. laptop - 1.8 GHz core 2, 2 GB RAM, Windows XP 32 bit, single drive - using CS4.  I currently use a laptop nearer your spec., but still inferior - 1.8 GHz i7, 4 GB RAM - using CS5.

     

    Are you sure the red artifacts are not on the tape?  Clogged heads can cause this with HDV.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Alan Craven
    Currently Being Moderated
    3. Alan Craven,
    Apr 23, 2012 5:58 AM   in reply to Harm Millaard
    Report

    OT!

     

    Harm,

     

    I just noticed, we signed up on the same day!  I am just a mere 16,900 posts behind you.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • fb_13
    Currently Being Moderated
    4. fb_13,
    Apr 23, 2012 5:58 AM   in reply to Alan Craven
    Report

    The artefacts only appear when capturing from the laptop - on the library pc it's fine.

    Playback on the camera itself doesn't show any issues either.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Bill Gehrke
    Currently Being Moderated
    5. Bill Gehrke,
    Apr 23, 2012 6:09 AM   in reply to Alan Craven
    Report

    I second Alan's cause for red artifacts on HDV.  Try cleaning the tape heads, it might minimze the problem but if it is already on the tape the only thing you can do is cut them out.  If they have important good audio on them the just repeat the good frame before and after the cuts

     

    Message was edited by: Bill Gehrke

     

    Just go ahead and capture on the library PC and edit on the laptop

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Alan Craven
    Currently Being Moderated
    6. Alan Craven,
    Apr 23, 2012 6:11 AM   in reply to fb_13
    Report

    OK, it was just a thought.

     

     

    You are capturing via firewire? There is an issue with W7 firewire drivers with some systems. You have to change the driver W7 installs to a driver which is listed in Windows as "legacy". You should try this. I will try to locate a link for the full method.

     

    It is here:

     

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprohardware/threa d/65cb7a25-2a84-4875-aa27-b084537e8da1/

     

    Message was edited by: Alan Craven   addition of link, which does not work!  Something adds a space between the "e" and "a" in thread.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • fb_13
    Currently Being Moderated
    7. fb_13,
    Apr 23, 2012 6:13 AM   in reply to Alan Craven
    Report

    That was one of the first tweaks I tried as I saw it suggested elsewhere. There are fewer artefacts

    with the legacy driver, but it didn't completely cure it. I also tried maxing out the amount of RAM that PP

    can use and tweaking the camera settings for the right model (although it was just Sony's 'standard' setting).

    Again it all seemed to help a bit, but not completely. It's quite frustrating as it works on one small clip, but

    not on another, longer clip. I get the feeling it's close, but not quite there.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Harm Millaard
    Currently Being Moderated
    8. Harm Millaard,
    Apr 23, 2012 6:26 AM   in reply to fb_13
    Report

    I suggested HDVSplit to try, because it carries less overhead than PR and maybe that makes the difference.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • RjL190365
    Currently Being Moderated
    9. RjL190365,
    Apr 23, 2012 6:44 AM   in reply to Harm Millaard
    Report

    I agree. None of the Dell Latitude E6320 configurations offer true quad-core CPUs to begin with: All of the E6320 configurations use CPUs that have only two physical cores. Even the i7-2640M (the top CPU offered in the E6320) is only dual-core (in fact, some mobile i7 CPUs such as the i7-2640M are just mobile i5 CPUs with a little bit more L3 cache).

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • Alan Craven
    Currently Being Moderated
    10. Alan Craven,
    Apr 23, 2012 7:11 AM   in reply to RjL190365
    Report

    RjL,

     

    That may well be, but it is still a good deal more potent than my 2005 vintage Vaio, which had no problem capturing HDV.

     
    |
    Mark as:
  • fb_13
    Currently Being Moderated
    11. fb_13,
    May 14, 2012 1:32 AM   in reply to Harm Millaard
    Report

    Thanks for the suggestion. This turned out to be the best way forward.

     
    |
    Mark as:
Actions

More Like This

  • Retrieving data ...

Bookmarked By (0)

Answers + Points = Status

  • 10 points awarded for Correct Answers
  • 5 points awarded for Helpful Answers
  • 10,000+ points
  • 1,001-10,000 points
  • 501-1,000 points
  • 5-500 points