Problems capturing video w/ Panasonic PV-GS50
 

Greetings,

I just recently acquired a Panasonic PV-GS50 and a copy of Vegas 4.0. I am using a standard Firewire cable and card.

My basic issue is this: I am trying to capture some taped footage I've already made. Vegas keeps asking me to be in Web Camera mode, but when I do this, all it does is set up a live capture.

If I switch to VCR mode and start manual playback of the tape, Vegas says it can't connect to the device or that the device needs to be in Web Camera mode. Unfortunately, Web Camera Mode doesn't allow me to playback any of the tape I've already made.

It seems like a catch-22 of sorts. Should I be using a video capture card? I was under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that all I needed was a firewire cable.

Any help you could render would be most appreciated.

One issue I had incorporating some 16:9 animation into my timeline was that even tho the animation software rendered assuming a 16:9, 1.2121 pixel aspect ratio, I had to manually set the clip properties on the timeline to that ratio, because when I brought it in, it was set to square (1.0).

I think I also had to set the "disable resample" option for the animation clips, otherwise i would see some wierd smearing effects.

Help! Restoring the Vegas Desktop
 

Somehow I have buggered Vegas so I can't view the media pool or any other of the tabbed thingies (tech word).

I know there is a command on startup to restore the default Vegas desktop, but darned if I can find it!

Thanks!

Open Vegas,
Go to the View menu
click on each toolbar you want to open,
they will open in the docked position at the bottom.

If you hold down Ctrl and Shift when starting up Vegas it will resotred the Defaults. Note: it restores ALL the defaults, not just windows. If only the windows are messed up, you might just use View -> desired window to show the ones you are missing.

problem printing to tape
 

I'm suddenly having a problem printing to tape. Running WinXP with Vegas 3.0c, nothing is sent to my GL2 when I print to tape from Vegas. I verified I can capture from the camera fine over firewire. Even when I print to tape, Vegas will start my camera and look like it's printing to tape. But nothing appears on my GL2 screen, and playing back what should have been the video is nothing but a black screen.

I've reinstalled my firewire card, but still the same. Windoze detects my camera when I plug it into the firewire port, so obviously it's communicating. I reinstalled Vegas also, but that didn't work. Even tried Movie Maker to see if that would work, but still all I get is a black screen.

Any other ideas? This is maddening....

Thanks!
 

I used the CTRL-SHIFT to restore and then did it again.

When I did View I could see them flying down to the bottom of the screen. Apparently they were hiding behind the Windows Start Bar.

Is this a 4.0e quirk or has it always been this way?

If MovieMaker isn't working either then the problem is probably
not with Vegas. What firewire card are you using?

What's changed on your system since it last worked? What have you installed?

There are several things to "try" but no guarantees any would work. For example:

Reinstall Vegas.
Reinstall DirectX.
Try another program such a Scenalyzer or the Vegas Capture.

One solution I'm sure WOULD work, reinstall XP and your Apps.

I've not seen that on ANY of the releases. BTW, that didn't change in 4.0e.

It sounds like they have been dragged loose of the "snapping" area. Can you drag them back to the snapping area?

Also, are you saying the screen did not reset? Or that it reset and then immediately went back to what you are describing? And you held the keys down through the entire startup of Vegas?

I was afraid of the responses I'd get...I did try reinstalling Vegas, but not DirectX, so I'll try that. Reloading WinXP will be my last resort. Don't recall reinstalling anything, but I've haven't had to print to tape for over a month, so there's no telling. My firewire card is a Pinnacle, I believe. I also have an AIW Radeon 8500DV, and that firewire port does the same thing. Just thought it was weird since the computer will control the camera and communicate with it....it just won't spit any video from the pc to the camera. Vice-versa works fine. Oh well. Hopefully I'll get this resolved soon. I have a project due in one week!

As a test, have you tried a different firewire cable?

Also, a standard OHCI compliant card would be better (using the built-in Microsoft drivers!)

I'll try a different cable, that's worth a shot. It is a standard OHCI compliant card. There's the one built into the ATI video card, then I have an additional firewire card installed as well. Both give the same results. Silly computers....

Well this is a bummer, and I hope it's not a problem with my new GL2. I tried from a different computer and different cable to print to tape to my GL2. Same thing, only get a black screen even though Vegas starts and stops my camera correctly. Then I tried the same thing but to an XL1s and it worked fine, print to tape worked correctly.

So does this sound like a problem with my GL2? Is there some setting I'm missing? I don't really think so, but I'm hoping. This is bumming me out.

Just noticed, aren't we supposed to see a DV IN indication on the screen when we have a firewire cable connected to the camera? This might be more appropriate in the GL2 forum, but when I have the cable connected and the GL2 set to VCR, the screen shows TV Screen and AV->DV. It does not show DV IN.

Edit....I'm a moron....all it was a silly setting in the menu screen. I had AV->DV turned on, which uses the analog inputs. Just did a test on printing to tape, and it worked fine on my GL2. Geez, I feel like a total tool...Thanks guys.