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Iomega Buz FAQ
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Note: This FAQ is no longer being maintained in any way. Most of the links are broken, and much info is out of date. Please, don't email me about Buz. Please? Mine is in a bonepile somewhere, and if I ever had the need to do video editing again, it would be the LAST card I would consider. This FAQ is here for the faint chance that it might still have some piece of information useful to someone, even if it's just to warn people away from Iomega products.
Mon Oct 22 This FAQ is still pretty new, and always under construction. The Buz is a recent product, released late February. Because of its very low retail price ($199 or less), it's likely to become one of the most common gadgets in the amateur video PC. The more questions we can answer here, the better!
Please note that this FAQ is not authored, authorized, or
endorsed by Iomega Corp. This is
an entirely unofficial private effort by Steve Haehnichen.
Buz Problems Page
This FAQ has general info on the Buz, while http://www.trix.com/buz/problems.html
lists common reported problems. Hop over there if you already have a
Buz and are looking for a fix.
Submissions
If you have a Frequently Asked Question you would like to see listed
here, please, send it along! If
you have the answer, all the better! In general, if it's been asked
more than twice in rec.video.desktop, then it probably
belongs here in the FAQ.
If you have technical information or usage tips for the Buz, go ahead, send them as well! Anything useful to Buz users is welcome here. Of course, if you find a bad link in the FAQ, or have a page you think relates well and should be included, please email the info.
Thanks for all your help in making this FAQ grow so quickly!
In addition to this FAQ, read all of the official Iomega Buz web page. The technical specifications can be found there, so we won't repeat them here.
The box names it "buz multimedia producer". I've taken the liberty of capitalizing it. Some on-line vendors have listed it as "Buzz", or "Jazz Buz".
The SCSI boot BIOS identifies itself as a Iomega Jet SCSI host adapter. The added Windows95 devices are listed as:
Buy a Buz, and you get this "stuff":
Really, the only useful software included is MGI VideoWave SE Plus. The rest is nice glossy software, but not really related to video editing. The Buz install program is suprisingly well done, using a video and spoken dialogue to illustrate the installation process. Of course, most technies already know what to do when presented with a shiny new PCI card.
Briefly, here are a few words and acronyms you will likely encounter in this FAQ or other video editing texts. Let's quickly go over them just so we establish a common language. There are plenty of other more detailed and informative glossaries on the net, of course.
| AVI | "Audio Video Interleave". Standard Microsoft Windows file format for video/audio. (Limited by the O/S to 2GB per file.) |
| MJPEG | "Motion JPEG". Buz's favorite video compression format. Think of it as a sequence of JPEG images. Like JPEG, you chose how "lossy" it is. |
| MPEG-1 | A more computationally involved video compression format using motion estimation. Used by VideoCD. |
| MPEG-2 | A fairly recent video compression technology used by DVD, Digital Satellite TV, and others. |
| Frame | A single full-screen video image. It changes 30 times a second on NTSC (25 for PAL). Each is composed of two 'fields'. |
| Field | There are two fields in each frame, so 60 of these a second. One contains the odd scanlines, the other contains the even scanlines. |
| Composite Video | A video signal that combines chroma (color) and luminance (brightness) into one electrical signal. Usually uses RCA connectors. |
| Y/C Video | A video signal where the chroma and luminance are on separate physical wires. Superior to Composite Video because it allows higher color bandwidth and reduces "chroma-crawl". |
| S-Video | A video wiring connection that carries a Y/C signal. Almost always a circular four-pin DIN connector. It looks a little like a PS/2 keyboard or Mac serial port, but it's very different. |
| SVHS | A video-tape standard similar to VHS, but higher quality. Most SVHS decks have S-Video inputs, but they don't mean the same thing. |
| NTSC | North-American video standard. 30 frames per second, generally 640x480 (square) or 720x480 (rectangular). |
| PAL | European video standard. 25 frames per second. |
| White-Book | The specific MPEG-1 constrained definition used by Video CDs. |
| FAQ | Frequenty Asked Questions, of course. :-) |
When you add a Buz card to your system, your BIOS will likely list a few new PCI devices at boot time. By matching up the Device and Vendor ID numbers, you can tell which IRQ was assigned to each function.
| Function | Vendor ID | Device ID |
|---|---|---|
| Buz Codec (Zoran ZR36057) | 11DE | 6057 |
| Advansys SCSI (ASC3050B) | 10CD | 1300 |
| PCI-to-PCI Bridge (PT80C525) | 1066 | 0004 |
The card itself has two back-panel connectors. One SCSI-2 connector (in addition to the internal 50-pin IDC header), and one vga-style connector just for the external Buz Box. Peek up at the picture on this page to see the Buz Box; it explains it pretty well.
The Buz Box is very snazzy, but doesn't have the most practical connector arrangement --- cables come out of three sides. The back side has the thick (well-shielded) A/V cord to the card. The right side has the four "OUT" connectors, and the front side has the same connectors for "IN":
Really though, the desktop breakout box is a fantstic improvement to reaching behind the machine to connect things. It's great to have only one thick cable with a sturdy connector go to the back of the card. Sounds simple, but hey, it's neat.
Because Buz is so inexpensive (and low margin), the usual desktop video specialists aren't likely to carry it. Your regular retail computer stores like CompUSA, Computer City, Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, etc. are more likely to have it. Retail stores usually ask the list price of $199.
Mail order prices are slightly discounted. Check ComputerESP for the very cheapest places. NECX has it for $176.95, with $4.70 shipping; probably the best reputable deal out there.
Safe Harbor now carries the Buz, and many other video capture cards. If you want to work with a dealer that specializes in digital video editing gear, these are the folks to call: http://www.sharbor.com/. Excellent selection of software as well, and they nicely list actual prices instead of "CALL".
One user reports excellent service from www.buycomp.com, where the Buz goes for $165.95. ($189 after tax and shipping.) Check it out!
Find another good deal? Submit it here.
Sure, if you have something that can output S-Video or Composite video. The Buz does not have a TV tuner, so you will need an external VCR or channel tuner box with "Video Out".
You can watch the video by running any program with a live Buz
"preview" window. The included MGI VideoWave will work, but it hogs
most of the computer screen with GUI buttons. You will likely want to
use something smaller like the simpler VidCap32.exe.
Overlay vs. Preview
The Buz has two different preview modes: "Overlay" and "Preview". In Overlay mode, the Buz writes to your PCI video card using DirectDraw. This can display a full 30 frames per second, with minimal load on your CPU.
In "Preview" mode, the CPU uses the Buz to capture and compress
each frame, and then manually displays it on your screen. Think of it
as a still-frame capture, over and over. This is not likely to keep
up with the full video framerate, and it imposes a huge load on your
machine. In addition, because of the added compression step, the
picture quality is not as good. For TV watching, be sure you use
Overlay mode.
How do I make it full-screen?
The maxium size of the Buz preview/overlay window is 720x480. The
only way to make this fill your monitor display is to reduce your
desktop size accordingly. One user reports good results by using a
800x600 desktop and adjusting the monitor horizontal and vertical
controls to fill the display with just the preview window.
I get this question a lot, mostly from people who haven't looked at Iomega's Buz "Buz Specifications" web page. (Hint, hint..) The answer is YES, Buz does work with PAL video in and out.
Nope. There is no way to display your Windows VGA screen on the Buz video output.
The Buz composite and S-video output connections are only for AVI playback. Specifically, they reproduce in analog video any movie file that uses the MJPEG codec for playback. The analog output will also show the incoming video during capture (loopback).
This is certainly a Frequenty Asked Question, but it doesn't have one
answer. The best parameters for your video capture and editing depend
on your own equipment and source material. No one set of values works
best for everyone. With that in mind, we can try to make some
sweeping generalizations, but your best bet is really to play with
it; find the settings that you like best.
Consider the output media
If you know what you want to do
with your video output from the start of your project, take that into
account early. There's no point in digitizing everything at 720x480
if you are going to only produce a low-resolution MPEG file for web
distribution. Likewise, if you're planning to produce Hi8 tape, you
must use high resolution to retain as much as possible of a good
original.
S-Video vs. Composite
If you have the option of using the S-Video (circular connector) input
or output, use it! It's capable of much better video than the
composite (yellow RCA) input because it keeps the color and brightness
signals separate.
Most good Hi8 video cameras and DVD players have S-Video output.
Not many VHS VCRs or TV tuners have S-Video, so sometimes you're stuck
with composite video.
What format?
MJPEG is almost always the best choice. While RGB does offer the
promise of zero compression loss, you pay for it in lower resolution
or frame rates. RGB-15 and RGB-24 are really only good for
still-image capture, and not motion video. You get more bang for your
video byte with MJPEG. If you think you need RGB, you probably just
need to decrease the MJPEG compression.
What frame rate?
This depends more on your output than input. If you are going back
out to tape, you will almost certainly want to use the standard NTSC
(29.97 f/s) or PAL (25 f/s) rates. If your system is having problems
keeping up, consider lowering the K/frame (increase compression)
rather than the frame rate. It will probably look better in the end.
If your intended output is not video tape, but a digital AVI or
MPEG file, you have more flexibility. Most systems can't handle a
30fps MPEG file anyway, so you're better off starting with 15 fps
material. Faster than 15fps usually require that the playback system
have some kind of hardware assistance. If you are putting your video
on the web, you probably want to target the mid-range system and make
some tradeoffs.
What resolution?
Simply enough, use the highest resolution your system and disk space
can handle. Be sure to select from the three standard Buz resolutions to retain the full features of the hardware codec. For NTSC, these are, of course:
Some users have reported that 352x240 looks okay for VHS output,
but I find significant improvement in going to 720x480. For VHS,
consider increasing the compression instead of decreasing the
resolution. This will let you do more with the same disk space.
What data rate?
In VideoWave SE+, you're limited to
100k/frame, or 3MB/sec. All other software will let you select
200k/frame, or 6MB/sec. This is not a light load on any machine. To
stream a continuous 6MB/sec, you must have some very responsive hard
disks and an efficient system. (The 2GB AVI file size limit also
restricts you to less than 6 minutes.) It's probably out of reach for
your average UDMA IDE system. The good news is that 3MB/sec is
usually more than enough for tape output, and you can often use less.
Below 50k/frame, compression artifacts can become noticeable or distracting. How much compression is too much? It really entirely depends on your source material. Certain factors will require that you compress less:
Other video characteristics can work to your advantage in hiding the compression effects, and allow you to push the compression loss to lower bandwidth:
The important thing to remember is that no single setting works for
all video scenes. You will probably have to try pushing the
compression down to lower and lower byte rates until it becomes
annoying, and then back off a bit. It's all about compromises.
Audio Settings
This is pretty much common sense. If you
don't use stereo, or your stereo separation is lousy anyway (most
camcorders), then only digitize in mono and save the bytes for better
video. If your audio doesn't contain a lot of high-frequency, you
probably don't need 44.1 or 48 Khz resolution. Camcorder speech tends
to sound just the same at 32 Khz or even less. If you really need to
cut down on bandwidth, you can reduce the PCM resolution from 16-bit
to 8-bit, but it adds a significant amount of noise to the quiet
passages. But, if most of your audio is full-volume or distorted loud
anyway, go for 8-bit; you won't notice.
Oh alright, here are some hard numbers:
If you're curious, here's what I use to capture Hi8 video for editing
with Premiere and output to VHS tape:
| Resolution: | 720x480, because 320x240 looks just a little too blurry. |
| Format: | Buz MJPEG, of course. |
| Compression: | 100k/frame. Sometimes less, but rarely more. |
| Frame Rate: | 29.97 fps (NTSC standard) |
| Audio Interleave: | 1 frame. |
| Audio Sample Rate: | 22050 Hz or 32000 Hz. (44100 Hz for music videos) |
| Audio Format: | 16-bit PCM, uncompressed. |
Sometimes I make videos that aren't going out to tape, but are only for playback on the computer. These need far less detail than tape. If they're for Internet distribution, I want even less data. Sometimes you know more about the playback computer, and you can better target your output to a high or low performance machine.
| Resolution: | 320x240, sometimes even 160x120 for postage-stamp videos. |
| Format: | Buz MJPEG for capture, but eventually MPEG or RealVideo for distribution. |
| Compression: | Around 50-75k/frame, depending on source material. |
| Frame Rate: | 10 or 15 fps. |
| Audio Interleave: | 1 frame. |
| Audio Sample Rate: | 16 or 32 Khz for capture, less for output. 8kHz for voice |
| Audio Format: | 16-bit PCM, uncompressed. If it's voice only, maybe 8-bit uLaw. |
There you have it. These are the settings I start with, and I usually tweak them a bit depending on the material. If they work for you.. great. If they don't... well, that won't stop me from continuing to use them. :-)
According to Iomega, the two major concerns with compatibility are
full PCI 2.1 compliance, and a high quality video card supporting
video overlay and DirectDraw. There are some specific systems that are
known not to work with Buz, and they are listed on Iomega's web page:
Known issue with computer systems and video cards.
There's "compatible", and there's "useable"
Iomega specifies that the Buz requires Windows95 and a Pentium 100 MHz
or faster. While the Buz will run on almost anything PCI 2.1,
sometimes the question becomes, "But would you want to?"
Video capture and editing is very system intensive -- quite possibly the most demanding application you can run on your system. It will tax your hard disk storage, bus bandwidth, video card performance, and CPU to the limit. Each one of these factors can become a bottleneck that makes the difference between a fun video project, and a chore too tedious to consider.
Hard disk performance is often the limiting factor in what you can achieve. Buz will gladly stuff up to six megabytes a second of video data down your PCI bus and onto your hard disk. There are very few systems that can handle this, so you will likely find yourself throttling back your capture rate to accomodate your hard disk. A utility like the Miro Expert can help measure your hard disk performance and give you an idea of what to expect.
While a 100 MHz Pentium and fast hard disk will be able to capture good video, you could spend a very long time waiting for it to render. VideoWave renders every frame when making the production output, and a one minute video could easily take hours to produce. If you have a slower CPU, make sure you're the patient sort.
Early reports indicate NO. The Buz is able to preview and capture video signals that have been protected with Macrovision -- including the latest version 7.0 used on DVD movies. See the DVD FAQ for details on Macrovision protection. (Of course, the content is still protected by Copyright, and should be handled accordingly.)
If you have a video segment that Buz captures poorly (changing brightness, colored lines, bad sync, etc.) and you suspect it's caused by Macrovision encoding, please email details.
When the Buz is capturing or preparing to capture video, you can have
a window on your computer monitor to watch what is coming in. (The
NTSC output also shows a copy). This window can be created using one
of two very different methods:
Preview
The Preview method is the most basic. The video application (or API)
instructs the Buz to capture a single frame, and then it immediately
draws it into the preview window. It does this repeatedly, as fast as
it can. In most cases, you can limit the update rate to keep it from
completely consuming your CPU. As you might guess, this is a very
intensive process, since each frame must be handled in software and
transfered from the Buz to the CPU to the Video card. It's so
intensive, it's very possible that it interferes with your capturing!
Overlay
Overlay is the better alternative because it's more direct and
automated. The video application instructs the Buz to "put an overlay
window over there, this big". Then the Buz is pretty much on
autopilot! It uses Microsoft DirectDraw to put each captured frame
directly into the display card. The video goes from Buz straight to
the graphics card, instead of through the CPU! This cuts the PCI bus
traffic in half and greatly reduces the load on the CPU.
While most machines can't Preview the video at a full 30 fps, they
are often able to Overlay just fine. You should use Overlay as much
as possible. If your video preview seems very sluggish, jerky, or
drops a lot of frames, you are probably accidentally using "Preview"
and need to switch to Overlay.
When should I use Preview?
Never! It's there mostly
to help you debug things in the event that Overlay is giving you
problems. If Overlay doesn't work on your system, it's likely a
problem with your DirectDraw or display drivers. Make sure you have
the latest versions. You can download the latest DirectX from
Microsoft's
DirectX Download Page.
If you really can't get Overlay to work right, and are stuck using Preview, at least make sure you disable the Preview window while performing any video capture. You probably won't get good capture frame rates and reliability with Preview running. In fact, if you are pushing your system limits during capture, you should even turn off the Overlay window because it too uses some amount of PCI Bus bandwidth. Consider using a separate NTSC monitor instead.
The first step is to get a tool to check your disk performance. A
utility like the Miro Expert is very
handy as you try to improve your throughput. It's not a complete
answer, because it only shows the hard disk performance, but the hard
disk is usually the biggest part of the puzzle.
Windows 95 Settings
By default, Windows uses a number of
tricks to make day-to-day use of your computer run smoother and
faster. Because of the peculiar nature of video work (huge sequential
disk access), sometimes these features work against your performance.
Iomega recommends disabling all file cache features. There's really no point in caching video data in system memory. You should set Windows "Read ahead optimization" to None: Settings/Control Panel/System/Performance/File System.
Also select "Disable write-behind caching for all drives" here: Settings/Control Panel/System/Troubleshooting.
The last thing you want during video capture is for Windows to be
checking your CD-ROM drive for an Autoplay or audio disc. You can
disable this either by turning off "Audio Insert Notification"
(Settings/Control Panel/System/Device Manager/CD-Rom/Settings), or by
using the Microsoft PowerToys utility TweakUI
to disable the automatic startup. I prefer the TweakUI method because
it retains Windows' ability to detect CD-ROM changes.
Virtual Memory
One other option to consider is disabling Windows Virtual Memory. Windows is not very smart about sizing the virtual memory file, and tends to do it at the most inopportune times. By disabling Virtual Memory, you are required to have enough RAM to fit all your applications, but you don't have to worry about swap file activity. It's a pretty drastic measure, so you probably want to leave Virtual Memory enabled and simply "fix" its size by setting the Minimum and Maximum sizes to the same value. Experiment.
Be aware that these settings may impact your use of the machine for
non-Video tasks. Without caching, most common applications will be
slower and less responsive.
Keep a clean disk
Over time, a hard disk becomes "fragmented". As you create and delete
files, you create "holes" in your disk layout. Your free space is not
in one big chunk at the end, but instead just a number of small holes
all over your disk. To write a big video file, Windows has to move
all over the hard disk, putting a small piece here and a small piece
there.
Of course, make frequent use of the program "defrag" to consolidate your free space. You might also consider creating a special hard disk partition exclusively for video use. This makes it very easy and fast to clean by simply reformatting it or deleting all files.
Remember that most hard disks do not have the same data throughput
over the entire disk. They tend to perform better near the outside
edge of the media, which is usually the beginning of the data area.
If you have a hard disk that "slows down" as it gets more full, this
is likely the effect you are seeing.
Hardware Settings
Hardware settings can have a dramatic impact on disk and video
performance. Make sure your BIOS settings are tuned to make the most
of your hardware. If you have Ultra-DMA hard drives, make sure
they're enabled. If you have adjustable RAM timing, try tweaking the
settings to get higher data rates. If you are the daring sort, you
might even experiment with Overclocking
your system bus. Many users (including myself) do this, and the
improvements can be quite significant.
Some users have reported decreased video capture performance from
using shared interrupts for the Buz or hard disc controller. Try to
give each device its own IRQ as much as possible.
Capture Settings
To really squeeze the highest capture data
rates out of your system, you may want to consider disabling the
overlay or Preview window during capture. If you connect an NTSC
monitor to the Buz output, then you can still monitor the incoming
video with no system overhead. And be sure you never use Preview mode. Also set
the audio interleave to "1 frame" instead of the default "1 second".
This makes a huge difference on many systems.
Be sure to check out the FAQ concerning capture settings for ideas on how to get the most bang for your byte.
The biggest factors that impact rendering speed are:
No. I have received confirmation from MGI that VideoWave (SE+ or retail) can not create white-book compliant MPEG files for use on a Video CD. While it does allow the correct data rate selections, and even misleadingly refers to the setting as "CD-ROM", it uses a pack size larger than the maximum of 2324 bytes. The resulting MPEG can not be used on a white-book Video CD.
Certainly! In fact, I find it to be an excellent and affordable way to get high data rates for video. It combines two or more UltraIDE hard disks into a large striped RAID configuration. The FastTrak RAID drive appears just like any other hard disk, and Video applications will treat it the same.
There are no known conflicts with Buz, although you must be certain to configure it for "A/V Applications". Also, I have been able to improve the data rates by adjusting the "PCI Buz Utilization" with the latest device drivers and "UltraTune" utility from Promise. Play with it, and see what settings work best on your system.
You can find out more about the Promise FastTrak from their web page.
The Buz is capable of so much more than it does right now. It could offer square pixels, better color, and more fine-tuning controls. Iomega is trying to keep the product simple, but we hackers know there's more than meets the eye. Here are some folks making strides to improve the product by digging into the Buz guts:
As far as I know, there are no full-motion video capture cards that even come close to the price, features, and performance of the Buz. Here are the nearest competitors, with some ballpark street prices:
Here are some links Buz users might find useful.
Iomega has recently started shipping the newer v1.2 driver with Buz, but some old packages may still contain the old code. You should check the Iomega page often for updates, of course. At this time, the v1.2 driver package is the latest version.
Under the device manager, check the properties for "Iomega buz
Multimedia Producer". If it shows the manufacturer as:
Iomega
Corp. Buz Beta Release 1.0a, you are running the old Beta version
-- run (don't walk) to this entry
to get newer software.
How do I check the codec version?
The latest codec version is H33 - Version 0.9.4, by VideoCad.
The Buz video codec driver version is found under the Windows95
Control panel. Select "Multimedia" -> "Advanced" -> "Video Capture
Devices" -> "Iomega Buz Motion JPEG" -> "Properties" -> "Settings".
(whew!)
Iomega has published the "Buz 1.2 driver update". This includes fixes for "Field reversal, Still Frame Capture, and SECAM Support". You can download it from Iomega's Tech Support File Download page.
If you have problems connecting to Iomega's WWW or FTP site, you can also download the same buzupdat.exe file from here, or Paul Young's web page at: http://curly.cc.utexas.edu/~goldstar/buz/buzdex.html .
While the fix allows VideoWave and Premiere to produce video with the correct field order, it seems ActiveMovie playback still has a problem, and the Premiere transitions are still tweaked.
The version of MGI VideoWave included with the Buz is a specially crippled OEM version for Iomega. As far as I could tell, the "added limitations" are not documented anywhere on the box or in the Buz manual.
The biggest missing feature is the MGI "video animation" effect. While the tutorial explains in detail how to superimpose one video clip on another and animate them, this feature is greyed-out on VideoWave SE. Only the most basic video transitions are possible.
VideoWave SE has a really crippled text generation tool. No transparancy at all and no text in motion. Indeed, most of the text controls are inactive. Only the most bland and basic title generation is possible.
The Buz does not support the "Print to Video" menu option in VideoWave, although the functionality is there. To output to video, simply render the entire production using the MJPEG codec, select it for preview, and play it. While the video on the computer screen may be a little jerky, the composite (NTSC/PAL) video output is usually fine. Note that only MJPEG encoded video can be played to video out. MPEG, uncompressed AVI, and other common video formats must first be rendered to MJPEG before they can play to video out.
The first release of VideoWave SE is specifically limited to a MJPEG bandwidth of 100k/frame. The Buz can do up to 200k/frame, but was limited in the VideoWave SE software. Any other program will use the "normal" windows codec interface and offer rates up to 200k/frame. The retail version of VideoWave is not limited in this way. (The 100k/frame limit in VideoWave SE is purely a marketing maneuver. It is the fasted rate supported by the Jazz drive, so anything faster would make Jazz look bad.)
NOTE: In the most recent shipping versions of Buz, the VideoWave SE is not limited to 100k/frame, and can reach the full 200k/frame. This restriction was apparently removed with the introduction of Iomega's faster Jaz 2G drive.
If you have found other VideoWave features missing from the Buz version, please email info. Thanks.
If you call the MGI sales office at 1-888-MGI-SOFT, you can upgrade to the full retail VideoWave version for US$49.95 + $9.95 shipping and handling. You will be required to submit a proof of Buz purchase. The retail price of VideoWave is $99, and it can be bought via their web page at www.mgisoft.com.
Sure! The Buz drivers provide a standard "Video for Windows" device to Windows, which allows most video programs to use the Buz for capture. Programs like Adobe Premiere, Ulead MediaStudio Pro can all be used in place of the included MGI VideoWave.
The resolutions available via the 'Video For Windows' interface are a bit peculiar because they don't use square pixels. The Buz controls allow a choice of:
The video formats available are MJPEG, RGB-15, and RGB-24. (While Iomega calls these sizes "CIF", they are actually sized slightly different than the official standard.)
Other programs like WebCam32, and Microsoft NetMeeting
work as well, since it's all the same AVI interface as other video
capture devices. In fact, many users prefer to use Microsofts leaner
simpler "vidcap32.exe" application for video capture. However,
there are some codec issues that sometimes make Buz less than ideal
for RGB frame capture on some systems. See Problems with
NetMeeting for details.
Where can I get VidCap32.exe?
The newest verison I've seen was submitted by Greg DeMent (thanks!). You can download VidCap32.exe right here. Pick up the help file while you're at it.
You can also download vidcap32 from Quadrant Inc.'s FTP site here: ftp://ftp.qi.com/pub/support/miscellaneous/vidcap32.exe.
You can download miroxp32.exe right here, and now also we have the companion help file as well, thanks to Greg DeMent.
Nope. Buz Multimedia is for Windows 95 (PCI 2.1) systems only. Iomega has not publically stated any intentions to do an NT driver for Buz, but does include SCSI (Advansys) device drivers on the CD-ROM.
Iomega released Mac support in July. It's only for Apple Power Macintosh G3, with an estimated street price of $299. It's more expensive than the PC version, but includes Adobe Premiere 4.2 LE, a much better software package than VideoWave. You can read all about it on Iomega's info page.
Of course! There are a few small efforts going on, but the most advanced is that of Dave Perks. You can download a very early release from http://millennium.diads.com/buz/ and give it a spin!
If you know of anyone else who is releasing driver code for Buz, please send email.
VidEdit is a very basic AVI editor for Windows, written by Microsoft. It was part of the retail distribution of Video For Windows up through version 1.1e. This is the last version of VidEdit that I have seen. It has not been modernized to a 32-bit version like VidCap32, so it's still pretty crufty.
You can download VIDEDIT.ZIP, but be aware that installing it may overwrite certain DLL files in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM with older 16-bit versions. This hasn't been a problem for most people, but be aware of the change. Also, the old 16-bit VidCap is included in that distribution. Some crafty file renaming will let you use VidCap32 instead, of course.
Buz works as well in Windows 98 as it does in Windows 95. Because Windows98 comes standard with ActiveMovie and other new DirectX packages, there may be new driver conflicts or configuration difficulties, but it might also fix existing problems. Windows98 has improved the Plug & Play driver system, and deals better with the PCI Bridge part of Buz.
Several users have reported no hassles or difficulties in migrating existing Buz/Windows95 systems to Windows98. Likewise for my my own system.
Iomega is actively working to support Buz in all standard Video-For-Windows and ActiveMove applications. They are not taking the position of "it's only supported with VideoWave"; this is very encouraging.
While they can't be expected to answer questions about any third-party video application, if you can narrow a problem down to the Buz drivers, they will consider this a problem. Here is Iomega's official position as of 6/3/98:
Iomega currently offers technical support for BUZ Multimedia Producer only when used in conjunction with the software included with BUZ. While Iomega is unable to answer questions regarding the usage of 3rd party applications, Iomega is striving to provide a product that will properly function with all applications that use Video for Windows and Active Movie. Drivers are being developed to ensure that the BUZ works with 100% compatability with other software packages, such as Adobe Premiere.
Reports indicate not. It seems that the Microsoft DirectX v6 release does not break the Buz drivers in any way.
This is probably the most asked question, since there is a lot of confusion regarding the SCSI feature on the Buz. There is only one PCI card, with three unique devices on it:
The Buz video recording uses any drive available to your system,
including those using the SCSI controller, of course. You do not have
to attach any devices to the SCSI controller. Contrary to what you
might read from some well-meaning but misinformed folks in
rec.video.desktop, it does not reduce PCI bus traffic (or
increase performance) to capture video to a SCSI device attached to
Buz instead of one attached to some other SCSI controller.
Can I keep my current SCSI card?
Sure, you can have more than one SCSI card. You don't have to attach
anything to them. Unfortunately, the Buz SCSI Controller will still
request an interrupt from the system and spend time probing the SCSI
bus at boot time. There is no known way to disable the hardware, but
you can always "disable" it in the Windows device manager if it bugs
you.
This is included here because it's a Frequently Asked Question, but... it's completely nonsensical. The Buz is a SCSI controller, not a SCSI target device (like a tape drive or hard disk). If you're asking this question, you probably have a misunderstanding of how the Buz device looks and works.
See the FAQ listing above for more details.
And now, for the technical nit-picking... Yes, I suppose you could physically connect the Buz SCSI controller to your existing SCSI host adaptor, much like you could connect your two serial ports together. They would both conflict at SCSI ID #7 until you changed one, and then you would probably confuse the hell out of Windows as the same devices show up on both SCSI controllers. It's silly; save yourselves -- don't do it! :-)
If you don't have any SCSI devices attached to your Buz, or you don't use them from DOS, there is no reason to put up with the long "Iomega Jet SCSI" BIOS sequence. This is where the machine probes the Buz SCSI bus for devices at boot time, before Windows starts.
To disable this boot-time probe, remove the EPROM on the Buz! The 64k EPROM on the card contains the BIOS boot code for the SCSI controller. If you don't have SCSI devices, you don't need it. This is the small PLCC chip in the socket toward the edge of the card. It is a 27C512, probably with a white sticker with a four-digit checksum on it. Carefully lift it from the socket, and the BIOS code is gone.
Note that the SCSI Controller is still there on the PCI bus, and will use an interrupt. Windows95 will not notice a change without the EPROM, but the BIOS boot sequence won't run the probe code any more. As far as I can tell, Windows95 will still see the SCSI devices, but they won't be available at boot time or from DOS.
Not easily. Out of the box, the Buz does not provide a connection for a front-panel LED. There is a surface-mount LED on the Buz that lights up during SCSI bus access. If you look closely near the Busy LED, there are traces and pads for a few absent parts. Aha! One pair of pads is for a second drop-down resistor, and near the edge of the card, there are two holes for a 90-degree 2-pin header.
If you're handy with an iron, you can add the missing resistor and 2-pin header for a convenient front-panel LED connection. If you're short on SMT resistors, you can even steal the one from the existing on-board LED. One more idea is to strip off the LED and run a small wire to the new header you installed. Anyway, you get the idea. The important thing is that the holes are there for the connector. True, you probably void your warranty, but hey, my front-panel LED works great.
Yes, certainly. BUT, you will probably need a new SCSI cable. The Zip uses a DB-25, while the Buz has a standard high-density "SCSI-2" connector. Unfortunately, the cable to go between the two is hard to find, and often expensive. You could end up paying US$20 to $40 for it. Jeff Kleist reports that "Best Buy" has this "DB25 to HD50" cable on the shelf for $34.95.
An internal ZIP drive will be easier, since the Buz has a standard 50-pin "SCSI narrow" internal header.
NOTE: One Buz user has reported that he had to turn OFF the termination switch on the Zip drive. This is peculiar, but worth a try if you get SCSI errors or an unrecognized drive.
Yes! The internal Jaz drive plugs into the internal SCSI connection, while the external Jaz (portable) comes with exactly the right cable to connect to Buz. It's a perfect match.
Sure. The Iomega Buz uses the Advansys ASC3050B PCI SCSI Controller.
It works just like any other SCSI card based on this chip. Several
people have reported success (or even improvements) using the Advansys
SCSI drivers from www.advansys.com.
The latest drivers for all systems are listed here.
What about DOS, OS/2 Warp, Windows NT or Linux SCSI drivers?
While Iomega does not include SCSI drivers for anything other than
Windows 95 and NT, some users have reported success using the ones from
Advansys. You can download them from the URL above.
Yes. It's a standard 50-pin IDC connector, and supports the full performance of Ultra SCSI for internal devices.
Certainly! In fact, if you are still using a freebie ISA-bus SCSI controller that came with your scanner, you may find a significant improvement in scanning speed. (Especially the HP PhotoSmart.)
The Advansys Ultra-SCSI controller on the Buz is no slouch, and it's well up to the task of most SCSI peripherals. It's certainly an upgrade from the "bundled" SCSI cards with most scanners and CD-R writers, since those are usually inexpensive and PIO (CPU-intensive).
To get the most from your system, you should buy an "Ultra SCSI" hard
disk, since the Buz (Advansys) SCSI controller supports this
higher-speed standard. You can use a standard "Fast SCSI" drive, but
it probably won't be as fast.
Narrow Single-Ended Ultra SCSI
You should make sure that your drive interface is "single-ended"
and not "differential". This isn't usually a problem, because
differential drives are much more expensive and rare. The Buz is a
"narrow" (8-bit) SCSI controller, and won't make the most of a Wide
SCSI hard disk, which is more expensive. It's probably best to buy a
Narrow hard disk unless you plan to upgrade to a Wide controller soon.
And a SCSI cable, of course
If you want to put the drive inside your case (internal), then you will neeed a 50-pin SCSI ribbon cable. (An IDE cable won't work.) Of course, you also need an available internal power connector to power the drive.
For an external hard disk, you will also need to buy a SCSI cable. The Buz has a 50-pin "SCSI-2" high density connector. This is very common for SCSI controllers, and you should have no problem finding a cable to go from your hard disk (usually SCSI-2 or SCSI-1/Centronics) to the Buz. Of course, a good cable can be expensive ($40+) and add to the cost of an external solution.
SCSI Termination is the same as any other controller. If you have both internal and external drives attached to Buz, then you should disable its internal termination by using the Setup Screen at boot time. It may, or may not, automatically handle this. Just remember that the two SCSI devices "at the ends" of the chain need to be terminated.
Copyright ©1998 Steve Haehnichen