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How do I successfully export an AVI file to my GL-2 to record to mini dv tape?
1)How is the GL-2 set-up and operated in conjunction with Premiere?
2)I currently have Premiere 6.5.When I use the export to tape command with any of my GL-2’s they go crazy, my computer locks-up,the monitor loses the picture & fails to record the video from the PC. It could be a time code or Premiere setting problem, the source of which is a complete mystery to me and very frustrating!! I’d really like to hear from a fellow GL-2 owner who uses Premiere so I can try to ascertain where I’m going wrong.Would anybody be so kind to list in detail step by step how this process works including the settings so I can move on in my early video editing life and gets things accomplished instead of scratching my head in wonderment? Yes, I read the manual but obviously due to the nature of this request/plea I missed something vital. Also…..In case Premiere Pro won’t work,is there a freeware/shareware/low cost solution that will simply & easily export an avi file to the GL-2 with no messing or fussing around? All recommendations and suggestions welcome.
Many thanks in advance,
Bruce
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10 Replies
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Hi Bruce,
I’ve used a GL2 with Premiere (from 6.5 to Pro 2.0) and never could get Premiere to truly recognize it. Way back when, I went to a trade show and discussed the problem with Adobe and others. I finally tried a standalone product called Scenalyzer (https://www.scenalyzer.com/) and it works flawlessly with my GL2 via firewire – both directions. It’s inexpensive and works very well. I still don’t have a clue why an inexpensive product like Scenalyzer works with the GL2 and Premiere cannot. I guess since I have a reliable workflow, I’ve stopped complaining to Adobe. And, BTW, Premiere Pro 2.0 is much, much better than 6.5. If you can swing it, I’d certainly recommend the move up. HTH.
Tim
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Tim,
Downloaded Scenanalyzer and gave it a try.The file I’m trying to work with is about 9 gigs/42 minutes of video which was exported as a movie from Premiere 6.5 and automatically saved as (I assume) a DV-AVI file.I imported that file into the timeline(new project)and attempt to export from tape.
I think at this point a stupid question is probably in order since I’ve still relatively new to digital editing and Premiere.What is rendering and building a preview files and could that be a part of the problem?
Having said that,would you please be willing to share and list the exact settings or series of steps to take on the Scenalyzer that worked for you with the GL-2 and what you did in what order?I see that this apps puts watermarks at random which forces you to buy it quickly,but hey at this point after all I’ve tried and frustration experienced to date on this issue.. 39 bucks would be a great bargain.
Thanks so much for the reccomendation,I wish I was better at learning software and using it to fix the problem.
Look forward to hearing from you again in detail and am gratefull.
Bruce
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Hello Bruce,
To preface my comments, I’ll also mention that I now generally shoot using a Focus Enhancements FireStore FS-4 portable DTE recorder with my GL-2 instead of mini-DV tape. See (https://www.focusinfo.com/solutions/catalog.asp?id=3) It has saved me many hours of capture time. It still captures in the same DV-25 format, so there isn’t any change or loss by doing so. It can even record both the the hard drive as well as a tape for backup if desired.
Prior to my purchase of the FS-4 I shot a load of miniDV tape and edited with Premiere, so hopefully I’ll be able to answer your questions. I’ve learned a truckload from others on this forum so if I can do my small part to help, I’m more than willing. This stuff changes about every 12 minutes so there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
Let me try to address your questions one at a time.
I’m not exactly sure what you’re saying here. Scenalyzer is a program that is a capture from tape and copy to tape utility. I believe that it only works with DV (specifically Microsoft DV) and not analog. With your GL-2, this should be no problem. Simply hook your GL-2 to your computer to a compliant 1394 port (aka firewire) and so long as your computer recognizes it, Scenalyzer should as well. At least that’s been my experience.
So, the workflow is to essentially copy from miniDV tape to your hard drive, which yields MS-DV files. Import those files into Premiere’s bins. Edit as needed. Output/export as needed (DVD, DV, MPG-1, WMV, etc.)
Rendering and preview files are simply Premiere’s way of storing intermediate files that have been ‘pre-rendered’ so it doesn’t have to do it again. This way it can keep things more in real time while editing and exporting. Depending upon what you’re doing, this can be a little time or a lot. There are hardware cards out there that can offload this (such as the Matrox RT.X2 or the Axio cards.) They’re a bit expensive but can sure save a load of time.
I really don’t think Premiere’s rendering or preview files are a part of your problem.
Sure, no problem. Yes, Scenalyzer has the watermark thing but only until you purchase the software – and as you indicated, it’s pretty inexpensive for what you get.
Let me be clear about what Scenalyzer does. As I mentioned before, it’s designed to get your data off the miniDV tape and into your computer in a format in which Premiere can easily process. My understanding is that this is a lossless process. IOW, this is more a ‘copying’ process than an ‘encoding’ process.
Here are the steps I’d recommend (not the only way but it works for me.) This is to copy the contents from the miniDV tape to your hard drive in DV format.
1. Put your miniDV tape in read-only mode (always a prudent step)
2. Rewind the tape
3. Connect your GL-2 to the computer via firewire
4. Put the GL-2 in Play/VCR mode
5. Fire up Scenalyzer
6. Scenalyzer has a fairly simple interface. On the top, you can select the capture folder. On the left, it gives you a simple list under “What can you do now?” If all things are connected properly, you should see “capture video to your harddisk” as one of the options. On the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a button that says “Capture”. You should also go to the File/Options section and make sure that the Capture Settings are “Type2 DV-AVI”. This is the default setting, I believe.
7. Once you adjust the options and locations to your liking, press the “Capture” button
8. Scenalyzer should read the contents of your tape and copy it to the hard drive. Note that the default behavior is to create a separate file for each time the start and stop button was used in recording. I really like this feature, as it makes it easy to delete out bad takes. You can index the tape first and then only capture the takes you want, but I find it’s easier to capture the whole enchalada to disc and delete and edit from there. I would also recommend checking the box called “Mute” while capturing, unless you want to hear what’s being captured.
9. Your files should be located in the folder you indicated. There will be as many DV-AVI files as you have takes on the tape. It will also break large contiguous files (over 2 gigs, if memory serves) into separate files but with no frame loss. Simply stack them on the timeline and it will be just fine.Now, reversing this process (i.e. copying DV to miniDV tape) is just about as easy. You just need to check the box called “enable recording” and put your camera in record mode.
No problem. If I didn’t address your exact problem just say so and I’ll try to take another crack at it.
Tim
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Greetings Tim,
Wow!That must have taken a long time to write that very detailed and lengthy reply and am sorry to have taken so much of your valuable time already.It is certainly most appreciated as I’m slowly climbing the learning curve.Yes,I’ve heard of the Firestore unit but unfortunately it’s a bit pricey for me at this time having just spend a lot of money (1,000’s) personally in the past several months.You may be interested in learning some background on myself and my particular set of circumstances.I started a all volunteer video ministry at church with nearly all of the tech/vieo editing work done by myself alone on the computer at home.I use my 2 GL’s recording tapped into the churches audio system.The service is subject to extensive video editing,burned to dvd then broadcast on cable tv and understandably it’s a lot of work.Since it takes so much time and effort I wanted to archive each completed project at full quality at a fairly reasonable storage cost and hard drives are still condsiderably more expensive then mini dv tapes, especially since AV files are so space consuming.It would probably cost at least 4 times as much to archive projects to hard drive.
That being said,here’s what I do…in brief..In Adobe Premiere 6.5
1)Import/capture each service segment direct from tape after first carefully selecting among multiple tapes what content is worthy of including.I then edit each clip on the timeline as needed saving each part as a seperate clip to a external 7200 rpm hard USB/IEE1394 drive.
2)Repeat step 1 for all of the segments and pieces until all have been processed.Inset titles with miniumum effects onto the timeline arranging all of clips in sequential and chronological order.Save as a project.
3)I also save the whole thing/assemblage as seperate movie/avi file to the hard drive.Yes,of course to get it to dvd I also use the MPEG encoder which generates the requisite file for that purpose.That’s a third pair of files.So I have the project saved in several different ways which naturally burns space!
I might say at this point to date that I get the same negative results whether saving as a clip/multiclip(if you will)or movie when trying to export to tape.
That being said.. to summarize,here’s where the current mission comes in:
Since all of the capturing,rendering,editing and saving has already been done all that remains is to have Scenalyzer import (in this case) a 9.2 gig (presumably dv-avi file)into itself and put in back out/record it sucessfully to mini dv tape.I’ve never recorded anything to GL-2 tape from an external source before via firewire or via the AV jack.
Would you please elaborate on & detail step by step on the end part of the process please?From the point where Scenalyzer imports a avi file.Please also let me know what settings and options are crucial.
Thanks so much in advance and for continuing to work with me.
Please take good care.
Bruce
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Aha! Gotcha. Now I know where you’re having your issue. When I return from some family fun today, I’ll get my GL-2 and dust off a miniDV tape and I’ll go thru the steps & document them for you. At this point, I know I’ve done it several times before but can’t recall the exact steps – and I don’t want to give you an misinformation. For some reason I thought you were having difficulty moving from the tape to the hard drive. Now I understand it’s the other way – from your final edit to another miniDV tape. Shouldn’t be a big deal.
As an aside, there is a lot of info on the Cow regarding project archival. It’s a real issue for all of us, and considering the movement to high def, it only compounds the problem. I’ve been buying a lot of the Maxtor OneTouch drives lately to archive projects. I just bought a 500 GB drive for about $325. Unfortunately, this particular model only does USB2, not firewire – which in my tests is a lot faster. Of course, as you’ve mentioned, you can archive raw footage to inexpensive miniDV, but if you have the need to do future re-edits, you need to have all the project files (footage, transitions, pictures, titling, composites, etc.) I’ve also considered Iomega’s Rev drives but the cost per gig is still pretty high.
Anyway, as I said I’ll get to your issue this evening. I’m actually looking forward to doing the test because of a project I’m currently working on. Back at ya later…
Tim
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Hello Bruce,
Okay, I just tried copying a clip edited in Premiere Pro to my GL-2 using Scenalyzer 4.0. Worked like a charm. I also tried to do this using the Export to Tape option within Premiere Pro and was less than successful in doing this. I did get it to work once but I haven’t a clue what was different between the one that worked and the 5 times that failed. I suppose this goes back to whatever the problem Premiere Pro has with the GL-2 in general. However, it does work consistenly using Scenalyzer.
The steps were very simple. First connect your GL-2 to your system via firewire. Next, fire up Scenalyzer. Click on the long button on the top (capture-folder) to navigate to the folder where your DV clip exists. When you do this, you’ll see thumnails of each DV clip in that folder in the main section of the screen. Select the clip(s) you want to copy to tape. Make sure the ‘enable recording’ checkbox is selected. Double click on the option: What can you do now/record the selected clips to tape. Press record on your GL-2 and answer the prompt. It seems to copy the clip(s) to the GL-2 without incident. I’m also led to believe that this is a frame accurate copy.
Hope this helps.
Tim
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Tim,
I had really high hopes and expectations.
What I got was this:
Before Scenalyzer started recording/exporting to tape I got this alert/warning message:”waiting because the driver is out of sync”!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was a bad precursor/sign/omen.
Then it kicked in after a few seconds and recorded a sequence which was a combination of:(in order)
a)what I wanted/expected,then…….
b)the standard blue screen with a picture of the tape winding animation displayed.
c)then it repeatedly cycled between events (a) and (b) in a quick,rapid fire flashing sequence which continued until I stopped the whole process… ad infinitum.In short,and it went haywire just like Adobe 6.5 and anything else I’ve tried thus far to date.Exact same behaviour.The thing is what exact driver is incompatible & is causing a conflict with tape export and how does one deal with that if it can be done at all assuming it can be found at all?Did you ever experience this?
What kind of computer are you using and operating system?
Say before I put this to rest for the night,you mentioned the Maxtor one step drives.These are external right?Have any of these ever failed on you and where did you find the best price?500 gigs for $325 I guess isn’t bad.After formatting each drive how much actual physical space does that yield?After fighting the rebate company for a $30 rebate,I paid a net of about $130 for a Western Digital 160 gig combo USB/Firewire drive which is somewhat more expensive dollar for dollar.
To be continued as the paid work week is fast approaching.ZZZZzzzz..
Please lets keep this dialogue going.Thanks!
Greetings,
Bruce -
By that I mean the standard,default “Microsoft DV camera and VCR” “driver” which comes with the program?
Is there one for Canon?What does it say in that box which is located by the transport controls,the above?
Maybe this is causing the waiting for the driver to be in sync warning message which causes kaos!
Hope we can get this going.
Thanks,
Bruce -
Hello Bruce,
Okay, I’ve re-read all of your posts. I’m now thinking that you may have a bandwidth issue. Where is the DV clip located that you’re trying to copy to miniDV tape? Is it on an external firewire drive? If so, the symptoms you’re experiencing seem to be consistent with your system’s inability to both read the DV clip from the firewire port as well as pushing it out to tape.
The system I’m currently using isn’t all that special. It’s a Dell Pentium 4, 3.4 GHz., 2 GB RAM, 2 400 GB internal 7200 RPM SATA drives, Canopus ADVC-300 analog to digital bridge, XP Pro with latest SP & patches. As I mentioned, I do use a lot of Maxtor firewire drives – but for storage and archival only, not for editing. I recall I had a similar issue when I tried to use a PreSonus Firebox (firewire) audio solution. It seemed like the system couldn’t keep up with both firewire driven audio as well as the ADVC-300. Flakey things were happening – stuttering video, out of synch audio, etc. – but again it was intermittent. No special drivers or codecs – just the MS-DV default.
So, bottom line question is – are you copying your DV clip on an internal 7200 drive or trying to go from an external firewire drive? If external firewire, can you copy it to an internal drive and try again?
You had also asked about my recent purchase of the Maxtor 500 GB drive. I bought it at Microcenter.
(https://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=234803)
When I was in their store, they had it on the shelf for $225.00. I don’t know if that was a special price, as the online one is $334.00. Still, a good deal though. As I mentioned before, this model only connects via USB2, not my preferance, but I need the space.Hope this helps.
Tim
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Whoops. Check that. I mentioned I bought the 500 GB drive for $225.00. It was $325.00, not $225.00. Sorry, finger check…
Tim
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