Capturing problem: spliting clips into different files
 

When I am capturing from a Sony A1u & HC1 sometimes Vegas will cut in the middle of a clip. I like the auto save type feature that saves all your clips in order, but is there a way to change it's sensitivity. It seems to think there was a change in scene/take when there isn't. I couldn't figure it out in the program or the help. Any ideas? Could this be caused by anything other than Vegas (the capturing software).

Are you capturing to a disk formatted in FAT32? If yes, is the first file 4Gig? FAT32 has a file size limit of 4Gig so, when capturing, if 4Gig is reached, a new file must be started.

I usually either capture to an extra internal or an external through esata, not sure how to know if they are formatted to FAT32. The file sizes are actually pretty small, usually around 150 megs. Should I be capturing to a disk formatted in FAT32?

No. You should be capturing to a disk using NTFS. If the file size is 150meg, that's not the problem. I'm assuming you're capturing HDV. Could it be a dropped frame?

Open up "My Computer", right-click the drive and Select "Properties".
Beside "File System", it'll tell you if it's NTFS or FAT32.

Didn't realize my post from the other day didn't get posted.

Both drives are NTFS, thanks Mike. I am capturing HDV. I wasn't sure how to check for a drop frame, so I thought a good test would be to recapture the footage where the error happened. I was able to recapture just that part without splitting it in half. So I am concluding it was not a dropped frame. It happened in the middle of a long zoom. It would be very time efficient to prevent this from happening again. Does anyone have any idea how to control this?

Remember that you can sometimes get a dropped frame and the next time you play it back you don't get a dropped frame. That's one reason why people sometimes recapture.

oh ok, I think that I've always had a misunderstanding of what a dropped frame was. I thought it happened on the tape, but instead a dropped frame while capturing to the computer.
Is there other programs that are more reliable for capturing? Is there anything I can tweak/improve/look into so that I can try to limit this from happening?

In this case, it was probably a dirty spot on the head that caused the dropped frame. Then next time it was played, the dirty spot was gone so it played fine.

That makes sense, would a head cleaning tape be advised? I've never been sure if these things are safe. If I should get a head cleaning tape, should I buy the same brand tapes as I use (jvc) or the brand camera I have (sony) or doesn't matter? Edward, I really appreciate your help troubleshooting this problem with me.