doing something else while capturing
 

While Im capturing from camera I can't do anything else, is it same with you guys? Friend of mine can leave capturing on background and do everything else, I can't. Am I missing any settings or wheres the problem?

thanks!

What are your computer specs?

If you dont have a dual core prossesoer you won't be able to do anything else while you are capturing your footage.

I typically use that time to catch up on my reading, to make/receive phone calls, and to do other things that I tend to forget to do when my computer addiction gets in the way. :)

yeah, i dont have duel core, probably thats why...

just 3ghz, 2gb ram

That's why we don't dump our old machines. Outgrown processors are fine for surfing and stills. 3 generations back there's a very nice telephone answerer.

I don't think I'll ever be persuaded to multi-task on a PC that's capturing or transcoding. (Well, I suppose I shouldn't say ever.)

Andzei, your computer is fine! I have an even slower/older PC, a 1.6 GHz AMD with 2 GB of RAM and I can use it for capturing and doing other stuff at the same time. CPU usage for capturing only on this old machine is around 25%. The trick is to use another software, not PremPro - because PremPro will stop capturing if you click on anything else. So I use HDV Slit to capture high definition, or Windows Movie Maker to capture standard definition. The only time I am capturing directly into Premiere is when I need scene detection on SD footage.

Does windows movie maker capture just as well as premiere, from your experience?

Yes, it does - at least this is my experience, I have not encountered any problems.

For standard definition there are also some other pieces of software for capturing, VirtualDub (I have not tried it myself for capturing) and DVIO (which I have tried and found to be working). DVIO can also be used for transferring footage back to your DV camcorder. Both of these are freeware and you can find them using Google.

This setup should be fine. As someone else mentioned, I would use HDV Split to capture HDV footage and Windows Movie Maker for SD.

It surprises me that you can capture HDV on that system, which is below minimum requirements as stated by Adobe, and still manage to multi-task.

The answer is in your own words: "as stated by Adobe". I cannot capture HDV on that machine using Premiere Pro, because the software by itself eats up most of the computer resources - it would capture a few frames, than it would give up reporting dropped frames. As mentioned in my post, I am using DHV Split for capturing.

And contrary to everything I read on the internet (including this very forum), I can even edit HDV on that old machine... I do my work before going to sleep and let it render while I rest... so by the time I get up, it's all done. Sure, this won't work for a pro videographer, but for someone doing it as a hobby or side job as I do it, it's feasible.