Only B&W picture captured with Pinnacle Studio!!

[parasudda]

If anyone has experience using Pinnacle Studio, please.....

I've hooked up my analog VCR (Pal) to the Pinnacle Movie Box (external capture card) which links to the computer via USB 2. The movie box has RCA as well as S-Video input....the Studio software allows you to choose which input to capture from. I've had no problem capturing video and audio through the RCA composite input but if I select S-Video as the input the picture is only captured in B&W and that too with apparently poor quality. The audio seems fine. I'm confounded. There's know mention of this (as far as I could find) in the Pinnacle FAQ's or discussion boards (which in turn is off for new comers at the moment, which is why I put this question here).

I would appreciate any help or leads.....thanks!

[parasudda]

Following up on my previous thread, I've also discovered that Studio won't allow me to digitise the incoming video from the vcr into AVI....Why? The choice is between MPEG 1 and MPEG 2...does it matter to capture in very high resolution if the source itself (VHS) has some maximum resolution? What's the optimal resolution and bit rate? More thanks......

[phenious]

You say you have a PAL VCR so I will assume that your capture card is also PAL format if it is working with the RCA cables, Check both ends of your SVIDEO cable to make sure that all the pins are going in correctly and are not bent out of place, I have bent some pins before which caused distorted picture and color before. Im not sure exactly what settings pinnacle gives you when capturing but check the manual for all the possible settings. Some programs allow you to switch between black & white, and color.

[phenious]

As for your second question. MPEG2 will look better than MPEG1. The bit rate I would use for VCR would be around 3,000 - 4,000K and capture @ 720*480 so it could be ported to DVD easily.

[parasudda]

Does this mean that VHS output has some maximum resolution?

[parasudda]

I missed that first answer of yours. I'll check the cables, my feeling is they are alright....Pal vs. NTSC wouldn't be an issue as everything here is PAL, equip, cables and all. I've been through (thouroughly over) the different settings for capturing, and no it does not let you choose between colour and b&W. Everything else being constant (all the cables, s-video and RCA are plugged in at the same time) the picture is b&w when S-video is selected. I was wondering if it mattered whether the source video itself was S-video to begin with, and if I remember correctly, a previous acquisition from an s-video tape gave the same b&w video when s-video was seclected, while in colour when composite was selected.

thanks for your help.....I'll have to come back later as I'm using a regular phone line modem...

[phenious]

The video its self has nothing to do with the SVIDEO as far as I know, its just another connection for the video signal that is supposed to have less noise than RCA cables which would give a better picture. If you can try pluging your your tape player into a TV and see if the video is still B&W when you play it. If it is something is probably wrong with the player and the SVIDEO port if its in color then you know something is up with your Capture card. Also make sure all your connections are nice and tight

[Saunamatti]

Hello! I am having the same problem as Parasudda. I have the MovieBox DV (Firewire) with Pinnacle Studio 9.4 (latest version). I have two issues I am trying to resolve. The first is getting Studio to keep from crashing soon after booting. I thought it was Opware14 (OmniPage Pro) at first because as soon as I killed it my hardware worked fine. I recorded, edited and burned to DVD a PAL VHS 2 hour movie with no problems. Now the second day I go to try out an NTSC tape and the program will not stay long enough until crashing. I have applied the MS fix for Firewire and because of XP Home Ed. SP2. This did not resolve the issue. I am sure there is a conflict and hope to find it soon. It worked once before running nearly 9 hours so I am sure it will again. Now to the NTSC/PAL issue. Since we live in Europe we can purchase VCR's that are PAL but can playback NTSC tapes on PAL TV. This is only for playback. You cannot record NTSC to PAL by hooking two VCR's together, unless one happens to be a multi-player VCR. They are expensive. As for S-Video, only the 2 true S-Video cables will work, according to Pinnacle. Parasudda didn't specify how he connected the VCR to the MovieBox but I am sure it is the same as me, using the SCART adaptor that has an in/out switch and jacks for Composite Video, S-Video and Audio L/R. Using this adaptor will only allow S-Video to capture in B/W as it is not a full S-Video cable connection, according to Pinnacle. I am awaiting an answer for the NTSC issue but I suspect it is something similiar. I SUSPECT the adaptor is meant only for full PAL connection and that not all of the SCART pins are connected or present which would account for the color video not being transferred/captured.

So in brief, there is nothing wrong with the MovieBox nor the source VCR per se. It must be in the adaptor. I am using the gold plated adaptor and the three, heavy RCA gold connector cables. The MovieBox is specifically made to handle all formats of video, problem is not many need to use NTSC on PAL system video capturing.

I am no video or electroncis expert in this capacity but I do know that from personal experiences with digibox tv recievers and SCART cables...not all cables work universally. some will drop the sound and others the picture....simply because of the pin set-up.

I'll keep you posted if I find anything out. Please do the same for me?

[phenious]

Well... I just woke up so give me some time to think about it, but the Pinnacle formus are a good bet with their support staff. I've had really bad experiences with Pinnacle at my school and it was never fully solved. Lots of BSOD.s when capturing, editing, and rendering. Try updating all of your hardware drivers. We also had some luck disabling other hardware one by one to see if that helped. A lot of our problems went away after disabling the sound card but not all. I think it was a Santa Cruise Sound Card...

[sr71000]

does your vhs player have a s-video port on it or are you using a converter. Also, is your vhs player a dual vhs/dvd player? normally the s-video ports on the dual players are only for dvd and they also usually say so right on the back of the dvd player.

[Saunamatti]

Hello again. As far as I know all of my drivers are up to date. There may be some other conflicts that I haven't begun to try find. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I will have to spend a day for just process of elimination as suggested. Now for the NTSC playback on a PAL VCR. I got a reply back from Pinnacle and it does make all the sense in the world. But first, to answer some questions posted prior to this. My sound is integrated with my mother board. My VCR is a JVC HR-J250 VHS PAL with B.E.S.T. Picture System. The adapter being used is only a SCART adapter with composite, s-video and L/R audio in or out via switch. The s-video is not considered to be a "true" s-video connection and therefore only b/w images will be captured.

This is the email I sent to and the response I received from Pinnacle and I hope I am not breaking any rules by posting it here for all to see:

"Query:
Why does the captured video from a PAL VCR with NTSC playback (European) using a SCART connector with composite, S-Video and L/R audio output always appear in black and white when using MovieBox DV and Pinnacle Studio 9.4 (latest version)? I am only using three gold RCA audiovisual cables and not the S-Video as I understand SV will make the project black and white. I have selected both PAL and NTSC with the same results. I have no problems with transferring PAL video in full color from the same machine.

Question Reference #050425-000975
Product Level 1: Studio version 9
Product Level 2: Studio MovieBox DV
Category Level 1: Capture (Audio & Video)


Subject
captured NTSC video is black/white

Discussion Thread
Response (Zinzana Zjajo) 04/26/2005 04:25 AM
Dear Sir,

This happens due to the fact your VCR is outputting in mixed signal ( not in real NTSC signal). If you want to output in NTSC format that you need to have native NTSC playback.

The problem is that NTSC uses a color subcarrier frequency of about 3.579MHz running at 30 frames per second, while PAL uses a color subcarrier frequency of about 4.434MHz running at 25 frames per second. Most "NTSC Compatable" VCR's simply convert the color subcarrier frequency to that of PAL, and play the NTSC tape back to your television or monitor at NTSC's 30 frames per second, hoping that your television can automatically adjust it's local oscillator to match that of the source, which most PAL TVs can, even if the "vertical hold" knob has to be adjusted on older sets. A television card is more selective, and will not properly display an input signal that does not match it's expected attributes. Since your TV card is being fed a 30fps(NTSC) with a 4.434MHz color subcarrier(PAL), it doesn't match what it expects in each mode, which is 3.579MHz/30fps for NTSC or 4.434MHz/25fps for PAL.

You can try to set it to PAL in Studio - there is no guarantee that it should work but you can try to do it.



Yours faithfully,
Pinnacle Technical Support "

NOTE: simply selecting the PAL in capture within Studio does not remedy the situation.

So looks like we need to invest in either a native NTSC VHS player or a multi-player or some sort of converter that will transmit the correct frequencies that MovieBox expects for NTSC. I have no problems taking my home taped movies to be converted to PAL but I doubt a firm would convert copyright movies, which is what I want to place on DVD. Yeah...a little more time consuming than just purchasing them outright...but that ain't no fun or much of a challenge. Learn by doing.