Pyro A/V Link Questions

[Chuck Engels]

No, sorry Cheryl, no way to split by scene because there is no timecode on the tape.
You can try the split by content in Premiere Elements 4 but that isn't perfect.
You can split by length (time) or size of the file in WinDV maybe that will help.

[Bobby]

When capturing VHS-C or VHS tapes I end up with 1 long clip. Read on this forum about WinDV, will this work for to split the clip by scene when using Pyro?

I use WinDV to split by time, not by scene - and I am not sure how effective the PE scene detection is (wasn't for me) but it should work. Lately I have been splitting into very small chunks - 1-2 minutes. You get nice small files and can easily review and discard the ones you don't want.

[Ken Jarstad]

Unfortunately not, Cheryl. Analog sources do not have time code indicating a change in scene nor does PrEl have scene detection. The best answer for that capability has always been Scenalyzer. I have heard they give away an older, less featured version. http://www.scenalyzer.com/

[momoffduty]

Thanks for the info, at least I didn't waste time with the WinDV. The tapes I am converting say 30, but are 60 to 90 min. Guess the camera was set to EP? So for now will scrub thru and split, scrub, split.....

[momoffduty]

Found a good article on converting VHS to DVD:

http://www.signvideo.com/conv-v-to-d.htm

There are also articles on bit calculations. I've been keeping a log on each project that includes menu types, # of chapters, animated, length of video, etc. Hopefully will be able to estimate future projects. Example: 3 projects with about 3 1/2 hours of tape, animated menus, 3 or 4 chapters, motion titles equaled about 100GB.

An idea for a project: Working on converting tapes for someone and asked the usual questions of what do you want to see on the DVD, 5 years from now?, who is the audience? Have 12 hours of tapes of their daughter's 1st year. Her daughter will want to see ever minute of it and have that as a keepsake. The parents didn't want to have to put in DVD after DVD to see just a few minutes here and there. The solution is to make a highlight video of the first year. Since the files are HUGE, when I finish one disc I export short clips as a DV-AVI file and number the file name to keep in order for the future project. That way when I bring in the folder of clips they are all in order. Such as Proj1_001, Proj3_025.... Also still have to tapes to recapture a segment if I absolutely have to. But, have been careful on the clips with extra handles and should have 5x the total amount I actually need.

[Ken Jarstad]

Usually, I try to keep my personal projects to 1 hour or less and set the DVD burn to highest quality. Will be converting tapes for someone else, is the hour a good rule of thumb for best quality? Read an article that mentioned setting the resolution lower to get more on a DVD. And to also keep the bitrate at a maximum of 6Mbps or lower. Any thoughts on these settings?

I'm pretty fussy about video quality but so far I have found that I can put as much as an hour and 50 minutes of analog tape source on a conventional DVD and I can't tell any loss of video quality. The few I have done that way the sources were excellent quality though. Not sure what EP-speed sources would do - they might really fall apart.

[video_nc]

Hoping someone might have some insight.... Have used this ADS Pyro A/V Link before and it worked great (used it with ULead MediaStudio Pro 7 and 8. Due to some redecorating, we had to pack up the A/V equipment and move it all to a new area and set it up again.

Reconnected the A/V Link to the DVR and now when I try to capture, the LED on the Pyro turns RED but I get a blank screen in MS Pro 8 and no frames captured. When I power up the unit, it's recognized in Windows as AVC Compliant DV Camcorder but nothing is being captured. I tried this on two different computers, one Desktop and one laptop, each with Firewire.

I know the cables are good since when I connect the A/V cables to a Sony Camcorder and the Firewire to the Camcorder, the Passthru capture works fine to MS Pro 8.

Starting to think that the Pyro has gone bad. It's no longer under warranty, so I expect calling ADS is pointless. DIP Switches are UP UP DOWN DOWN and it's a REV. E model.

Thoughts? Comments?

[jackfalbey]

This may be too simple of a solution, but the Pyro might be detecting the DVR as analog (red LED) instead of digital (blue LED). Try pushing the Mode Switch on the front panel to select "Digital" and see if it works...

If that doesn't do it, there are enough Pyro users here that we ought to be able to get you up & running.

Welcome to Muvipix!

[Ken Jarstad]

My Pyro Link is in storage right now so I can't get a look at it. The chart in the manual is quite confusing.

Since your first switch is UP, you must live in PAL land.

Switch 2 would normally be Up for Windows XP.

Switch 3 is usually Down but you can try it Up.

Switch 4 is Down for locked audio.

Looks like you have it set up right. Try using WinDV for capture. It's a lot less fussy about Firewire input and can a least verify if the Pyro is still working.

I don't know what kind of DVR output you have but mine here in the Colonies is strictly analog. They wouldn't want you to be able to make a pristine recording.

[Chuck Engels]

I agree with Ken about testing the capture with WinDV, that is the first thing the ADS techs ask about.

[momoffduty]

My switches are set: up, up, down, down and not in PAL land but do have XP.

I dusted my Pyro off the other day and since I hadn't used it in awhile, I mistakenly hooked the cables to the "in port" on the Panasonic unit instead of the "out ports". Not sure if this is the case with your problem. Does your program list ADS Pyro in the drop down list in the capture settings? PrPro has it listed.

[video_nc]

Thanks for the feedback... This is a Rev. E model so switch 1 is not PAL/NTSC but the IRE value (for Japan - OFF, Elsewhere- ON)....

The RED LED should be lit since I am connected from the DVR using RCA Audio (L/R) and S-Video... I was trying Component Video as well (setting the DVR to 480i output) but no luck there either.

I will try WinDV but given that the Camcorder works fine, I am puzzled. Both PCs have the TI 1394 interface.