I read all of the information on this site and bought the HV20. Very pleased with the camera and the quality of the video except for one major problem -- I simply cannot capture the video onto any of my computers without dropping frames. I've tried everything -- shutting off processes, making sure windows indexing is disabled, etc. I just think my computer isn't powerful enough (although it isn't without any power, AMD 64 3500). So, HV20 going back.

Now, my question -- am I right in assuming that if I get a hard-drive based camcorder, I will not have a problem with dropped frames? it should be just a matter of transferring a file from one harddrive to another, right?

Need help soon -- baby one the way!

Thanks.

Have you tried HDVSplit? http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm

I have been editing with a P4 HT 2.8ghz processor better than I thought it would, although I will probably be upgrading this summer to a Core 2 Quad 2.4ghz processor when the prices are planned to drop to around $270 for the chip.

I did -- still no good. I keep thinking I'm doing something wrong, but I can't imagine what it is. I've shut off every process, every program, tried different tapes, different cables, different computers, and I'm capturing the video on a separate drive from the program drive. Pretty much everything they suggest except buying a more powerful computer.

Anyway, I've given up. But before buying the hdd based camcorder, I want to make sure my assumption is correct so I don't get hit with a restocking fee if I'm wrong.

I'm pretty sure you would not have the problem of dropped frames, but if you are having problems capturing footage, then you probably won't be able to view or edit it either. I guess it would be okay if you just wanted to store it.

Yeah, you seemed to try everything you could that should have worked. Only other things I would have tried was giving HDVSplit a high priority in task manager, and possibly using a different FireWire port/card if possible.

Thanks. I'll try that out -- but not very optimistic.

Not really looking to edit, just to store and play. HDV in theory was the best option for me because I could capture it as an mpeg-2 and just stream it to my tv via xbox 360. Now I have to try and figure out this avchd nonsense. Something tells me avchd isn't going to play well with xbox streaming (sony v. microsoft).

How are the dropped frames being noticed?
Does the software give you a readout of the number of dropped frames, or do you notice it on the preview screen while capturing?

I have a four year old computer and I am able to capture HV20 footage by firewire using HDV Split with no problems. My computer is not even close to being state of the art...and it handles HDV with zero problems. Smooth as silk.

...I just think my computer isn't powerful enough (although it isn't without any power, AMD 64 3500). So, HV20 going back. ...
How many frames you dropped ? You need a decent HD, though pretty much all HDs would do. There is no real reason this presents a real problem that can not be solved. I posted a link just today's in another thread about HV20 capture, there is a CapDVHS program that is really easy to use and works for me.

Going back to SD camcorder is not really very appealing to me, I wish I could have shot my son's video in HD, too bad it was not possible then.

I read all of the information on this site and bought the HV20. Very pleased with the camera and the quality of the video except for one major problem -- I simply cannot capture the video onto any of my computers without dropping frames. I've tried everything -- shutting off processes, making sure windows indexing is disabled, etc. I just think my computer isn't powerful enough (although it isn't without any power, AMD 64 3500). So, HV20 going back.

Now, my question -- am I right in assuming that if I get a hard-drive based camcorder, I will not have a problem with dropped frames? it should be just a matter of transferring a file from one harddrive to another, right?

Need help soon -- baby one the way!

Thanks.
It sounds like you don't have HV20 dropping frames but PC not getting all the frames. If you playback the footage directly from HV20 to an HDTV do you see the video pause for a fraction of sec from time to time? If not then your HV20 is putting out continuous frames and the problem lies with your computer capture. You need to have big chunk of hard drive space in 10GBs to accept HDV streams smoothly. How big is your hard drive and did you run a defragmentation before the capture?

It sounds like you don't have HV20 dropping frames but PC not getting all the frames. If you playback the footage directly from HV20 to an HDTV do you see the video pause for a fraction of sec from time to time? If not then your HV20 is putting out continuous frames and the problem lies with your computer capture. You need to have big chunk of hard drive space in 10GBs to accept HDV streams smoothly. How big is your hard drive and did you run a defragmentation before the capture?

Yes, that's exactly right -- I wasn't being precise. I very much think the problem is on the computer end. I've tried capturing video to the c drive, which has about 100 GB free and to a second internal drive, which has about 300 GB free. I will try defraging, although I have diskeeper and that generally keeps the drives relatively defraged.

How many frames you dropped ? You need a decent HD, though pretty much all HDs would do. There is no real reason this presents a real problem that can not be solved. I posted a link just today's in another thread about HV20 capture, there is a CapDVHS program that is really easy to use and works for me.

Going back to SD camcorder is not really very appealing to me, I wish I could have shot my son's video in HD, too bad it was not possible then.

I'm not sure how many. I've tried capturing using Nero Vison and HDVSplit and I'm not sure where you can get that info. Certainly nothing has popped up letting me know. The video just looks incredibly choppy when I'm finished (slightly less so with Nero Vision -- which also doesn't seem to make sense to me). I can try that CapDVHS as well.

I wouldn't be going to SD, but rather to a HD hard-drive based computer. Problem with that is AVCHD which, as far as I can tell, is extremely difficult to burn to a DVD or to stream to an windows media extender.

I have a four year old computer and I am able to capture HV20 footage by firewire using HDV Split with no problems. My computer is not even close to being state of the art...and it handles HDV with zero problems. Smooth as silk.


Arrgh! That is so frustrating to hear. That is why I think I must be doing something wrong, but have no idea what it could be. What tapes are you using and what capture program?

Thanks everyone for the help so far.

At this point, AVCHD looks like a royal pain in the neck and I'm basically considering buying a new computer just to capture this video. Can someone tell me if this would do the trick:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11165513&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671|4773&N=4017761&Mo=2&pos=4&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=4773&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10600-Cat56671&topnav=

Sandman

It may be something different then just dropped frames during capture.

Are you sure you computer can PLAYBACK HD material smoothly? Maybe that is the issue.

What do you use for playback?

Try to download uncompressed clips from web and see how it goes.

Sandman

It may be something different then just dropped frames during capture.

Are you sure you computer can PLAYBACK HD material smoothly? Maybe that is the issue.

What do you use for playback?

Try to download uncompressed clips from web and see how it goes.

Unfortunately, I don't think that is the problem. I generally use powerdvd and windows media player and have been able to play wmvhd clips no problem and have even pulled in and watched OTA HD with no issues.

So just for the heck of it, i tried capturing on my oldest and least powerful computer. To my shock, worked perfectly. The only difference is that the old computer has windows media player 9 and the other two have versions 10 and 11. Anyone know how to go from 11 to 9 or have any other suggestion? I need to use windows media player because that is how I stream it to my media center extender.

Try using VLCPlayer just to play it back on your computer. When I play HD files through extender on the 360, they play much more smoothly than on my computer, so it may not affect Media Center Extender at all.