Pinnacle Systems TOP FAQ’s
Please find below the most Frequently Asked Questions regarding Pinnacle Systems Products received by our Helpdesk. First select your product and you will get a list with FAQ’s.If you do not find the answer to your question, other FAQ’s are available in our Support database.
From our Helpdesk :
FAQ DV500 - DV500plus(English)
FAQ DV500 - DV500plus (Swedish)
FAQ DV500 - DV500plus (Spanish) FAQ de instalacion de la DV500 con el nuevo driver 2.0 y Adobe Premiere 6.0
We always recommend you to first download and install the latest software available for your product.
You will also find a list of Troubleshooting and different Problems & Solutions at the end of the User’s Manual for your product. Please read these carefully !
Q : Premiere runs slow, crashes, or has error messages.
Q: ACPI support in Windows 2000
Q : DV500 is sharing an address with the LSTONE driver (Windows 2000)
Q: I do not have analogue audio in capture or playback
Q: I do not have an analogue monitoring (audio and video) when I’m capturing from a DV source.
Q. Cannot capture anything in Premiere, tried DV, S-Video and composite inputs
Q. DVTools does not recognise my DV device, Premiere works ok.
Q : Adobe Premiere 6 and DV500 plus upgrade instructions
Q : What is the capture file size limitation with DV500 ?
Q : Problems with interrupt sharing
Q: I get dropped frames in playback, black images during transitions or audio out of synch
Q : What is the difference between DV500plus and DV500?
Q : Premiere runs slow, crashes, or has error messages.
Note: The PICSRules file type association is an integrated feature of IE5 and associates rating scripts to the Content Advisor, which allows the user to screen out undesired web content. Removing this file type association from the system will have no impact on the OS. For those who prefer to secure their browser from certain content, you may not want to remove this file association.
A : Install the latest software for DV500 (actually driver 2.0 + patch 2.01).
Use the latest driver for your graphic board (has to be DirectX 7 or 8 compatible).
Configure your graphic board resolution in 1024x768 and 16 bits
You have two overlay modes (primary and surface). Try both.
Win98: Check IRQ of DV500 and graphic board
Q: ACPI support in Windows 2000
A : ACPI will install all the PCI devices at the same IRQ. On some systems, Windows 2000 ACPI support may freeze the DV500PLUS driver during boot-up, locking the system. To disable ACPI support, follow the procedure described in the General TopFAQ's.
Q : DV500 is sharing an address with the LSTONE driver (Windows 2000)
A : This is normal ! LSTONE is also for DV500. So do not worry about this information.
A : Please install the 2.01 patch.
Q: I do not have analogue audio in capture or playback
A : In order to hear the audio during capture, playback or editing you must have a set of powered speakers or a television monitor hooked up to the output of the Break-out Box (Blue Box). You can not hear audio through the speakers attached to your sound card.
You have only one set of powered speakers and you need to hear the computer sounds and the output from the DV500 on the same speakers. You can run the output from the DV500 break out box to the Line In on the sound card. If you then enable the Line Input, then you should be able to hear the audio from both the computer and the DV500 outputting to the same set of speakers.
Note: This might cause degradation in the audio quality. The only equipment you would need is a cable usually available at Radio Shack or similar stores. The cable has Stereo 1/8" RCA Mini-Jack at one end and 2 RCA Cinch connectors at the other (L & R).
Q: I do not have an analogue monitoring (audio and video) when I’m capturing from a DV source.
A: During DV capture, the DV software CODEC is enabled by default for streaming video to the desktop. With the DV overlay provider set to "DV software CODEC", analogue and DV output will be disabled. To get video output during DV capture, connect the s-video or composite video outputs of your DV source to the inputs of the blue box. If the outputs of the Bluebox are connected to a video monitor and you change the overlay provider in the Pinnacle Systems DV500 control panel to s-video or composite video, analogue video output during DV capture will be enabled
A: If the audio bitrate (either the sampling rate or the bits) on the DV tape changes as you are capturing, no audio will be recorded after the change.
This can happen if you use one audio setting while stripping a DV Tape and another when shooting your footage.
It would be best to set your camera to one audio standard for each separate tape.
If you need to capture from a tape that already is recorded with several audio settings, start your recording after the change and stop it before the next change in audio settings happens.
Q. Cannot capture anything in Premiere, tried DV, S-Video and composite inputs
A. Ensure you select one of the Pinnacle DV500 presets in Premiere, and then check the capture settings that you have the correct Input selected.
Q. DVTools does not recognise my DV device, Premiere works ok.
A. Check our DV Device compatibility list, not all devices work correctly in DVTools. Install the latest software for DV500 (actually 2.0 plus 2.01 patch), new camcorders were added to the compatibility list.
Q : Adobe Premiere 6 and DV500 plus upgrade instructions
Please refer to your DV500 Users guide (Chapter 6) for specific directions for driver installation. There are specific directions for the operating system you are running. NOTE: Pinnacle Systems NEVER recommends updating your software in the middle of a project if it can be helped. Finish any projects you are currently working on, and then follow the instructions below. Disconnect all DV devices from DV500 for the entire time of the installation process.
mirodv*.dll (possibly more than one file).
DVAVI.dll
FCPAVC.dll
CompCDC.dll
DeComCDC.dll
(Note: Some files may already be deleted)
DV500 v2.0 software should be installed properly.
Q : What is the capture file size limitation with DV500 ?
A : DV500 is supporting a new AVI file format (AVI 2.0 or OpenDML)
Windows 98SE or Me : maximum file size is 4 GB, due to FAT32 format
Windows NT or Windows 2000 :
If you format the hard disk in FAT32, the file size limitation will be 4 GB.
If you format your hard disk in NTFS, the file size limitation will be 12 TB.
Note : DVTools is not able actually to capture more than 2GB.
Q : Problems with interrupt sharing
The DV500PLUS software version (2.x) supports IRQ sharing. However, if the other device that DV500PLUS is supposed to share its IRQ with does not support sharing, the DV500PLUS will not function. This section explains how to solve problems around IRQ sharing. Interrupts ("IRQs") are signals that inform the DV500PLUS software about a request for service from the DV500PLUS board. There are only a limited number of IRQ lines available in a PC and if many peripherals or add-in boards are present, these lines may not be sufficient. The PC will then start sharing IRQ lines among PCI boards.
This DV500PLUS software version supports IRQ sharing. However, if the other device that DV500PLUS is supposed to share its IRQ with do not support sharing, the DV500PLUS will not function. Both capture and playback will not work in this case or will show unsatisfactory performance (only low data rates achievable, dropped frames).
If you suspect IRQ sharing to be the cause of problems you are having, please open the Start Menu and select Settings, Control Panel and System. In the window that opens, click on the tab labeled Device Manager, then select Interrupt (IRQ) button. DV500PLUS IRQ allocation will show in the list three times with the following names:
s Pinnacle Systems DV500PLUS-1394
s Pinnacle Systems DV500PLUS-E4
s Pinnacle Systems DV500PLUS-Overlay.
Note that all three entries have the same IRQ number. Now check to see if this number is also being used by another device—if this is the case, then the DV500PLUS is sharing its IRQ with this device.
Getting rid of IRQ sharing is not always easy, but here are some possible solutions:
· Remove the other device from the system if you do not absolutely require it.
· Enter the mainboard BIOS setup program during boot up - this is usually done by pressing <Del> right after powering up the PC. Some setup programs allow you to swap IRQ allocation between the PCI bus and the ISA bus. Make sure that IRQs are set to Reserved for ISA only if this is necessary (i.e. there is an ISA board that requires this IRQ).
· IRQs usually get assigned depending on the slot number that PCI boards occupy. Moving or swapping the DV500PLUS board with other PCI boards sometimes resolves IRQ sharing problems. In some machines, PCI slot #1 works best for DV500PLUS IRQ assignment.
Memory conflicts between DV500PLUS E4 and DV500PLUS Overlay under Windows2K are due to the fact that they are sharing the same address space. This is not a malfunction.
Q: I get dropped frames in playback, black images during transitions or audio out of synch
A : This generally comes from PCI transfer performance. Update your BIOS with the latest update available from the motherboard manufacturer and install the PPE (PCI Performance Tool) tool to improve PCI performances. This tool is installed on your hard disk (Start/Programs/DV500/Tools). Just run it one time. It will then be automatically launch during the system boot.
DV500plus is based on the same hardware as DV500 and offers the same great
analog/digital features.
New are improved drivers for real-time widescreen support, real-time audio
mixer, a faster DV codec and different bundle applications.
Feature comparison DV500 vs. DV500plus
|
DV500 |
DV500plus |
Analog and Digital I/O |
x |
x |
Real-time FX |
x |
x |
MPEG2 Export |
x |
x |
Widescreen (real-time) 16/9 |
- |
x |
DV² Speed Codec |
- |
x |
Image Correction Filter RT |
- |
x |
TitleDeko RT |
- |
x |
DVTools |
x |
x |
Impression CD Pro |
x |
x |
Hollywood FX Copper |
x |
x |
FreeFX *) |
x |
- |
Pixelan SpiceRack |
x |
- |
Pinnacle AlphaMagic |
- |
x |
Audio Mixer |
- |
x |
Photoshop LE |
x |
x |
MediaCleaner EZ |
- |
x |
MPEG1 Export |
- |
x |
Webstreaming export |
- |
x |
MP3 import/export |
- |
x |
ACID Music |
x |
- |
SmartSound |
- |
x |
*) FreeFX is available for web download
for all customers
Ø
Adobe Premiere 6
Ø
Widescreen processing in real-time
Ø
DV² Speed Codec for ultra fast rendering
Ø
Real-time image correction filter
Ø
TitleDeko RT for best productivity and full 16:9 support
Ø
Alpha Magic, a more and greater effect composition
than Pixelan SpiceRack
Ø
Direct Webstreaming Export
Ø
Direct MP3 audio import and export
Ø
Audio Mixer in real time
Ø
Background music with SmartSound (replaces ACID Music)