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Jan, Gary: Timecode in “Capture Now”?
When recording directly from HVX to Apple Powerbook via firewire in FCP using “capture now” :
Is there any way to get the camera’s timecode?
Every clip I get starts at “O” regardless of the camera settings.
At a recent seminar in San Francisco, Gary Adcock said all you needed to do was put TC in “FreeRun” and it should work. But that is not helping me or anyone I know.I have had no clear answer on the other boards.
It is an important thing to be clear about with my clients and limits whether we can easily do multicam.If you can’t get the camera’s timecode, do you know how to set a new or alternate timecode on your clips in FCP?
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13 Replies
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What are you trying to accomplish?
David
Peace and Love 🙂
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There are a number of reasons to want it.
1. So producer can have timecode for their own purposes which are many.
It is the traditional way of working and one more piece of explaining to do about the new workflow.
They could do this with secondary code in FCP but its an extra step.2. On a multicam live shoot it would be essential and makes use of the fact that you can jam sync these guys. Here it is a big big big limitation.
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I assume at this point that it can’t be done, though I’m disappointed that Jan or Gary haven’t responded yet.
I’d be happy to be corrected, but no one has responded with a “how to.”
I’ve been asking this question for days on the other boards. (This board seemed to go down when I tried to post earlier this week.)The Panasonic FAQ says that firewire can carry timecode, so I assume that it is an FCP problem in “uncontrolled device” setting which is how you capture in the “Capture Now” scenario.
Apple probably could correct this if we made enough noise. Make Noise! Complain to Apple!
Tell Me I’m Wrong!(Sorry I’m a little frustrated on this.)
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Time code handling is a problem with FCP. I still own an aurora Igniter board that has TC input on the breakout box for this very reason. The HVX is not a “pro” lvel camera so it is difficult to ask them to put a TC I/O into the side of that (already tiny) camera.
You can now slave mulitple camera’s with the HVX and scene files and TC can be synced together.
You can download the manual here:
The instructions are on page 58 of the user manual.
The problem is not on the camera end it is on the FCP end. Just jamsync a bunch of cameras. So this is doable in a multicamera situation.
As far as your producers go, jamsnyc the camera’s to “tIme of day” and have them look at their watch.
To make this work flawlessly have your sound recordist rent a TC generator and send the signal to all of the channel 2 inputs of the camera (timecode is an audio signal) and then have him send that code (via RS422 to FCP capture as well).
I can see why you have not recieved answers and I think it is because your post is still unclear. You go on about standards and what people expect but you do not clearly explain the workflow.
Do you want the same code going from the HVX to FCP via Batch capture on the Fly? You can only input one source, Is that source a liine cut?
Were your questions about exaclty what you are trying to accomplish more clear, I am certain you would find much more help and maybe even your preffered experts will kick in.
I am sorry I am not Jan or Gary but these are Public forums and there are many people who can offer their “free advice” and take the time, even when the questions are SO ambigious.
David
Peace and Love 🙂
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Thanks for your reply.
I’m not sure what’s not clear, unless you don’t get what I mean by “capture now”.It’s been widely accepted that a simple way to capture images from the HVX & avoid P2 cards & all the shuffling and downloading involved – is to run firewire directly to a Mac Powerbook running Final Cut Pro.
Open the log & Capture window, hit “Capture Now” and you are recording HVX into the computer right into your editing system.
There are a few hitches and settings that need to be right, some suggested adding a separate firewire card, but its a simple and producer friendly workflow.Only problem: The camera’s timecode does not seem to be recorded with the picture. Every clip starts at “0”.
I know I can Jam sync cameras, but if you can’t get the timecode into the computer its pointless.
Ideal scenario in a multicamera shoot is say 3 HVX camera’s each set up with firewire to a powerbook doing “captue now”.
Simple – producer friendly – only right now we can’t keep the timecode: BIG PROBLEM.Sure you can shoot P2 and hire a bunch of runners to shuttle cards around into whatever, but that complicates an elegant solution.
Is that clearer?
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[Leonard Levy] “The Panasonic FAQ says that firewire can carry timecode, so I assume that it is an FCP problem in “uncontrolled device” setting which is how you capture in the “Capture Now” scenario.”
When you use the “non-controllable device” setting you lose timecode. Why not try using the “DVCPro HD Firewire” device control setting?
[Leonard Levy] “If you can’t get the camera’s timecode, do you know how to set a new or alternate timecode on your clips in FCP?”
Go to Modify>timecode, and change the value there.
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Does that work?
In my previous tests you could not do “capture now” in that setting.
I was told in a few places to use “non controllable device” which did work.Now that i think about it though, I never had the camera in “FreeRun ” with the DCVPro HDFirewire setting.
I will try this.
Have you done it?
I hope its that simple. -
No this doesn’t work. When I tried it, I remembered that of course I had tried this before.
“Capture Now” will ask for the device to be in “playback mode” .
Only way to capture from the HVX directly is “noncontrollable device” and that seems to cancel the timecode.
Anyway that’s how I see it so far.Time for me to complain to Apple & Panasonic.
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I have not tried this yet with the HVX200, but using a PD150 (DV)and Avid Express Pro you are able to record to tape and to the laptop with the tape timecode being recorded to the Avid software. Also, if you decide to do a noncontrolable input source the system automatically goes to time of day code (whatever is set on that particular computer.
I would be mnost interested to learn of your results with the FCP system.
Cheers,
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I would guess that you might be wanting to record the DVCPRO HD stream via the firewire cable. This means attachinga recorder (like the 1200A) to the camera. The camera and firewire were not really built for this purpose. Firewire is limited to about 15 feet, very impractical distance.
I’d say you would be better off JAM SYNCING the camera’s and recording to a Firestore, unless the HVX has an HD-SDI output that carries the RP-188 TC stream.
I guess the real question is; Does the HVX output TC and picture via the firewire stream while it is recording to P2? if this is the case there will be a way to record directly to FCP.
David
Peace and Love 🙂
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Hi Folks,
Gary has been on vacation and I did not have an Apple edit system at home so could not provide an answer. We did ask Apple this morning and this is the answer we received:
“When configured to capture using a non controllable device, FCP does not pull any timecode information from the device. This means that any media captured using capture now will not have any specific timecode recorded, resulting in the clips starting at 00:00:00:00 when used in FCP.”
So there is the answer.
Best,
Jan
Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, AG-DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems
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