Temporary No Signal Problem

[OlyDew]

I am trying to copy an entire VHS tape using Creator 10 and the USB capture device. All seems to work fine, and I've actually copied one whole tape. However, some of the other tapes that I want to copy have short dead sections on them (2 seconds or less) due to the original recording device being turned off, and when turned back on, the tape had been moved slightly so there is a short loss of nothing being recorded on the tape. When Roxio sees this section, it shows "Loss of Signal", and turns off the video capture. It gives me an option to save the section before the loss, but I don't want to have to babysit the tape for two hour to ensure that there isn't another loss of signal. The HELP section seemed to indicate that there is a "Copy Entire Tape" option, but neither I or Roxio's CHAT folks can find that. I just want to copy the entire atpe, 2 second dead pieces and all. HELP! Has anyone overcome this issue? I've downloaded SP2 and the Web video patch, and it doesn't seem to help. Is this a program design issue?

[sknis]

I am trying to copy an entire VHS tape using Creator 10 and the USB capture device. All seems to work fine, and I've actually copied one whole tape. However, some of the other tapes that I want to copy have short dead sections on them (2 seconds or less) due to the original recording device being turned off, and when turned back on, the tape had been moved slightly so there is a short loss of nothing being recorded on the tape. When Roxio sees this section, it shows "Loss of Signal", and turns off the video capture. It gives me an option to save the section before the loss, but I don't want to have to babysit the tape for two hour to ensure that there isn't another loss of signal. The HELP section seemed to indicate that there is a "Copy Entire Tape" option, but neither I or Roxio's CHAT folks can find that. I just want to copy the entire atpe, 2 second dead pieces and all. HELP! Has anyone overcome this issue? I've downloaded SP2 and the Web video patch, and it doesn't seem to help. Is this a program design issue?

 

That is the expected performance and there is no FIX. Some people use another capture program do do the capture. I understand that Windows movie maker will not see the non recorded parts of the tapes. I haven't used that. capture with WMM, output to a file that Roxio can work with and edit there.

[OlyDew]

That is the expected performance and there is no FIX. Some people use another capture program do do the capture. I understand that Windows movie maker will not see the non recorded parts of the tapes. I haven't used that. capture with WMM, output to a file that Roxio can work with and edit there.

Thanks for the quick reply. After doing a little more research in the Discussion Groups, I see that this has been a long standing issue. I simply cannot understand why Roxio is ignoring this issue. It would seem to be a simple thing to add an option that says "Ignore Loss of Signal for X minutes". Most of us have old VHS tapes that were recorded years ago when the technology was such that temporary loss of signals were common on the recorded tape(equipment or user caused). I've opened a ticket with Roxio asking for a fix, but I'm not holding my breath. Lets hope.

[Jim_Hardin]

My ‘guess’ is that it is a hardware issue with the device.

 

I have tried as hard as I can and I cannot reproduce it!

 

I have some heavily used tapes from the early 80’s and even when played on an old cheap VCR, it captures every second, including snow!

 

A couple of users reported success by using a DVD Player as a pass through. – VCR connected to DVD Player IN then USB device connected to DVD Player OUT.

 

It is something you can try… Let us know!

[OlyDew]

My ‘guess’ is that it is a hardware issue with the device.

 

I have tried as hard as I can and I cannot reproduce it!

 

I have some heavily used tapes from the early 80’s and even when played on an old cheap VCR, it captures every second, including snow!

 

A couple of users reported success by using a DVD Player as a pass through. – VCR connected to DVD Player IN then USB device connected to DVD Player OUT.

 

It is something you can try… Let us know!

 

Jim,

Thanks for the comment. These are tapes from late 90's. However, the problem is that there are sections where there never was ANY signal put on the tape because the tape got rolled forward when the original tape recorder was shut off. So, "Loss of signa" because there is no signal for a few seconds. The Roxio tech group refrred me to a Knowledge Article called "Signal Protected" message when capturing video. The gist of the article is that "This error is caused by the tape itself being defective. When defective, the signal pulses on the tape itself can become unsynced or be nonexistent. This creates a signal, or lack thereof, that can be confused for copy protection by the capture device or Creator. While the tape may playback fine, some of the data that ensures a proper signal may be missing." However, in these cases, the tape is not defective; there simply was never a signal recorded. I've looked at other messages on the board, and other folks complain of the same issue. I've asked Roxio why they can't simply put a delay option in the program to ignore short signal losses measuring in the 10second range. They keep wanting me to load SP2, check my cables, etc. Folks, there never was a signal on the tape, and better cables, patches, etc won't ever produce one. If I choose an option to copy for 30 minutes or an hour, then DO IT! If I wind up copying 15 minutes of noise, I'll edit it out. At least give me the option. I think the best answer is to use a 3rd party software package like Nero, Pinnacle, etc to do the video transfer, and then edit in Roxio.

[sknis]

As you know we are not Roxio nd have no control over what they do We try to answer questions about issues where we can. In this case, did you try what I suggested?

[OlyDew]

As you know we are not Roxio nd have no control over what they do We try to answer questions about issues where we can. In this case, did you try what I suggested?

 

To answer your question, No, not at this time. But I will. I have been on the WEB all day trying to get Roxio to understand that when you record on a new VHS tape(previously un-recorded), that if you manually forward a few seconds after recording scene 1, (5 seconds in this case) and then record scene2, that there will be NO SIGNAL for 5 seconds between scene1 and scene2. The new VHS tapes did not come "pre-signalized". They have no signal on them initially. Ergo, Loss of Signal for the time period that the user put between scenes. The reason for the lapse is that when recording a scene, I reviewed it using the camera, and then forwarded 5 seconds to make sure that when I started recording again that I didn't record over the original scene. May be bad practice, but----. There is a SP2 out for thr Roxio EASY VHS to DVD program which allegedly solves the "Signal Protection" problem which is similar to this, but it applies only to that software, and only pre Windows 7. I have not been able to get Roxio to tell me if they have incorporated that fix in the SP2 for Creator 2010. They keep wanting me to change cables, change VCRs, etc. Back to your original suggestion. I have been trying to find a freebie video transfer program so that I can use it to transfer the video, and then use Roxio to edit it. Seems clumsy, and I haven't found one yet. I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64B, and I don't know if it has Video Transfer features in it or not. I'll have to check it out. I'd appreciate any more suggestions. Thanks for the help.

[ogdens]

Try the suggestions already given in post 2 & 4.

[bimicher]

To answer your question, No, not at this time. But I will. I have been on the WEB all day trying to get Roxio to understand that when you record on a new VHS tape(previously un-recorded), that if you manually forward a few seconds after recording scene 1, (5 seconds in this case) and then record scene2, that there will be NO SIGNAL for 5 seconds between scene1 and scene2. The new VHS tapes did not come "pre-signalized". They have no signal on them initially. Ergo, Loss of Signal for the time period that the user put between scenes. The reason for the lapse is that when recording a scene, I reviewed it using the camera, and then forwarded 5 seconds to make sure that when I started recording again that I didn't record over the original scene. May be bad practice, but----. There is a SP2 out for thr Roxio EASY VHS to DVD program which allegedly solves the "Signal Protection" problem which is similar to this, but it applies only to that software, and only pre Windows 7. I have not been able to get Roxio to tell me if they have incorporated that fix in the SP2 for Creator 2010. They keep wanting me to change cables, change VCRs, etc. Back to your original suggestion. I have been trying to find a freebie video transfer program so that I can use it to transfer the video, and then use Roxio to edit it. Seems clumsy, and I haven't found one yet. I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64B, and I don't know if it has Video Transfer features in it or not. I'll have to check it out. I'd appreciate any more suggestions. Thanks for the help.

 

Not everyone has problems with the "blanks" on the VHS tape. As Jim noted in his post, he deliberately created a tape (from a new tape) that has 10 sec or longer blanks and the capture does not stop for him. I have some tapes that stop and others that capture the blanks. Gaps of 5 seconds or less seem to get captured but longer ones usually stop the capture.

To me its not a big deal if the capture stops since I prefer to capture in small segments anyway since that makes editing a lot easier and quicker.