PE 8 Doesn't recognize my camera on HDV but does on my lapto

[rjones]

I'm stumped. PE8 on my Gateway desktop does not recognize my Sony HDR-HCI when in HD capture mode. When I go to capture it lists the capture device as Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit 1 instead of HDR-HCI. When I try to capture, empty mpeg files are written to disk but PE8 nor any other video program can read them.

Now, on my HP laptop, I can run PE8 and when I try to capture it lists HDR-HCI as the capture device and it works perfectly.

This, by the way, is a problem that's not new. I also had trouble with PE 7 as well. Is there a driver or something missing on the Gateway that PE8 looks for and uses? And if so, how do I get it on my Gateway?

Oh yes, I'm running Win 7 64-bit on the desktop and Win 7 32-bit on the laptop.

Any help in fixing this would be greatly appreciated as my desktop is my main video editing computer.

rjones

[rjones]

I may have answered my own question above. I checked the Windows 7 compatibility site and many, many Sony cameras are not yet 64-bit compatible. Mine wasn't even on the list, as it was one of Sony's earliest prosumer HDV cameras, so I may be hosed using my very expensive Sony camcorder with Win 7 64-bit, which really stinks, by the way.

I suppose to do HDV I will have to use my laptap to capture the video and then take it to my desktop to edit it. At least I'm assuming I can do this. Any other advice?

[Bob]

Welcome to Muvipix!

Yes, you've pretty much answered your own question. The HDR-HC1 is listed on the Vista compatability site and shows 32 bit compatiblity, but no 64 bit compatibility. Windows 7 uses the same driver model so that should be the case for Windows 7 also. The Sony drivers are included in the Operating System, you don't have to install them separately. The id you see is what you'll get if there is no device specific driver. It looks like Sony doesn't provide a 64 bit driver for that camcorder.

You should be able to capture on the laptop and transfer the files to the desktop.

[rjones]

OK, I have another question.Why can HDV Split not only recognize my camera by model number but capture the video on my 64-bit system? It saves the video as .m2t files. Are these legit hi-def or are they a workaround?

As an experiment I tried to capture using Sony Vegas eval. It, too, recognized my camcorder, which Premiere didn't do, but although it went through the motions the capture were empty.

If HDV split is indeed doing a hi-def capture how come a guy in Poland who is giving away his little beta program has figured it what Adobe, Sony and Microsoft hasn't been able to do?

[Chuck Engels]

Hi RJones - To Muvipix

m2t are legitimate high definition mpeg files. I only use HDVSplit to capture from my Canon HV40

[Bob]

Hard to say what's going on. Microsoft AV/C Tape is a generic driver and it's possible the other programs can use it (if that is indeed the driver being used) to some degree and they may have different ways of identifying the camera. Or, something else may be going on. If you plug in the camera and go into the device manager, what does it say for the driver and manufacturer? This is very odd.

[rjones]

Hard to say what's going on. Microsoft AV/C Tape is a generic driver and it's possible the other programs can use it (if that is indeed the driver being used) to some degree and they may have different ways of identifying the camera. Or, something else may be going on. If you plug in the camera and go into the device manager, what does it say for the driver and manufacturer? This is very odd.

The device driver lists the camera under Sound, video and game controllers as: AV/C Tape Device. I've attempted to update it, but Windows says it the best driver, even though it's dated 2006.

The 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller handles the firewire duties, but I don't think it's the issue.

Sony camcorder support said that Win 7 has the Sony drivers built in and no download for my camera is needed. The problem is, nobody seems to know what's going on. Certainly Adobe sheds no light on all these inconsistencies and quirks. The Sony camcorder guys quickly shuffled me off to the software division when I mentioned that even Sony Vegas couldn't capture my hi-def files. I haven't gotten in touch with them yet but I'm assuming they will be in the dark as well. I think this is why Apple is doing so well. One of the upsides to an autocratic and closed operating system is that you can control the consistency of the drivers much better.

[Chuck Engels]

I think that if you have HDVSplit working you are in great shape. Premiere Elements does not offer a view while capturing option or a way to capture and split HDV by timecode. HDVSplit provides all of that functionality and more.