Pinnacle Systems
DV200
Read Me First
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for software version 2.0 February , 2001
Welcome to Pinnacle Systems DV200
This text contains important last minute information for DV200 using Windows NT 4.0 SP6 or
higher, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 98SE and Windows ME. If you encounter any
problems, please read the DV200 User's Guide, the Adobe Premiere manual and this text.
All the information provided in this document was checked carefully, but Pinnacle Systems does
not guarantee any product features. Note that for brevity, in the following, we will refer to
Windows 98, which is always meant to include Windows 98SE.
Version 2.0: What's new
Premiere 6.0 plug-ins and presets
Audio mixer support
16:9 support, including NTSC and PAL presets
DV² Codec supporting dual processor systems
DV playback and capture outputs audio to the sound board.
Enhanced device control support
TitleDeko RT, featuring full 16:9 support, Video out controls
Alpha Magic FX
Export to tape allows control of recording time stamp
DVTools enhancement on tape scan to support Canon, JVC and Sharp devices.
Contents
1 Installation and setup
1.1 Installing DV200
1.2 Software updates for DV200
1.3 PCI Performance Enhancer
2 Known problems and limitations
3 Adobe Premiere
3.1 Working with DV200 and Premiere
3.2 Premiere presets
4 Working with other applications
4.1 General compatibility notes
4.2 Adobe After Effects
5 Pinnacle Systems support
1 Installation and setup
1.1 Installing DV200
Install Adobe Premiere first! Please install Premiere before you install the software for the
DV200. Disconnect all DV devices from DV200 for the entire time of the installation process.
If you had other video capture or video editing devices installed, it is a good idea to uninstall any
software and drivers that came with them and then physically remove or disconnect the device
from your system. Afterwards, please restart your PC before proceeding with the DV200
installation. If you have installed an older version of the DV200 software under Premiere 6.0 you
must delete the file
Prem60.prf
This file is located in the root directory of your Premiere 6.0 version. If you don't delete this files
the product might not work correctly.
1.2 Software updates for DV200
We frequently update the DV200 software and drivers. Be sure to check out the Support section of
our web site for the latest versions:
http://www.pinnaclesys.com
1.3 PCI Performance Enhancement PPE
If you find that DV200 does not perform as expected (dropped frames on DV capture and
playback, black frames during realtime transitions) you should update your mainboard BIOS.
Please refer to the manual that comes with your mainboard.
We also recommend to install the Pinnacle Performance Enhancement tool that comes with the
DV200 installation disk. This tool is stored in the folder PPE. Please note that this tools will be
updated frequently and new versions will be available on the Pinnacle home page
(http://www.pinnaclesys.com).
2 Known problems and limitations
Maximum file size using Windows 98 and the FAT32 filesystem
A limitation in the FAT32 filesystem of Windows 98 and Windows ME allows you to capture only
files with a maximum size of 3.9GB.
Capture
Capture with DV200 has the following limitations:
Stop motion and still frame capture are not supported in Adobe Premiere. As a workaround
for the latter, capture a clip, put it into the timeline, set the cursor to the frame you would like
to extract and then select File, Export, Frame. Alternatively, DVTools is capable of capturing a
still frame from a DV tape.
DV200 cannot be used to capture audio only (i. e. without video). Please use your computer
system's sound board and the software that comes with it or capture a clip with video and
audio, put it into the Adobe Premiere timeline and select File, Export, Audio to create a
separate audio file. Note that DV200 will only capture if a valid video signal is applied to the
selected input.
Capture can be done through the capture option in Adobe Premiere and through DVTools. It
is currently not possible to use other tools (e. g. VidCap32) to capture with DV200.
Batch Capture
Using Batch Capture with non-contiguous timecode can cause incorrect In point recordings. This
will occur after the first break in timecode on the tape. As a result recordings will begin at the
beginning of the tape instead of the selected in-point. With this version of the DV200, you can
manually set record on your DV device to record your clips or stripe your DV tape before you
begin to record for the first time.
Discontiguous timecode is blank gaps in the DV tape between captures. It can cause problems
with batch captures that span across the gaps in your DV tape and may require you to manually
capture these clips.
To prevent breaks in timecode between video captures on your DV tape, you should record
contiguous timecode on your DV tape ahead of time. You can do this by striping your tape in
advance of shooting new video: put a blank DV tape in your DV camcorder, place the lens cap on,
and record black for the entire duration of the tape. You can then use this DV tape with
contiguous timecode for capturing your videos without worry of blank breaks in the timecode.
Audio output
Audio will be processed different from older versions. If a DV device is connected the audio will
output to the DV device. On DV capture audio data is written to a separate audio chunk in the
target file.
In all operation modes, especially capture and playback, audio is also available on the sound
board.
On capture this feature can be controlled using the DV200 control tool. Start the control tool,
select Audio Input / Audio loopthrough to control the output.
On playback use the loudspeaker symbol from the program monitor to enable /disable sound card
audio output.
Control tool
The settings of the DV200 Control tool in the control panels only affects applications that do not
have their own DV200 settings (e. g. Media Player, Adobe AfterEffects etc.). It has no influence on
Adobe Premiere. To change the parameters of the DV200 hardware in Adobe Premiere, use the
Capture Settings and/or the Output Settings. The latter dialog is activated by right-clicking on the
INSTANT Video window and choosing Settings.
Note that some options, like the overlay mode, are global in nature and will thus be the same for
all applications that use DV200, no matter where you set them.
Exporting AVI File
When exporting a movie as an AVI, if users select Special Processing then adjusts the output
frame size, the movie will not render. This will be addressed in a future build.
Malfunction with VGA cards that use nVidea TNT2 Chip (e.G. Elsa Erazor 3)
Those cards may not support Interrupt-Sharing and cause problems during capture and playback.
Try to assign a separate interrupt to the card like describe in the section Interupts.
DVTools 2 GigaByte file limit
DVTools can only handle AVI files up to 2 GB. Capture and playback will be aborted at this limit.
You can still load files larger than 2 GB for playback but playback will stop at 2 GB.
Connect/disconnect DV device while working in DV mode under Premiere
We recommend not to disconnect, reconnect or switch off your DV device (such as a camcorder
or video deck) while you are working with the device under Premiere. Also, do not unplug the DV
cable from your camera or the back of the DV200 card while the Adobe Premiere application is
running. This might lock your current Premiere session. We recommend to switch to "DV
Software Playback system" if you want to disconnect the device. Also, you may switch DV
devices if you first quit the Adobe Premiere application.
"Sleeping" DV devices recognized by DV200
As many different DV devices take different lengths of time to become active after going into a
"sleep" mode (for reduced power usage), the DV200 allows a long period of time for these devices
to be recognized, up to 30 seconds. In case your DV device drops in to sleep mode and is
awakened and reactivated, we recommend that you wait for the connection to be reinitiated
between your device and the DV200.
3 Adobe Premiere 6.x
Adobe Premiere is a very powerful and versatile editing application, offering a wealth of features
designed for a variety of different hardware platforms. DV200 implements a subset of the
possibilities of video editing and this results in some limitations when working with Premiere.
3.1 Working with DV200 and Premiere
Premiere not responding after stopping a playback
You might run into a situation where you hit the stop button to stop playing back a project and
Premiere does not seem to response anymore. Workaround: Set the focus to another application
(i. e. task bar) to get Premiere back to respond correctly.
Project preview files will be deleted by disabling the audio track of a clip
In Premiere 6.0 disabling the audio track of one clip by deselection the loudspeaker icon forces all
preview files to be deleted. You should be aware of this scenario to avoid complex projects to get
re-rendered.
Audio mixer support
When the Audio Mixer is open, at times audio stutter will occur in playback. In order to re-
establish consistent audio and video playback prior to DV output, close the Audio Mixer when
recording back to DV devices.
Export to tape menu items grayed out
Whenever you encounter that the Export to tape menu from the Premiere Export Timeline menu
is grayed out, you have to connect a camcorder to your DV200. The camcorder must be switched
on. You should also check if Pinnacle DV device control is selected as the default device control.
You can check this using Edit - Preferences - Scratch Disk and Device Control...
Batch Capture
When importing batch capture lists (created in Adobe Premiere 5.1) into Adobe Premiere 6.0,
keep in mind that the default format of the imported batch list is Non-drop frame. If you capture in
a non-drop format from source that has drop-frame timecode your clips will not be frame
accurate.
DV device control
Please note that Pinnacle DV device control is activated automatically if you selected a Pinnacle
preset.
Render-scrub (-scrub)
When using render-scrubbing (-scrub) to view an effect that has not been rendered, please
note the following limitations:
The preview will only appear in the monitor window on the PC screen, not on the DV output.
The preview is field-based and you will thus see interlacing artifacts ("feathering") on
horizontally moving objects (e. g. the border of a horizontal wipe).
You may see a black line at the top of the displayed video. This line will go away if you resize
the monitor so that its vertical size is evenly divisible by 16 (e. g. 176, 192, 208 etc.)
Sequence window
Playback of a series of clips in the sequence window via Print to tape will not be seamless - you
will see short pauses between clips.
Print to video options
We recommend that you output your project to tape directly from the timeline, as this will allow
you to see dropped frames, which are reported in the status line of the INSTANT Video window.
Make sure that all non-real-time effects have been rendered - this is indicated by a green film
strip.
If you want to use the Premiere Print to video command, please note the following restrictions:
There is no report on dropped frames during playback.
The options "Zoom by two", "Full screen", "Color bars" and "Black" have no effect on the DV
output, only on the display on the PC monitor.
"Zoom by two" will not work if the overlay mode is set to primary surface.
Make sure to render your entire project before starting Print to video. If you start Print to video
while still having unrendered effects in your project, Premiere will render them - and also
render all real-time effects that normally do not need to be rendered.
Occasionally, the video on the PC screen will play back behind the Premiere window. You can
bring it to the front by pressing -.
You can abort a Print to video operation by pressing .
Capture
Neither stop motion nor still frame capture is supported by DV200 within Adobe Premiere. It is
also not possible to capture only audio without video with DV200. Please see the section Known
problems and limitations for details. Note that still frame capture is available in DVTools.
Playback speed
Fast and backward playback with a double-/triple- or -click on the monitor play button will not
work on DV200. Try these workarounds:
To quickly scan through video on the timeline, click and hold the frame forward/reverse
buttons in the Monitor window. By pressing and releasing while you do this, you can
switch from moving by single frames to moving in steps of five frames.
To modify the playback speed of a clip in the timeline, right-click it and select Speed. Note
that this effect will require rendering.
We do not recommend using the filter Backwards, as it does not provide flicker removal and
renders slowly. Use the Speed setting with a value of -100% instead.
Loop playback
Loop playback will not loop if you set only an in point. As a workaround, set an out point at the
very end of the timeline or clip.
Long projects
Long projects with many effects may require a long time to load into Premiere. There may also be
a substantial delay up to several minutes the first time you click into the timeline to scrub, as
Premiere and the DV200 software exchange information on the project segments.
When you then make modifications to your project, only these changes need to be transferred
and the delay when clicking to scrub will be much shorter.
Export to audio
To export the audio track of your project (or a part of it), please select File, Export, Audio. Click
the Settings button and make sure that the File Type is set to Windows Waveform - this will then
generate a *.wav file. Do not select Pinnacle AVI, as this may result in an abnormal termination.
Keyframe and Rendering
Please note that changes to the "Optimize Stills" checkbox for DV200 does not affect the exported
file. The exported AVI file is identical no matter how you adjust the setting.
Markers not drawn in Premiere
In Premiere, in/out points or other markers do not show up in the source window, nor do they
show up in clip windows. In Premiere with the DV200, the markers flash as you scrub over the in
and out points. You can see the markers by positioning the playback head on a marker and then
click elsewhere so that the monitor window loses focus. The marker should then appear.
3.2 Premiere presets
Project Settings
We strongly recommend that you use the provided Adobe Premiere project presets for your
DV200, as they set all of the numerous Premiere parameters appropriately and ensure that
product functions correctly. When starting Premiere select the New Project from the File menu
and choose one of the projects settings that comes with your DV200. The projects settings are
stored in the following folder:
Pinnacle Systems DV200 - NTSC
Pinnacle Systems DV200 - PAL
Uncollapsing the folder clicking on the "Triangle" symbol will show you the available presets.
Note that PAL presets will not work as expected on the NTSC-only version of DV200 that is
available in North America. If the sticker on the slot bracket of the DV200 board says "NTSC",
then you have an NTSC-only board.
Export Settings
The general projects setting already contain export presets for the native format. The projects
settings are stored in the following folder:
Pinnacle Systems DV200 - NTSC
Pinnacle Systems DV200 - PAL
Uncollapsing the folder clicking on the "Triangle" symbol will show you the available presets.
We strongly recommend that you use the provided Adobe Premiere export presets for your
DV200, as they set all of the numerous Premiere parameters appropriately and ensure that
product functions correctly.
4 Working with other applications
4.1 General compatibility notes
Video for Windows codec
Although DV200 is optimized to work with Adobe Premiere, it provides limited support for other
applications in the form of a Video for Windows-compatible codec. Video for Windows is an
interface that has the advantage of being supported by nearly all video manipulation software.
The DV200 Video for Windows codec does not make use of the DV outputs. When encoding, it
will always create DV-coded AVI files that are limited to a maximum size of 2 GBytes. These files
may be imported into Premiere for additional editing.
The frame sizes and frame rates supported by the codec are:
NTSC: 720x480 or 704x480 with 29.97fps
PAL: 720x576 or 704x576 with 25fps
All other values will result in a codec error.
For audio, please use one of the following settings for best results:
48.000kHz 16Bit stereo
44.100kHz 16Bit stereo
32.000kHz 16Bit stereo
For both PAL and NTSC, the field ordering should be "lower field first", sometimes also called
"even field first".
DirectShow playback filter
To facilitate playback of AVI files by simply double-clicking them, DV200 includes a Microsoft
DirectShow playback filter. A double-click on an AVI file that was captured or exported with DV200
will bring up either the DirectShow player or - if installed - the Microsoft Windows Media Player.
Video will be shown on both the PC monitor and the DV output. The DV200 Control in the Control
Panel can be used to adjust output settings (e. g. volume).
Note that the DV200 offers a checkbox to disable hardware accelerated playback. You may check
the setting starting the Pinnacle Systems Control from the control panel, select page General and
check DirectX standard playback module.
MCI playback
For compatibility with applications that use MCI for playback of AVI files, such as Adobe After
Effects, DV200 provides a connection interface from MCI to DirectShow. This connection
interface may be broken by installing newer versions of DirectX, as is typically done by games or
other multimedia software. The connection interface may be reestablished by double-clicking on
the file MCIviaHW_NT.reg, which is located in the ..\Pinnacle\DV200 directory.
4.2 Adobe After Effects
By utilizing the Video for Windows codec, DV200 offers basic compatibility to Adobe After Effects.
In addition, playback of individual clips to the DV200 DV output is possible from within After
Effects through the MCI to DirectShow connection layer described in the previous section.
Presets
Presets for AfterEffects can be loaded from the DV200 installation CD. The folder is named:
AfterEffects Presets
General
When you add a new composition, the frame size, pixel ratio and frame rate must be one of the
formats that DV200 supports:
NTSC: frame size 720x480 or 704x480, pixel ratio D1/DV NTSC, frame rate 29.97
PAL: frame size 720x576 or 704x576, pixel ratio D1/DV PAL, frame rate 25
The frame size may have an arbitrary value, but only if you adjust the final output to match the
DV200-compatible formats. This can be done by using the Stretch and Crop options (see below.)
When your project is complete and you are ready to render it to an AVI file, you should create a
new output module template by clicking New in the output module template dialog.
The following settings should then be used:
Format: Video for Windows
Video output: activated
Format options: Compressor DV200
Channels: RGB
Depth: 16.7 million colors
Color: as appropriate for your project
The Stretch and Crop options may be activated, but you must make sure that the final output
frame size that is sent to the codec is one of the DV200-compliant formats. Any other value will
result in a codec error message.
For audio, we recommend one of the following sets of settings:
48.000kHz 16Bit stereo
44.100kHz 16Bit stereo
32.000kHz 16Bit stereo
24Bit color depth
Default color depth within AE is 32 bit. If you find that the resulting AVI files are incompatible you
might change the file AfterFX.ini to force AE to generate clips without alpha channel. Add "DVSD"
at the line
Cant32Codec= YVU9,YV92
and the resulting clips will be generated in 24 bit. You should run AE once to be able to find the
AfterFX.ini file on your system
5 Pinnacle Systems support
For new DV200 drivers or driver updates, please look at the following services:
Internet: http://www.pinnaclesys.com
Please check the website from time to time for new information and software updates.
If you would like to contact Pinnacle Systems support, please have the following information
ready:
Product: DV200
Serial Number: Located on the back of the DV200 board.
Can also be determined via the Settings tool -
click onto the Pinnacle logo in the upper left corner
and select About to display it.
Software Version: 2.0
Adobe Premiere version: 6.0 (also supports 5.1c)
OS Version: Windows 98(SE), Windows ME, Windows NT oder Windows
2000
Motherboard: name, chipset, BIOS revision
CPU: type and clock speed (e. g. 350MHz)
RAM: amount of main memory
Video source: which input/output device, how is it connected
Type of defect: crash, video quality, installation problem etc.
A brief description of the problem.
Exact steps to reproduce the problem.
Once you have this information please contact Pinnacle Systems and report the defect by email,
phone or fax. The contact information for your area can be found on the support information sheet
which was included inside the original DV200 box.