I get only a black screen in the capture window using studio 12 capture , Win XP,2.33 GHZ core duo, 3.3GB system mem, ATI X800 128mb.  My Mini-DV JVC GR-DF550U via  IEEE1394 connects to the capture controls screen and the computer remotely starts the camcorder.  I can hear the video and sound from the camera itself but the capture screen shows no frames captured.  I updated the Video driver to Catalyst 8.21.  Any suggestions?

I had this some time ago, and it turned out to be a faulty cable. I could control the camera, but wouldn't pass video.

Have you tried capturing with WMM? That would narrow down the problem to a Pinnacle issue or a hardware one.

Thanks for the reply.  I did try using Windows Movie Maker and it does the same thing.  I have control over the camera but the capture window is black with no data captured.  I need to try a new cable to see if it will work.

 

I bought a new IEEE 1394 cable and the capture works fine.  Thanks for your help!

It seems odd that a serial cable can work "sort of", but it seems it is a four wire system.

Actually it worked for one tape, I tried again with the same cable and I get the black screen again.  What would make it work once?  I tried re-starting the computer (the one that worked was the first capture try of the day- with a new cable)   Hmmm....

Oh, dear, though this was an easy one

I wonder if the firewire socket on your camera is intermittent? Even just moving the camera to change tapes could have changed the situation. The new cable might have been a slightly tighter fit...

dsundman:

Actually it worked for one tape, I tried again with the same cable and I get the black screen again.  What would make it work once?  I tried re-starting the computer (the one that worked was the first capture try of the day- with a new cable)   Hmmm....

Does it still work on the tape that worked before along with the new cable? Do you have another firewire port on the computer to try?