Playback issues from Mini DV to Vista 64-bit PC

[maju763]

Background:
digital-cam sc-d351..
OS is Vista 64-bit...
1. trying to import with Windows Movie Maker...
playback happens too quickly...
On import using Movie Maker shows the "Tape Position" at 36 seconds, but the "Video Imported" is at 20 seconds. On playback of tape, everything is playing too quickly (it's cramming 36 seconds of actual video footage into 20 seconds, ie the people in the video are all moving too quickly - like an old B&W movie); audio is also sped up.
Samsung agent recommended installing codec 64-bit from codecguide ..i did that, but i have the same problem...

2. tried using WinDV...
Video playback on pc is normal, but audio is choppy and 'scratchy'

I have done a lot of searching and it seems there isn't much support for Vista 64-bit. It seems like it works for some people and not others. Any help out there?

[Steve Grisetti]

Hi, Maju. Welcome to Muvipix.

I'm sorry but I'm having a little trouble understanding your issues. I'd ask, as we continue our discussion, that you write in more complete sentences. Details are, after all, what we use for clues to figure out what's going on. Meantime, I'll do my best.

You say you've imported into Windows MovieMaker over FireWire from this miniDV camcorder? MovieMaker should function on either a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows operating system. I don't know of any reason you'd get playback at double speed if you've captured over FireWire.

You also shouldn't need to install any codecs. MiniDV over FireWire is a standard video codec that all Windows machines are capable of playing. I'm particularly surprised to hear you're also having problems with WinDV.

I assume you've gone to Wndows Update and ensured that even non-critical updates are applied and that you've got the latest version of Quicktime.

Beyond that, can you offer us any clues as to what's going on? Is there anything at all unusual about your situation -- e.g., it was a home-built system, you've upgraded from XP, you're capturing other than over FireWire...

[maju763]

All Windows updates done, critical and non-critical.

Using Windows Movie Maker, in the Import Video window, I have the Digital Video Camera Controls options. If I choose the Play option, the video camera will play the video in normally (normal speed). I can see the video running in the Import Video preview window and it is running normally. When I start recording ("Start Video Import"), it seems good in the Preview Window. Once I finish importing, I play the AVI or WMV just created, and the video/audio both play at a fast speed.

I tried taking the AVI produced on my VISTA64 system and copied to an XP system. Playback on the XP system is the same problem. The video/audio runs too quickly.

I've never done this Mini DV import to a PC, so I don't have any old DV AVI's to test. I have regular AVI movies and they play back without problems, but they didn't come from the Mini DV.

The Audio Mode on the video camera is set to SP, 12Bit. There is no USB option on the camera.

I've scrapped the WinDV idea for now since i had the Audio issue with that.

System is HP Pavilion m9340f, Quad-core 2.67GHz, 6GB RAM, 300 GB HD

[Chuck Engels]

What are you playing the video back with, Windows Media Player?

WinDV is the most basic of capture software, if you have a problem with that then you have a real problem.
Once you figure out what is causing the problem with WinDV then your other issues will probably go away also.
Firewire capture from a miniDV camcorder is really a very basic process as far as Windows is concerned.

Probably a codec issue, download Gspot and use it to tell you what codec is being used to open the DV-AVI file.
It will also find broken codecs and other problems on your machine, it's a really good tool to have and it's free.
http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

[maju763]

Regardless if i playback the file using Windows Media Player, Windows Movie maker, it still plays back too quickly. Even if i copy the AVI file to another PC.

I ran GSpot, but i don't know what to look for. I've attached a screen shot, hopefully it works.

[Chuck Engels]

Well, for one thing I can tell that the file is a WMV and not a AVI.
The codec it is using I am not familiar with at all.
Are you sure you captured this video with Windows Movie Maker?
Maybe it is a new codec that comes with Vista.
I'm sure that someone will have an idea of what might be wrong, hang in there.
Someone should be along shortly if they have any possible solutions or more questions.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Are you recording in LP mode rather than SP mode? I'm guessing that there is a menu option with the camera that switches between the two modes.

Also if you are capturing the video in WMM then saving the captured file, what format are you saving the file as?

[Steve Grisetti]

I agree with everything that's being posted.

With a miniDV connected over FireWire -- particularly if you're using WinDV, Premiere Elements or MovieMaker to capture -- you should be getting DV-AVIs. That file format is virtually the same as the video that's on the tape inside your camcorder!

So I'm not sure why you're getting these strange codecs -- but miniDV capture over FireWire (which isn't so much capture, since it doesn't change the video, as much as it is just streaming in data from your camcorder) is about as basic and generic and operation as there is. It's not operating system specific by any means. (the process, and video, is even virtually identical on a Mac!)

[maju763]

The file did come from Windows Movie Maker. If the one in the gspot screen shot shows up as WMV, then it's possible I grabbed the WMV instead of AVI. With Movie Maker, I've tried importing as AVI and WMV but the results are the same. I will open an AVI with gspot and post another screen shot.

The camera is set to SP, not LP (although it sure seems to be playing in LP mode since the video/audio is almost twice as fast as regular speed).

[Bob]

Yes, that's a wmv. I'd like to see the gspot snap for the avi file.

[maju763]

Gspot with the AVI file screen shot. Each screen shot shows different results in the Proposed codecs.

All feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Chuck Engels]

One problem that I think could be causing some issues is that it seems the files are AVI type 1 and not type 2.
Bob, Paul or somebody will have to confirm whether this is a problem or not.
I can see that one of the files has a few errors as well, not sure what is causing the errors however.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

A little info which might help re type 1 and type 2.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/pag ... _15_0.html

Also a quick Google serach turned up this which may help:

"It also turns out that Movie Maker creates DV files that are type 1. So, is it possible to convert between the types?

What you need is a piece of software called "DVDate" - http://www.free-codecs.com/download/DVdate.htm

All you do is load your .avi movie file captured by Movie Maker into DVDate, and choose "Convert to DV Type 2" from the Convert menu."

[maju763]

I converted the type 1 file to type 2. The file created for type 2 plays back identically to type 1. The file plays, but it plays in fast mode (and the audio is sped up as well).

I took the Type 2 file and ran gspot and the attached are the results.

[Chuck Engels]

I can't see a thing wrong with the video.
Any chance you could post a small clip so we could try it on our machines?
At least then we would know if it is isolated to your computer or not.