Capturing DV video... result is way too dark

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Capturing DV video... result is way too dark

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johnb41

Newbie

8. October 2005 @ 14:41

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First post here. Please be gentle! :)

When capturing DV video from my camcorder (using either Windows Movie maker, or Ulead VideoStudio 9) the video comes in WAY too dark. The monitor is fine, because when creating a DVD from my captured video, and play back on a TV, it's still way too dark. Something is wrong during the capture.

When viewed in the camera's LCD, and also when viewing directly on a TV (camera --> TV), the video is good.

I'm connecting the video camera to my pc via Firewire.

What about "video capture cards"? I'm not using one to capture the video. Is that my problem? I'm just using firewire. If i got a dedicated video capture card, would i get much better results?

Thanks for your help!

John

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Minion

AfterDawn Addict

9. October 2005 @ 17:10

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It might just seem Dark on your Monitor....

If you have a good editing Program you can easilly Adjust the Brightness and Color Levels and many other Perameters...

Something like Adobe Premier or Vegas Video 6 would be Ideal but they are Quite expensive and Hard to learn but you can also do the same with less expensive and less complex editors Like something Like "Video edit Magic 4.0" or "MagiX Movie Edit Pro v10.0" both of which are Less than $50...There Might even be Filters in "Video Studio 9" that will allow you to adjust the Color and Brightness levels.....

When Captureing from a DV Camcorder you are Supposed to use a Firewire Card so that is not what is causeing your problem and Most Capture cards are analogue so you would get Poorer results with a Dedicated Capture card than with a firewire card...When Captureing from a DV Camcorder useing Firewire it is simply a 100% direct Transfer of the Data stored on the DV Tape directly to your hard Drive without any Loss of Info or Quality so if it is a Lot Darker on your PC than on the LCD Preview screen or when hooked up to your TV then it might be Just your Monitors color settings that is Makeing everything look Darker.......

Cheers

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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 9. October 2005 @ 17:10

johnb41

Newbie

9. October 2005 @ 19:04

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Minion,

Thanks for your reply! It's good to know that capturing it the way i am (firewire, as opposed to capture card) will give the best quality. I assumed paying extra for a dedicated capture card would give best results!

Here is why i think i'm capturing the video too dark, and that it's not my monitor that is the problem: I actually captured some video, and it looked too dark on my monitor. I took that same video clip and burned it to DVD using a DVD authoring program. When the DVD was viewed on the tv, it looked just as bad as on the monitor.

But if i look at the video straight from the camera to the tv, it looks MUCH better. Almost exactly as it looks in the LCD on the camera.

Yes, i can improve the quality of the video with software, but i'd rather tweek video that is already decent to begin with. It's like lightening up an underexposed photo with levels/curves. It helps, but it would be much better if the photo was properly exposed to begin with! In my case, i think my video is properly exposed, but it's getting captured too dark.

I downloaded the demo of Premiere PRO to see if that would make a difference. But i kept getting an error when launching the program; and couldn't even try a capture. :(

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
John

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celtic_d

AfterDawn Addict

9. October 2005 @ 19:53

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As said DV capture via firewire is lossless. If it is dark, then it is because the original is dark.

The difference between the DVD and camera on the TV therefor must be due to either the conversion to DVD or that the camera is adjusting the picture.

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johnb41

Newbie

10. October 2005 @ 05:36

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Well, it can't be conversion to DVD... i have no problems making DVDs with video not from my dv camera.

The only thing i can think of is this: maybe there is something wrong with my DV camera that is making it "display" too bright on the camera's lcd, and the effect is the same when viewed directly on a TV. So it's incorrectly showing it as well exposed, when it should show it underexposed.

Possible?

John

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sujitb

Newbie

23. October 2005 @ 11:30

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I have the same issue in capturing video from a Sony Handycam using a USB cable. The video looks much darker than on the LCD or when played directly to a TV.

I was wondering it is Nero which is the culprit or if it is the USB.

Any ideas anyone?

Tia,

Sujit

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ciskclar

Newbie

26. October 2005 @ 13:15

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Hi John
Have you made any progress with this problem?
I'm experiencing the same problem. I'm using an Sony HC14e via firewire. I've tried multiple capture software but with no success.
Extremely annoying, i've been unable to capture anything from this camera successfully, so far it's been a wasted purchase. Hopefully somebody can shed some light (sorry for the pun!) on this.

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Minion

AfterDawn Addict

27. October 2005 @ 12:42

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If the captured Image is Too Dark or to Bright it is easy enough to Fix after captureing by useing the Filters Built into a good Editing program like Vegas Video 6 or allmost any good NLE will have Filters to correct this type of problem...Even TMPGEnc can do it while encodeing to Mpeg-2/DVD by useing the Filters in the "Advanced Settings".....

Cheers

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