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 Studio DC10plus (English)

FAQ Studio DC10plus (Swedish)

FAQ Studio DC10plus (German)

FAQ Studio DC10plus (Portuguese)

FAQ Studio DC10plus (Dutch)

FAQ Studio DC10plus (Spanish)

Studio DC10plus

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: Sound out of synch

Q: Crashes on capture

Q : Why is there a 2 GB capture file limit?

Q: I am unable to capture up to the 2 GB limit, even though I have sufficient space.

Q : Studio won’t startup, gives error about DirectX for sound/graphics card

Q : No audio captured

Q. No picture seen while capturing

Q. How can I make VCD’s with the DC10plus?

Q : You see green stripes on the TV screen during Playback with Video OUT.

Q: No Video output to VCR

Q : Hardware test fails/locks up system

Q : Only showing colour bars on output

Q: Sound out of synch

A : Install the latest Studio DC10plus driver (1.06). But existing captured clips (capture was done with previous drivers) will still have audio out of sync and will need to be recaptured with the 1.06 driver.

 

Q : Crashes on capture

A : Be sure to use the latest release of Studio DC10plus software (actually 1.06)

 

Q : Why is there a 2 GB capture file limit?

The limit is within the Windows operating system. The Windows 95/98 file system also known as FAT16 (16 bit File Allocation Table) can not store more than 2 gigabytes in a single file.

If you have Windows95 OSR 2 or Windows98, you can format the hard drive with the new FAT32 file system and avoid this limit.

FAT32 allows a 4-gigabyte storage capacity per single file.

Video captures can easily reach 2 GB with the highest quality settings, however the Studio DC10plus can overcome this limitation, by seamlessly creating multiple 2GB capture files (you need to install the 1.06 driver). Capture can continue up to the hard disk capacity, or up to 100 files, or up to 70 minutes, whichever comes first. At the end of capture a message will appear informing you how many files were created

Files are named as follows: For capture file Video, the first 2GB file is named Video.avi, the second 2GB file is named Video_01.avi, the third 2GB file is named Video_02.avi, and so on.

The Video album still displays only one capture file at a time; subsequent files must be opened from the drop down menu.

Deleting or replacing the file Video.avi will also delete or replace all subsequent (Video_0X.avi) files.

 

Q: I am unable to capture up to the 2 GB limit, even though I have sufficient space.

A : The older versions of the Studio DC10plus contained a flaw that caused the capture to end after reaching 32,000 frames.

This is most evident when capturing using the "Good" quality setting. It can also occur at the custom capture setting if the data rate has been lowered to the point where 32,000 frames are captured before the two-gig capture limit is reached.

At these settings, capture will generally stop at 15 min when set to NTSC (21 min for PAL).

To verify whether or not this is the problem you are encountering, do a search for your capture file through Start/Find/Files or Folders, or use Windows Explorer.

Once you have located the file, right mouse click on it, select Properties, then select the Details tab. Check the number of Frames next to Video format.

If the frame count is around 32,000, try downloading the latest version of the Studio software, version 1.06.

Please update to the 1.06 driver.

 

Q : Studio won’t start-up, gives error about DirectX for sound/graphics card

A : Studio DC10plus is compatible with Microsoft DirectX 7 (or more). Please be sure to download the latest drivers available for your sound and graphic cards and check their compatibility with DirectX.

Q : No audio captured

A : Studio DC10plus is not an audio capture card. You need to use your audio board to capture audio. Connect your audio source to the Line-in connector of your audio card. Be sure that the right audio channel capture is selected in the audio mixer control panel.

Q. No picture seen while capturing

A. Check graphics card display settings, try both 16bit and 24bit high colour, 800*600 Resolution.

Q. How can I make VCD’s with the DC10plus?

A : The DC10plus does not have the option to make VCD compatible files, you would need to convert the DC10plus AVI file to the VCD format with 3rd party software. A good website for information on this is www.vcdhelper.com . Check also www.mpeg.org

Q : You see green stripes on the TV screen during Playback with Video OUT.

A : In the Studio DC10plus Hardware Test, if you select the more option, you will see a checkmark box labelled PCI bus adaptation.

Explanation: This PCI checkmark derives from the very latest experiences we get from systems with some Ultra-High speed disk subsystems or even some graphic boards. These subsystems sometimes set their PCI-latency above the default value advised by the BIOS. This means they are allowed to use the PCI bus longer than every other device. This could lead to too little PCI bandwidth for the DC10plus board.

Selecting this checkmark will boost the DC10plus cards latency up and change parameters for FIFO thresholds in order to adapt for PCI-buses with a heavy load.

You can also install the PPE Tool.

Q: No Video output to VCR

A : Check for the proper line input selection on your VCR. Most VCRs are set to bring video in from the SCART (Peritel) connector. Use a Cinch to SCART cable. We recommend you to use a cable with 6 Cinch/RCA connectors. Connectors are generally labelled In or OUT. Use the IN connectors to connect to the Studio DC10plus video output and to the Sound board Line out connector (you might need a RCA to Jack adaptator). A VCR can be placed in the line in mode usually though a button on the remote labelled as Line In or Aux In. In some instances it can be a channel selection. To confirm that the proper selection is being made, connect a source device (camcorder) directly to the VCR via the composite connection, and have a television monitor connected via the coax/antenna port. Play a tape from the source device; the video should show on the monitor. If the tape is not viewable on the television monitor then the proper input selection has not been made.

Q : Hardware test fails/locks up system

A : Do you have a VIA , ALi , SiS or AMD chipset? Make sure to install the latest busmaster drivers from the chipset manufacturer. Have you tried the card in another PCI slot?

Q : Only showing colour bars on output

A : Did you render your project before trying to output?