DV transfer problem

[somail]

I am trying to transfer a video from my camcorder and when I do my video looks looks very odd. The viewfinder shows the video perfectly during transfer. I also have tried multiple programs, and other tapes are able to transfer fine. Below is a screenshot of what I get when trasfering video:
http://img255.echo.cx/img255/9467/00151lz.th.jpg (http://img255.echo.cx/my.php?image=00151lz.jpg)

thanks for any help.

[communist]

Maybe the decoding on your PC is borked? You could install ffdshow and set it to decode DV and see if that solves the problem. Since your camera is playing back fine tape problems / dropouts are not your problem.
Either there is something going wrong during the transfer (bad cable / hdd?) or there is something wrong on the decoding side.

[Video Dude]

That looks exactly like the problem I had when I was playing an analog 8mm tape in a digital 8 camcorder. The viewfinder and LCD screen looked normal, but the output to the PC via DV cable was all distorted.

[somail]

Thanks for your replys.

I have been able to duplicate the problem on three different computers, so it doesn't appear to be a computer problem. I will try out the ffdshow and see what I get. I didn't even know that was an option.

I am actually troubleshooting this problem for my friend, and he says the tape was not originally recorded in the camera I am using. The tape itself is a miniDV, and I am using it in a miniDV Sony camera. Is it possible the original camera used a DV format the sony isn't able to decode when trasfering. I am thinking Video Dude is on the right track, I just need to narrow down my possible problems.

thanks
somail

[somail]

Okay I found the problem. The tape is PAL and the camera is NTSC. I found a couple threads talking about options, but no solutions. If anyone has any ideas let me know. Later I am going to try to capture the video through analog using my AIW and virtual dub using pal settings. I doubt it will work, but its worth a try.

[theReal]

If the tape is worth copying I'd look for someone who can copy it for you (to an ntsc tape)
Shouldn't cost more than 50 Dollars or so (probably less).
Or maybe you can rent a PAL DV camcorder for a day (though it is probably more expensive)

[communist]

Arent the tapes the same? All he needs is access to a PAL DV camera / video deck to properly play it back. After all he still has to capture PAL data or do you mean a PAL -> NTSC conversion?

[theReal]

All he needs is access to a PAL DV cameraThat's what I meant when I said rent a PAL camcorder for a day.
You're right, getting the tape copied would mean a PAL-NTSC conversion (which could be wanted or unwanted, depending on if he wants to mix the material with NTSC footage in an NLE program or not)

Tapes are of course the same, with "an ntsc tape" I meant a tape that contains ntsc video.

[theReal]

by the way, NEW IDEA:

what if you only received trash because your capture program was set to NTSC/525 while the incoming DV stream was PAL/625? Wrong assumed number of lines could possibly lead to pictures that look like the one you posted.

Have you tried to capture via firewire with the capture program set to PAL/625? The camcorder is obviously able to display PAL pictures, why shouldn't it be able to send that stream via firewire?

[somail]

Originally posted by theReal
by the way, NEW IDEA:

what if you only received trash because your capture program was set to NTSC/525 while the incoming DV stream was PAL/625? Wrong assumed number of lines could possibly lead to pictures that look like the one you posted.

Have you tried to capture via firewire with the capture program set to PAL/625? The camcorder is obviously able to display PAL pictures, why shouldn't it be able to send that stream via firewire?

hmmm. I guess it would depend on how the camera plays back the tape. If the camera expects a NTSC source, then playing back to a PAL display/program would probably be pointless in my opinion.

Firewire wise I am not sure how I would "set" a program to pal. The two programs I use are WINDV and DVIO, both seem to just stream the information from the camera, and let the camera decide how the information is played back.

I still have not had a chance to try an analog PAL capture with my AIW. I will probably have time to do it tonight.

As for renting equipment and spending money, since it isn't my tape and I'm doing this for a friend its up to him if he wants to put money into it. :p

I already sugested to him that he borrow someone's PAL camera from or apartment complex. (We live at a University of California school so there are tons of foreign exchange student in our area)

[theReal]

The viewfinder shows the video perfectly during transfer. That means the camcorder can perfectly read the information as PAL/625.

I don't know WinDV or Dvio, but I know that Premiere, Premiere Pro, Avid and Final Cut Pro have project settings as well as capture settings (video format-wise).
It's very important that these settings are right or the projects are messed up from the beginning.

On the other hand, maybe the camcorder can only play back PAL but not send it through firewire, this is of course possible as well.