How can I check that my Digital Video (DV) device is properly connected to my computer?

You can check that your camcorder is properly connected to your computer by starting the device manager:

• For Win98SE, WinMe: Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Device Manager
  
  
• For Win2000: Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager
  
  
• For Win XP: Start > Control Panel > Printers and Other Hardware > Scanner and Cameras

If your computer has detected a MiniDV device, you should see it listed under the "imaging device" entry.

Note 1: Your camcorder should be in Camcorder or VCR mode for a few seconds before the computer can detect it.

Note 2: Your camcorder may be listed under the "Sounds, video and game controllers" section of the device manager. If this is the case you will need to upgrade your camcorder driver.

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How can I capture files with neoDVD and save them for later use?

With neoDVD version 4 and over, you can capture your raw video footage from your camcorder and save it as MPEG-2, MPEG-1 and AVI files. To capture files simply make sure that you have a supported DV or Analog Video device connected to your PC. Launch the neoDVD Capture module from the NEO TaskBar. Locate the "Video Capture Device" window in the bottom left of the Capture Module GUI. Verify that the video from your device is playing in the "Preview Window" in the center of the Capture Module GUI. Make your capture selections such as duration, quality, finished file location and video format.

Press the "Capture" button. Press the "End" button at the bottom center of the Capture Module GUI to finish your capture at any time, or press the "cancel" button to stop capture without saving any video to your PC.

These files can be used for authoring, editing, and archiving.

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When I am encoding MPEG-2 files neoDVD will sometimes freeze for long periods. Is this a crash?

This is not a crash. neoDVD is simply dealing with a very complex file. Just be patient and wait, the file will be transcoded. If you think neoDVD has failed, please verify that the application is listed as "not responding" in the task manager before closing it, this will save you time on a re-encode.

Note: Before encoding MPEG-2 files, neoDVD checks these files for DVD compliance. If the MPEG-2 file is DVD compliant it will be directly formatted into DVD format. If the file is not compliant it will be decoded and re-encoded.

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When I try to control my DV camcorder, the Play, FF, RWD, Pause and Stop icons don't work properly. Why is this happening?

Make sure your camcorder is in VCR mode. Don't switch the camcorder's mode (camcorder or VTR) while running neoDVD. Exit the neoDVD application and then switch the mode. Make sure to keep the camcorder in the off state for a few seconds before switching mode. Then restart your neoDVD application.

Some camcorders do not allow a transition to the power off state when switching between camcorder and VTR mode. In this case, close your neoDVD application, switch your camcorder to VTR mode, reset the computer, start neoDVD, the VTR control icons should be available.

Don't click on the VTR controls in rapid succession. This could possibly damage the tape. Some of the controls, such as FFWD and Rewind, require some time to start and stop the tape. The delay depends on camcorders manufacturers and which version of Windows you are using.

If this doesn't help try to download the latest DirectX 8.0 digital update from the Microsoft website (dx80bda.exe). This update improves the control of camcorder.

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neoDVD is displaying the message "no capture device is available", even though my DV camcorder is connected.

First check the sections "The video preview doesn't work" and "Play, FF, RWD, Pause and Stop icons don't work properly".

If neoDVD persists in displaying "no capture device available", you may have to update your camcorder driver.

First check if your camcorder is under the section "Sound, video and game controller" of the device manager (the device manager view should be set by type). If this is the case you have to update the driver. Follow the following steps:

1. Open the Device Manager. Select the camcorder device under "Sounds, video and game controllers". Remove the camcorder device by clicking on the remove button.
2. Disconnect your camcorder.
3. Find the files dvcam.sys and dvcam.inf on your hard drive. They should be under the following folders: C:\windows\system32\driver and C:\windows\inf.
4. Rename the two files into dvcamold.sys and dvcamold.inf. These files are renamed rather than deleted to allow you to come back to your previous configuration if necessary.
5. Reset your computer
6. Connect and power your camcorder. At this point, Windows may open the "found new hardware", "unknown hardware" or "update driver" dialog box. If this is not the case, go to the Device Manager, you should see an "unknown device" entry. Right click on "unknown device", select Properties, select Driver, select Update Driver, this will open the update driver dialog box.
7. Follow the instructions, when asked to select a location for the new driver give the location of your windows CD-ROM.
8. During the update, the following dialog box may open: "A file being copied is older than your present file". If this is the case answer yes (keep your present file).
9. Click finish when the driver update is done.
10. Start neoDVD, the camcorder should be detected.

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Where is the video I captured to my hard disk drive using neoDVD?

.AVI and MPEG files captured with neoDVD are stored in the directory noted in the "Output File" field at the center right of the GUI.

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neoDVD does not recognize my analog video capture card. Which cards are supported by neoDVD?

These cards have been fully tested and verified to be compatible with neoDVD, other analog capture cards may work with the software.

In general if the capture card uses WDM directshow driver and does not contain a hardware mpeg2 encoder then it should work with neoDVD. However we have not test them and can't guarantee that they will work.

Note: neoDVD 6.0 is not compatible with AVerMedia EZMaker USB 2.0

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I see a green bar at the bottom of my video when I capture video using neoDVD.

This is caused when the video file or capture device has a non-standard aspect ratio that neoDVD cannot re-scale correctly and maintain the best quality. To correct this, please use a video capture device or imported file that conforms to the video specifications found in the neoDVD system requirements section

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The audio is out of sync when I capture.

If your sound card has an internal connection to the motherboard, make sure it is properly connected.

Reduce any hardware acceleration settings for your sound card

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Why do I get the message "There is no tape in the camcorder or you have reached the end of the tape" with the following connection: Analog->DV converter->PC?

Our Engineers are still working on a fix for this issue.

However, as a work-around solution, you can go through the following steps:

• Place a blank tape into the camcorder tape deck
• Click on the 'CAPTURE' button to start capturing.
• Once the capture session starts, the blank tape will be playing in the camcorder, press stop on the camcorder and the video coming from the analog source should pass through to neoDVD in DV format.
  
  Note: This workaround solution only works if your DV converter device is a camcorder (it will not work if you have a regular analog-DV converter)

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What is the audio format when using neoCapture?

Depending on the capture format, neoCapture will use the following audio format:

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What quality does neoDVD+VR and neoDVD-VIDEO record in case of live capture to DVD disc ?

neoDVD+VR and neoDVD-VIDEO supports one resolution per disc.
If the disc is empty, live capture will utilize the Quality Setting defined in the option dialog box.
If the disc contains pre-recorded clips, neoDVD+VR and neoDVD-VIDEO will use the same video quality setting that is already used on the disc.

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