Problem with HD capture Utility at DVinfo.net

Michael Mirochnik · May 12th, 2004, 10:39 AM

Hello.
Need help. I am tired with this utility.
This utility recognizes the camera time after time. Everything fine with regular capturing, but HD transport doesn’t work. It won’t see the camera, and I can’t press START to begin capture HD footage, because it’s inactive. I have to restart computer or reconnect the camera couple of time, and even then its not always work. So, I don’t see any pattern in this transport utility behavior, its working when it wants to. Maybe somebody knows what i am doing wrong and what should I do.
Thanks.

Phil Wright · May 12th, 2004, 12:27 PM

Couple suggestions:

1) Go into the System menu on the camera and set i.LINK OUT to "SW" instead of AUTO.

2) Don't use tapes with DV footage to record HD footage. Frequently you'll end up with a short segment of DV at the beginning and the camera will be trying to switch modes.

3) Obviously make sure the camera is set to HD mode prior to connecting it to the PC.

Also have you tried it with a different cable or on a different PC?

Giving us more information on your setup would also help.

Michael Mirochnik · May 12th, 2004, 01:34 PM

Thank you Phil.
Your suggestion was very helpful.
Everything is working.
But in the same time with this setup CineForm shows that is capture device offline.

Phil Wright · May 12th, 2004, 02:10 PM

HDLink (utility that comes with Aspect HD and Connect HD) only works with the camera in HD mode. So if the camera is in DV mode HDLink won't recognize it.

When you say that "...CineForm shows that is capture device offline.", I'm not sure if you mean HDLink or if you might be referring to the Premiere capture window. The native Premiere capture module doesn't work with HDV cameras. For Aspect HD you do all your captures with HDLink and then import the AVI files into Premiere.

Michael Mirochnik · May 12th, 2004, 03:26 PM

No, it wasn’t the Premier capture window. It was CineForm. And the camera was mpeg mode and I. LINK OUT set to "SW".
When you chose capture in Premier, with CineForm installed, new option appears, and let's you capture HD. Actually it was working when the camera was in DV mode, and I was able to use transport. Although capturing was quiet impossible. The error windows appear “Zero frames were captured”, and program went to hung mode.
Thank you for your time Phil.
But it would be nice to use CineForm to convert movies back to mpg.ts and send files back to DVHS.

Phil Wright · May 12th, 2004, 03:46 PM

CineForm is the company name. The product name is "Aspect HD for Premiere Pro" or Aspect HD for brevity's sake.

Premiere does not support the capture of the MPEG HDV video from the camera. With or without our software installed. If you choose capture in Premiere you are getting the native Premiere capture module and not something supplied by CineForm as part of Aspect HD.

HDLink is the utility to use to capture the MPEG HDV video from your HD10 and convert it to AVI for use in Premiere. This conversion to AVI is done during capture from camera and on a sufficiently fast PC is at or near real-time.

Once you have completed your editing you can export your timeline in MPEG-2 TS format using the MPEG-2 preset we supply and go back to tape. The export process creates a new transport stream file on your hard drive and this is sent back to your camera or DVHS deck via HDLink once again.

There is no print-to-tape function from the timeline as there are no PCs capable of real-time HD 720p30 MPEG-2 compression using the CPU alone.

Michael Mirochnik · May 12th, 2004, 04:47 PM

Sorry Phil.
You absolutely right. I don't know why I am constantly calling this program CineForm. I download Connect HD, and thought what if I use choose HD project, it automatically let me download files from the camera in HD mode. I was wrong.
Thanks once again.

Phil Wright · May 12th, 2004, 05:42 PM

No problem.

Connect HD is a different matter. With Connect HD you can capture to AVI files in the CFHD format which can then be edited in Vegas, Premiere or other AVI editors. This capture, as with Aspect HD, is done via HDLink.

What Connect HD gets you, besides HDLink, is an efficient, high-quality video codec so that your HDV video can be edited in standard AVI editing applications and compositing tools. Connect HD does not include the real-time pipeline or Premiere plugins that come with Aspect HD.

To go back out to tape again whatever application you are using will need to support TS export in a way that is compatible with the HDV cameras. The current Vegas release can do this. Premiere Pro 1.0 with Aspect HD installed can do this.

Michael Mirochnik · May 12th, 2004, 06:26 PM

Phil, one last question. I've already occupied a lot of your time.
Is AVI file which is created with HDLink, still in the same HD resolution.

Phil Wright · May 13th, 2004, 10:20 AM

Yes. The AVIs that are created by HDLink are the full 1280x720 resolution and stored in compressed 4:2:2 YUV.

Both a VFW and DirectShow codec are supplied so that the AVIs can be used with the wide range of video applications.

May 12th, 2004, 10:39 AM	#1
Michael Mirochnik New Boot Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: USA, NY Posts: 18	Problem with HD capture Utility Hello. Need help. I am tired with this utility. This utility recognizes the camera time after time. Everything fine with regular capturing, but HD transport doesn’t work. It won’t see the camera, and I can’t press START to begin capture HD footage, because it’s inactive. I have to restart computer or reconnect the camera couple of time, and even then its not always work. So, I don’t see any pattern in this transport utility behavior, its working when it wants to. Maybe somebody knows what i am doing wrong and what should I do. Thanks. __________________ MikeM1965

May 12th, 2004, 01:34 PM	#3
Michael Mirochnik New Boot Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: USA, NY Posts: 18	Thank you Phil. Your suggestion was very helpful. Everything is working. But in the same time with this setup CineForm shows that is capture device offline. __________________ MikeM1965

May 12th, 2004, 03:26 PM	#5
Michael Mirochnik New Boot Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: USA, NY Posts: 18	No, it wasn’t the Premier capture window. It was CineForm. And the camera was mpeg mode and I. LINK OUT set to "SW". When you chose capture in Premier, with CineForm installed, new option appears, and let's you capture HD. Actually it was working when the camera was in DV mode, and I was able to use transport. Although capturing was quiet impossible. The error windows appear “Zero frames were captured”, and program went to hung mode. Thank you for your time Phil. But it would be nice to use CineForm to convert movies back to mpg.ts and send files back to DVHS. __________________ MikeM1965

May 12th, 2004, 04:47 PM	#7
Michael Mirochnik New Boot Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: USA, NY Posts: 18	Sorry Phil. You absolutely right. I don't know why I am constantly calling this program CineForm. I download Connect HD, and thought what if I use choose HD project, it automatically let me download files from the camera in HD mode. I was wrong. Thanks once again. __________________ MikeM1965

May 12th, 2004, 06:26 PM	#9
Michael Mirochnik New Boot Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: USA, NY Posts: 18	Phil, one last question. I've already occupied a lot of your time. Is AVI file which is created with HDLink, still in the same HD resolution. __________________ MikeM1965

May 12th, 2004, 12:27 PM	#2
Phil Wright CineForm (Aspect HD) Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Oceanside, CA Posts: 57	Couple suggestions: 1) Go into the System menu on the camera and set i.LINK OUT to "SW" instead of AUTO. 2) Don't use tapes with DV footage to record HD footage. Frequently you'll end up with a short segment of DV at the beginning and the camera will be trying to switch modes. 3) Obviously make sure the camera is set to HD mode prior to connecting it to the PC. Also have you tried it with a different cable or on a different PC? Giving us more information on your setup would also help.

May 12th, 2004, 02:10 PM	#4
Phil Wright CineForm (Aspect HD) Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Oceanside, CA Posts: 57	HDLink (utility that comes with Aspect HD and Connect HD) only works with the camera in HD mode. So if the camera is in DV mode HDLink won't recognize it. When you say that "...CineForm shows that is capture device offline.", I'm not sure if you mean HDLink or if you might be referring to the Premiere capture window. The native Premiere capture module doesn't work with HDV cameras. For Aspect HD you do all your captures with HDLink and then import the AVI files into Premiere.

May 12th, 2004, 03:46 PM	#6
Phil Wright CineForm (Aspect HD) Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Oceanside, CA Posts: 57	CineForm is the company name. The product name is "Aspect HD for Premiere Pro" or Aspect HD for brevity's sake. Premiere does not support the capture of the MPEG HDV video from the camera. With or without our software installed. If you choose capture in Premiere you are getting the native Premiere capture module and not something supplied by CineForm as part of Aspect HD. HDLink is the utility to use to capture the MPEG HDV video from your HD10 and convert it to AVI for use in Premiere. This conversion to AVI is done during capture from camera and on a sufficiently fast PC is at or near real-time. Once you have completed your editing you can export your timeline in MPEG-2 TS format using the MPEG-2 preset we supply and go back to tape. The export process creates a new transport stream file on your hard drive and this is sent back to your camera or DVHS deck via HDLink once again. There is no print-to-tape function from the timeline as there are no PCs capable of real-time HD 720p30 MPEG-2 compression using the CPU alone.

May 12th, 2004, 05:42 PM	#8
Phil Wright CineForm (Aspect HD) Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Oceanside, CA Posts: 57	No problem. Connect HD is a different matter. With Connect HD you can capture to AVI files in the CFHD format which can then be edited in Vegas, Premiere or other AVI editors. This capture, as with Aspect HD, is done via HDLink. What Connect HD gets you, besides HDLink, is an efficient, high-quality video codec so that your HDV video can be edited in standard AVI editing applications and compositing tools. Connect HD does not include the real-time pipeline or Premiere plugins that come with Aspect HD. To go back out to tape again whatever application you are using will need to support TS export in a way that is compatible with the HDV cameras. The current Vegas release can do this. Premiere Pro 1.0 with Aspect HD installed can do this.

May 13th, 2004, 10:20 AM	#10
Phil Wright CineForm (Aspect HD) Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Oceanside, CA Posts: 57	Yes. The AVIs that are created by HDLink are the full 1280x720 resolution and stored in compressed 4:2:2 YUV. Both a VFW and DirectShow codec are supplied so that the AVIs can be used with the wide range of video applications.