Capture Issue... of course

[clara]

I have heard of lot of capture issues with Premiere Elements in many forums, and I haven't heard of a good solution for this one yet:

I have my Canon Elura 2 MC connected via firewire to my computer running Windows XP. I previously could not even click on "capture video" despite having the (seemingly) correct Capture Settings and Device Control options. Now, after unchecking all boxes in the "Settings..." section in the "Capture Settings," The device is finally recognized as being "Online."

Now however, as soon as I click "Get Video," it stops capturing (not having captured anything) and pops up a window titled "Recorded Error" that says "Driver Error"

Many forums suggest using WinDV to capture then use Premiere Elements once you have the video, but there must be a way to do it with Premiere, after all, it was designed to have this feature.

Any suggestions? I'm open to the possibility of it actually being a driver error, but I'm almost possitive it is not.

Thanks in advance for the help

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Clara,
One of the best troubleshooting methods for capture problems in Premiere Elements is to try and capture with either Windows Movie Maker and/or WinDV. Both programs are free, WinDV is a very nice, small, easy to use, capture utility, that's all it does and it does it well. If either of those programs can capture video then we know the problem lies with Premiere Elements. If you cannot capture from any program, including WinDV, then we know it is a computer problem and can go from there.

I highly recommend downloading and trying WinDV, it really will make trying to figure out where the problem is much easier. http://windv.mourek.cz/

[clara]

Sure enough, WinDV captures with no issues, so now, how to overcome this issue in Premiere?

By the way, I have Premiere Elements 3.0

[ATR]

Clara,

I will look into this and try to work with you to get to a resolution to the issue.

But first, what version of Premiere Elements are you using? Is your Windows XP 32 or 64 bit? Is your computer optimized?

ATR

[clara]

I'm using Premiere Elements 3.0
I'm running 32 bit XP
Optimized? Don't know, I'm guessing not. What do you mean by that?

[ATR]

Clara,

First, are you using Premiere Elements 3 or its Premiere Elements 3.0.2 version?

Optimized.... like defragmented, virtual memory settings set by Windows XP or you if necessary to get optimum performance, junk files cleared from program with a program such a ccleaner, no multitasking when in Premiere Elements, making sure you know how much you have of installed and available RAM/total and free hard drive space and if they are meeting your computer resource needs,etc.

By the way, what was your camcorder setting for the firewire captue in Premiere Elements 3?

I will be back later with some thoughts.

ATR

[Chuck Engels]

Capturing using WinDV is not bad, that should keep you going for now. At least you can still capture until a resolution is found for your Premiere Elements problem.

I don't often use Premiere Elements to capture anymore, WinDV works just fine and it names the clips correctly (something that Premiere Elements still can't do).

[clara]

I have Premiere Elements 3.0 Educational Version

in that sense, yes, my computer is optimized; it was just reformatted and is defrag-ed etc.

ATR, which setting do you mean?
For Device Control, I have chosen "DV/HDV Device Control" under Devices and Options: NTSC video standard, brand: Canon, type: Elura2MC, timecode: Auto Detect
For Capture I have set "DV Capture" as the format

[ATR]

Clara,

I was looking for the camcorder setting.

I have Premiere Elements 3.0 Educational Version

When Windows Vista was released, Premiere Elements 3 was not Vista compatiable, so a rare event..a patch from Adobe..that manifested itself in the form of Premiere Elements 3.0.2 which was supposed to make the 3 version Vista compatible. But this update also had some incompletely defined "performance enhancing attributes".

I am not sure how Premiere Elements 3.0 Educational Version differs from Premiere Elements 3.0 and Premiere Elements 3.0.2
The following is the link to the Windows download for Premiere Elements 3.0.2
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3565

I will be back later with some ideas.

ATR

[ATR]

Clara,

Many avoid the hassle of figuring out Premiere Elements capture problems by using programs such as Windows Movie Maker or WinDV for the capture. These programs usually do the job and allow you to get on with the editing phase of the project. But, all that does not prevent us from trying to find the missing ingredient(s) to capture (firewire) directly from your Canon to Premiere Elements.

I may be starting with things that you have been there, done that, but I do not want to take anything for granted, so here goes.

1. Is your computer Optimized? Check out the following AdobeTech Note for details.
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/333/333161.html
Do not overlook adequate system resources, available RAM and free hard drive space. I saw a note somewhere that you should have about 1 GB available RAM for every 5 minutes of captured video.

2. If you have not done so already, download and installed the Premiere Elements 3.0.2 Update.

3. If you have not done so already, use as a step by step guide for now the Premiere Elements 3 Help (See the Capture section, especially the details in "capture from DV and HDV camcorders" and double check to make sure that you have not missed any details there)

4. Focus
a. Firewire connection, right cable and securely plugged into camcorder and computer.
b. Starting the camcorder before you open Premiere Elements...are you setting the project preset for NTSC DV Standard?
c. Project Settings...DV Capture
d. Device Control ON DV/HDV
e. make sure that "abort capture on drop frames" is shut OFF. The "report drop frames" is usually turned ON and "use Device Control Timeline" is usually turned OFF.

About that Recorder Error message....check out the following link to see if it applies to your computer system:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/323/323453.html

Let us start here.

I will be watching for your progress.

ATR

[ATR]

Add on.....

Do not overlook adequate system resources, available RAM and free hard drive space. I saw a note somewhere that you should have about 1 GB available RAM for every 5 minutes of captured video.

Another related note is:

For DV, about 13.5 GB free hard drive space for every hour of capture

Check out the math, I think those notes are consistent.

ATR

[clara]

Back at work today and I finally got over my capture issue, as it turns out my "Driver Error" preventing me from successfully capturing was due to lack of full admin rights to the computer. Now that I have them, no problems.
Thank you for all the help and suggestions!
-Clara

[ATR]

Clara,

I am very pleased that your issue is resolved. Many thanks for reporting back the outcome which will benefit other users who find themselves in a similar situations.

Workarounds are great, but why be satisfied with them when you have the "real" thing available. So, I congratulate you on your determination to find the key to being able to do direct capture firewire into Premiere Elements 3.

Continued success.

ATR