Movie Maker lost the abiliy to capture in DV-AVI from a camcorder

[John Z]

Windows Movie Maker has lost the ability to capture video from a DV camcorder
in DV-AVI format. The DV-AVI selection is now grayed out and not available.
It worked when last used about 1 month ago.

Rebooting windows does not help. Windows automatic update is on. Movie
maker automatic codec download was off. I turned on automatic codec download
and imported an AVI video file on the computer without fixing the problem
although from the wait before starting the import I suspect a new codec was
loaded.

The operating system version is Windows XP Home Edition Version 5.1 service
pack 2. Movie Maker is version 2.1.

How do I restore the ablilty to capture camera video in DV-AVI format?

 

[Graham Hughes]

Can you capture as wmv?
Often the dv.avi option is greyed out when a unit is not connected by
firewire.

 

[John Z]

Thanks. That's a good trouble shooting suggestion. I did notice the WMV
option was available. I started capture in at least one other format, it
might have been WMV, but aborted before completion. I should have completed
a capture in any other format. I'll try a short WMV clip and reply with
results.

It may be a day or two until I try. I'm helping my son in-law. He prefers
the AVI format for creating good DVDs of my grandson. I really want to get
AVI capture back. If I fail I might look for another video editing program
for him.

Note that the camera uses a USB connection. Movie Maker recognizes (at
least partially) that the camera is connected, but would not let me set
capture parameters and forced 320x240 and 15 frames per second.

 

[John Z]

Graham,

Still haven't gotten WMV capture results, but after some more searching I
found this answer by Rehan posted on 9/4/2004 regarding "AVI used to work, is
now broken." Rehan's answer says in part,

"... WinAVI's installer is a rogue installer it does not reinstate the
system in
original state when uninstalled.

After much acrobat with System Restore's, GSpot's reports, registry change
logs.. I was able to trace the problem to one of the DLL installed by this
program "q3dv.dll". This is an old version of Microsoft's DV Codec renamed
from orginal name qdv.dll. WinAVI installer registers it for its own use
but does
not reregisters the original DLL when uninstalled.

Two most safe solutions out of many...

After uninstalling the program:

1. Reinstall latest DirectX

or

2. Register the original DLL manually:
The file is "C:\Windows\System32\qdv.dll".
Locate it in windows explorer.
Open Start->Run dialog, type "regsvr32" without quotes
then drag the qdv.dll file into the run dialog.
the line in Run dialog should now read:
regsvr32 C:\Windows\System32\qdv.dll
Press Enter
... "

I think these are worth trying. What do you think?

 

[John Z]

Grahm,

I got to the machine last night and tested capture. It would start capture
in other formats but could not complete a capture in any format tried,
including WMV. The preview window was always dark. Movie Maker's audio
meter responds normally during capture. Save of a capture attempt would fail
and hang Movie Maker.

Other: The Windows device manager sees a USB Video Device when the camera
is connected. I tried a system restore to a 2 month old condition,
presumeably before the problem, but the Movie Maker capture was still broken
and I undid the restore. (The restore did fix an unrelated problem with
internet explorer which is now broken again.)

That's all I had time for. Will continue again on Sunday evening but will
look for similar problems and solutions on this sight before then.

 

[Graham Hughes]

Your problem is the USB connection.

You need to connect via firewire.

What cam do you have?

 

[John Z]

Graham,

I probably lost a longer post, but it may appear. My apologies if this is a
repeat.

In short, USB can work. My son in-law has produced excellent quality DVDs
using Movie Maker to capture and edit video from his camcorder. Neither the
computer nor the camcorder have firewire.

I suspect some software change and will continue looking.

I have not tried reinstalling camera software or Movie Maker. I don't see
how to reinstall Movie Maker either. Do you know how?

I'm open to suggestions, but firewire is not a viable option on his system.

 

[Graham Hughes]

Ok, movie maker is not designed to work with USB, it is designed to work
with firewire.
Panasonic produce what is knwn as a USB2 video driver, which gives you the
ability to capture dv.avi files from a mini dv camcorder using usb2. If the
cam is a panasonic mini dv try re-installing the drivers from the supplied
cd.
MM is still not designed to pick up on this driver, but luckliy your son
appears to have a system which has so it may again, or his luck may have run
out and you never see it again.


Why isn't firewire an option?
What cam do you have?

 

[John Z]

Graham (or anyone),

Actions tried last night.

1. Uninstalled portions of the Yahoo Toolbar and Windows Live to fix other
problems. Fixed one of the two. Did not test Movie Maker these changes.

2. Registered or reregistered QDV.DLL. One of actions 1 or 2 made the
camera problem worse. Windows stopped recognizing the USB video device when
the camera was plugged in. The device manager no longer had a USB video
device.

3. Checked the date on the last captured AVI against the trial system
restore. The trial system restore was in fact older than this capture.

4. Uninstalled and reinstalled the Panasonic AVI stream driver. This
restored the ability of windows to recognize the USB viceo device. The Movie
Maker problem remained.

5. Checked the camera (Panasonic PV GS180) and computer (Dell Dimension)
for firewire and found none. The camera uses USB2. There is a DV output.
Is DV compatable with Firewire or 1394? Firewire could be added to the
computer with a card and would probably be a low cost option. The camera
manual barely mentions Firewire or IEEE 1394.

6. Reloaded directX from the Panasonic disk. This was suspiciously too
fast and may have done nothing. The Movie Maker problem remained.

This is what I can think of to try next.
a) Try Dell technical support.
b) Remove all Windows Live components.
c) Try unregister of QDV.DLL
d) Retry reinstall of directX.

Ouestions.
What else can youy think of try?
Can the camera DV port be used with a PC 1394 port?
Can Movie Maker be reinstalled? If so How?

 

[John Z]

Graham,

Check this Microsoft support article,
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827542/en-us.
I didn't spot the article earlier because of its age, Nov,
2003. It suggests I should check other video programs for interference with
Movie Maker. I'll look for webcam stuff in Windows Live Messenger, not yet
uninstalled. I'll look for unnecessary Media Center stuff too.

Now I suspect Movie Maker is very sensitive to installs and other
applications (possibly even its own) messing up its resources. Movie Maker
problems seem relatively common. My son in-law may have been lucky. I found
it simple and intuitive when I tried it before it broke. Too bad it's NOT
stable. I still hope to fix it. If I can't I'll have to set up something
else for him to use.

 

[John Z]

Graham,

I didn't realize that DV used the IEEE-1394 physical interface. Plug the DV
from the camcorder into the IEEE-1394 on the computer. Duh.

If I can't fix USB2 capture I'll buy an IEEE-1394 card and cable and try
that. If that works it may be the first time I've fixed a software problem
with hardware. Usually it's the other way around.

John Z

 

[Graham Hughes]

Sorry I've been busy.
Yes the correct name is IEEE1394a, it was developed by Apple who called it
firewire, they sold it to the IEEE for a nominal sum.
Then manufacturers developed there own makes on firewire, and along came dv
and sony have i-link etc.

All work with firewire and buying card would be my option for solving your
problem.

 

[John Z]

I tried the Firewire card tonight. I worked. Movie Maker now captures video
from the camera. The hardest part was figuring out how to open the computer
case to install the card.

Thanks for you support. I also talked with Dell about the problem. Their
recommendation was to reinstall the operating system. I still don't know why
the USB link stopped working but now I don't care.

 

[Graham Hughes]

Excellent