Captured video is grainy

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My first experience with WMM so everything was "learn as you go" and took my
quite a while!! I made what I thought was a great 40th wedding anniversary
video for my in-laws complete with edited footage from their ceremony on the
beach in Maui, music, and photos from the trip. Having not used WMM before,
I assumed that the grainy-ness of the preview screen was "normal" and that my
finished movie would be as clear as the original in my dv camera. Not so! I
have spent countless hours and picked the brains of everyone I know and
nobody who uses this program has this problem. I have Windows XP Home
Edition with the SP2 downloads and all updates to WMM that I can find. I
HAVE started over with the same results. I don't know what to try next!!!
HELP!!!!
 
photogeek said:
My first experience with WMM so everything was "learn as you go" and
took my quite a while!! I made what I thought was a great 40th
wedding anniversary video for my in-laws complete with edited footage
from their ceremony on the beach in Maui, music, and photos from the
trip. Having not used WMM before, I assumed that the grainy-ness of
the preview screen was "normal" and that my finished movie would be
as clear as the original in my dv camera. Not so! I have spent
countless hours and picked the brains of everyone I know and nobody
who uses this program has this problem. I have Windows XP Home
Edition with the SP2 downloads and all updates to WMM that I can
find. I HAVE started over with the same results. I don't know what
to try next!!! HELP!!!!
Click to expand...
===========================
It is normal for the preview to be low
resolution...especially if viewed full
screen from the timeline. Viewing
from the collection pane should look
better. This has no effect on the
saved movie.

Maybe the settings you used for
saving are where your problem lies.

Did you save as DV-AVI before
using your DVD Authoring software
to burn the DVD?

To save as an .avi movie file...
(and several other options)
Type...Ctrl+P to open the Save Movie Wizard /
Choose...My Computer /
Next /
Enter a Name and a Save Location /
Next /
Show More Choices /
Other Settings /
Open the drop window and choose...DV-AVI /
Next /
Wait while the movie is saved /
Finish...


Also you may want to look into
custom profiles.

Movie Maker 2 - Saving
Movies - Custom WMV Profiles
http://tinyurl.com/s2vgu

Creating Custom Profiles
for Windows Movie Maker 2
http://tinyurl.com/cuny7


--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
Thank you for your response!!!! I saved the movie file as DV-AVI and that
doesn't seem to make a difference. I don't understand what a "profile" is.
I did download your custom profile for heading to DVD, but when I saved it
using that, I didn't see a difference either. Right now, I'm having trouble
getting the dvd burning software to burn a dvd that my dvd player will
recognize (even though this was working fine last week). I am going to
uninstall and re-install that program and see if that makes a difference so I
can look at what it burned and check the clarity of the picture. I did check
out your web pages (have been for about a week and all is VERY interesting!!)
and also watched a demo (on Windsows Live?) that uses almost the exact
digital video camera I have. The program on the video seems to "act" a
little different than mine even though it says it's the "XP" version of MM.
As far as I can tell, I have the same version in the demo video. I am using
a Panasonic PV-GS36 dvc (purchased in September 2006). I do not have MM
Media Edition - I have the MM version that came pre-installed on my Dell
(about 3 years ago). I use Windows XP. Is this a common problem with WMM or
am I just "lucky"?!

Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have on this one!
 
photogeek said:
Thank you for your response!!!! I saved the movie file as DV-AVI and
that doesn't seem to make a difference. I don't understand what a
"profile" is. I did download your custom profile for heading to DVD,
but when I saved it using that, I didn't see a difference either.
Right now, I'm having trouble getting the dvd burning software to
burn a dvd that my dvd player will recognize (even though this was
working fine last week). I am going to uninstall and re-install that
program and see if that makes a difference so I can look at what it
burned and check the clarity of the picture. I did check out your
web pages (have been for about a week and all is VERY interesting!!)
and also watched a demo (on Windsows Live?) that uses almost the
exact digital video camera I have. The program on the video seems to
"act" a little different than mine even though it says it's the "XP"
version of MM. As far as I can tell, I have the same version in the
demo video. I am using a Panasonic PV-GS36 dvc (purchased in
September 2006). I do not have MM Media Edition - I have the MM
version that came pre-installed on my Dell (about 3 years ago). I
use Windows XP. Is this a common problem with WMM or am I just
"lucky"?!

Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have on this one!
Click to expand...
==================================
FWIW...the PapaJohn website is not mine...

Open Movie Maker and go to...Help / About
to see the veraion uyou are using. If you have
installed WinXP SP2 you should have version 2.1.

If everything works except playing on your
DVD player...it could be that you need to try
different DVD blanks or maybe your DVD
player just doesn't like home made DVDs.

No guarantees because everyone has different
experiences but the following blanks work well
for me.

Verbatim DVD-R 16X
http://tinyurl.com/y59z9e



--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
I believe I know what your issue is because I had the same issue some months
ago. You will need a FireWire Cable with 4 or 6 pins. Please check your
computer manual to see which cable to purchase. You can get these for about
$30 to $50 at Best Buy or Fry's. Every since I bought a FireWire cable my
homemade movies have come out very crisp and clear when transferring my video
to my computer. Good Luck!
 
Sandy:

Thank you SOOOOOO much for your response!!! I can't believe how many HOURS
I have spent working on this problem (alone and with others)!!!!! I felt
like I would go crazy!!! I wonder why nobody has mentioned this cable to me
before? Anyhow, I checked my manual and sure enough it mentions (very
briefly) this DV cable (4 pin). I am going to get one this week!!!! This is
awesome!!! I hope it's the answer for me -- sounds like it will be!!!!

Funny coincidence: My "real" name is Sandy with a middle initial of "D"!!!

I appreciate your time!! Take care............ :)
 
Where exactly does the other end of the firewire cord go on the computer? A
cable did come with the camera that has a very small end (4 pins?) that plugs
into my dvc where it says DV but the other end is USB. Is yours like that?

Thanks for your help!!
 
John:

I'm confused by the 4 pin cable. The cable shown in my dvc's manual is
"4-pin to 4-pin". Where does the "other" end plug into the computer? Is
there a "port" on the back I'm just not finding?

Thanks!
 
photogeek said:
John:

I'm confused by the 4 pin cable. The cable shown in my dvc's manual
is "4-pin to 4-pin". Where does the "other" end plug into the
computer? Is there a "port" on the back I'm just not finding?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
===================================
Check the specs for your computer and see
if you have a "FireWire (IEEE-1394)" connection.
(Sony calls it "i.LINK")

If you do not have Firewire...you would have to
purchase and install a PCI Firewire Card.

The following link is provided just as an example
....not as a recommendation.

Ultra 4-Port PCI Firewire Card
http://tinyurl.com/2pk2sf

The following link shows how to install a PCI card:
http://tinyurl.com/36dwsa

This link is to a video tutorial on installing a PCI card:
http://pcsupport.about.com/b/a/000064.htm
(just click: Install a PCI Expansion Card (Video))

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
I went into the Control Panel and see my "IEEE 1284 devices" (my hp printer)
would I also see the "IEEE 1394" listed or only if something were plugged
into it? Is this the correct way to find out if I have that firewire
connection? Also, checked out my computer manual and it shows places for (3)
PCI cards to be installed and how to do it, which I can handle. I'm pulling
out the computer to check if there is a DV terminal on the back as show in my
manual (you know how those pictures can sometimes be generic). Thanks for
your help I'll keep trying!
 
photogeek said:
I went into the Control Panel and see my "IEEE 1284 devices" (my hp
printer) would I also see the "IEEE 1394" listed or only if something
were plugged into it? Is this the correct way to find out if I have
that firewire connection? Also, checked out my computer manual and
it shows places for (3) PCI cards to be installed and how to do it,
which I can handle. I'm pulling out the computer to check if there
is a DV terminal on the back as show in my manual (you know how those
pictures can sometimes be generic). Thanks for your help I'll keep
trying!
Click to expand...
=================================
If you look at a spec sheet for your computer
you should see IEEE Firewire 1394 listed
similarly to what you see in the following example.

http://www.powerspec.com/systems/system_specs.phtml?selection=E350

If it's not listed...you don't have it and need
to install the card.


--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
Looks like that's my problem!!!! So I will need to purchase and install a
IEEE 1394 and purchase a DV interface cable and everything should be fine!!
(I hope).

Thanks so much for your help and I've enjoyed learning from your website!!
 
That looks like a great deal and they also have the dv interface cable!! Is
there a problem having two different IEEE's in the same system?
 
photogeek said:
That looks like a great deal and they also have the dv interface
cable!! Is there a problem having two different IEEE's in the same
system?
Click to expand...
=================================
I guess you are referring to your IEEE 1284
printer connection as one and the IEEE 1394
FireWire connection the second one?

No there should be no issues with that.

And, I hope you realize there's no guarantee
that installing the FireWire card will solve all
your problems. It is simply one possibility.

Good luck.


--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
Yes, of course! Need to try something!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!
Thanks for all your help!! I'll let you know what happens!!!!!
 
Back to this!!!! I installed a firewire card (IEEE 1394) in my computer and
also got a 6pin-to-4pin firewire cable to connnect the dv camera to the port.
In checking the hardware, the computer recognizes the card and there is no
problem that I can see. When I WMM tries to capture video, it says there is
no device detected. Is there something else I need to do in WMM so that it
knows to look in/at that new firewire card for the source?

Thanks for your help!
 
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