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Inconsistent timecode breaks between JVC BR-HD50 and FCP 7
Hi,
I’m new to this site. I checked most of the forums, but did not see my particular problem. I apologize in advance if this issue is covered somewhere. I’m trying to import JVC ProHD tapes (shot in 720/24p) from my JVC BR-HD50 natively into FCP 7. I am batch-digitizing the full tapes (talking head interviews). When the batching is finished, the tape clip is broken up into smaller clips. I’m aware of tc breaks happening when the camera stops and starts, but there are also random clip breaks right in the middle of a take. When I try to re-digitize, breaks happen in other spots; so I don’t think it’s a problem with tc breaks on the actual tapes. I updated my deck to v109 and I am importing through 400fw to 800fw and going in HDV 720p 24 easy setup. No other fw devices are hooked up. I’m using a brand new Mac tower with all the bells and whistles and have Blackmagic deck link installed. I need to go in native 720/24p. I have 170 hours to digitze and apple Prores is not an option because of the hardive space. It’s very frustrating. If anybody has a solution to this, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
Dan
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4 Replies
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FCP has well known problems in dealing with JVC cameras via FW. I stopped using it a couple of years ago, among other things, because of this. Not trying to sway you away from FCP, but just FYI, Premiere Pro imports JVC footage natively just fine.
Working on a solution for you. You should use the Apple DVHSCap program to import the tape directly to a .m2t file.
Then use MPEGStreamClip (Google search) to fix the timecode breaks and export it to a suitable format (QT with the right codec). Both programs are free. For DVHSCap you have to search for the “Firewire SDK” from Apple. Install the SDk, DVHCAp is part of it. Curiously enough, DVHSCap is not as finicky as FCP when dealing with tape acquisition.Hope this helps.
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Paolo Ciccone
Pret-A-3D
https://www.preta3d.com
https://www.paolociccone.com -
Hi Paolo,
Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly. Yes, I am very tied into FCP right now so changing is not an option. I will try the method you suggested. Question, is there any quality loss going through the different processes? I’m hoping to get the digitized footage that I edit with to be as close to the original tape quality as possible. If not, do you have any other suggestions?
Again thank you for responding. I really appreciate it.
Dan
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Have you tried importing the footage as ProRes?
This solved many problems with breaks during takes and lost frames at beginning and end of takes (importing from camera).
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/vlog/?p=61
Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
Hi
Thanks for the response. That’s a good idea. Unfortunately the problem is I have over 170 hours of tape to transfer. The amount of hardrive space would far exceed what I have available. I’m in the middle of experimenting with importing with DVHSCap and then putting it into Clipwrap and then dragging that file into FCP. The only thing I have to remember is to assign a tape roll number to each file I import into FCP in case I ever have to redigitize from the original footage.
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