Problem with export to tape via firewire

[Dan Robinson]

I'm having a problem that I thought someone here might have encountered before.

I'm trying to export full-screen DV AVI video from the computer back to MiniDV tape via Firewire. I'm using Premeire and exporting to a TRV900 MiniDV cam. At random intervals, anywhere from every few minutes to a few seconds, the video and audio freezes up momentarily during export, as if another program is running in the background and hogging CPU.

The strange thing about this is that I have been doing this for all of three years with no problems, and now all of a sudden I'm seeing this freezing issue.

Here are the puzzling details:

- The problem happens on BOTH of my computers, 2.4Ghz laptop and 1.2Ghz desktop.

- No new software has been installed on either machine.

- Premiere is only using 35% of the CPU during the export when the freezing happens.

- Premiere is set to 'play back video on DV hardware only', not on the desktop.

- I notice the problem happens more with frequent lightning video (with rapidly alternating bright/dark frames), but it happens with non-lightning video from time to time.

- The problem happens both when recording to a MiniDV tape or doing a 'pass through' to a VCR.

Thanks for any info anyone can provide!

 

[Tony Laubach]

I also had this problem as well, and Dan, I do NOT have a solution for this either... I was exporting to a Sony D8 Handicam. Like him, I had issues with the audio and video locking up. I, too, wish to know the magic to this. Using Premiere 7.

 

[John Diel]

This almost sounds like a memory buffer clearing out causing the momentary lock up. If you're using Win XP you might try clearing out the tasks running in background. Of course doing a defrag won't hurt either.

I know that Micro$ just sent out another security patch recently and this could also be the issue.

The light and dar sequences with lightning actually take more memory to process than an evenly lit scene would. Most NLE's when actually processing the raw video, look for areas that remain the same and get repeated until a change comes across thus reducing the amount of memory and CPU cycles.

Anyway, that's my SWAG to the issue. I don't use Adobe Premiere and I don't render back to tape (DV or Analog) and have never encountered the issue.

--John

 

[Bill Hark]

Dan, I use a Dell Dimension XPS gen 3 (Pent 4, 3.6 Ghz 3GB RAM) and Premiere Pro and have generally had no difficulty exporting to my TRV900 via firewire. For long productions (approx 1hr), I have had it occasionally lock-up. I cannot determine a trigger factor. The few lock-ups do not occur at specific places on the tape or at the same time while playing a production. It hasn't been a major problem.

I am curious. If a miniDV video segment is imported via firewire to Premiere, then exported back to miniDV via firewire (full screen DV AVI), is there any loss of quality?

Bill Hark

 

[Dan Robinson]

I think I found the solution! I disabled McAfee VirusScan and I just exported a 30-minute lightning sequence with no freezes or drops.

I really hope that fixes it - this was crippling my ability to archive anything! Must have been something with the latest McAfee update.

 

[Bill Hark]

Dan, glad you found the possible problem. I use Norton which may not be as bad for Adobe conficlts. I am always suspicious of programs that update on their own (ie Norton, Macafee, AOL and of course, Windows.)

Bill Hark