Selecting from multiple attached DV sources

[John Miller]

Hello,

I've been playing around with the trial version of Vegas 8 for a few hours and, overall, I'm very impressed on many levels. However, there's one thing I came across almost immediately that I don't understand.

I have multiple DV devices connected to my system - a couple of camcorders for source, a Sony DSR-11 DV tape deck for recording output and a Sony DVD recorder that Windows recognizes as a valid DV device. (I like Sony stuff!) Often, I just have one camcorder and the DSR-11 connected.

When I go to capture in Vegas, both devices show up in the list under the Video menu. Both have the standard Windows name "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR" and *both* are selected. See the "Sony Video Capture 6.0" snapshot below. The only way I can tell which device is selected is by the timecode in the bottom right. Moreover, irrespective of which entry I choose, it always selects the same device. In this particular case it is the camcorder. I cannot select the DSR-11 unless I disconnect/turn off the camcorder. A similar problem occurs for "Print Video to Tape..."

I find it very odd that Sony (of all companies) wouldn't implement this properly. Even humble Windows Movie Maker lets you correctly select from multiple devices (see attached snapshot with "Video Capture Wizard: Sony.."). They still have identical names but WMM does correctly distinguish them.

Our own software also lets you select a specific device and, moreover, the names are much friendlier and can be changed (see attached image with a drop-down list).

Working within Vegas (and using Sony's capture app) would mean I would have to keep unplugging/turning off devices. Thankfully, there is a workaround of sorts. Vegas lets you specify an external capture app (see attached). By setting it to our software, you can then choose from multiple devices. Unfortunately, this isn't possible for printing to tape (though it's a simple matter to use our software outside of Vegas after the final DV AVI file has been rendered.

Anyway, the reason I post this is am I missing something, does the licensed version behave the same way, too. Am I really the only person who has more than one DV device connected at the same time?

Thanks,

John.