• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  capture settings for capture from analogue

  Posted by Brasilnut on October 30, 2005 at 10:30 pm

  I’m trying to import video from a VCR through my miniDV cam into my G5. I tried it first using the default capture settings. The problem is that after capturing a one hour segment that I need to slightly edit and then pass to DVD, I now have a 14 gig file. This is WAY to big to put down to a 4.3 gig DVD disk. Any advice on capture settings so that I end up with a workable file? The quality of the video is already not the greatest and that isn’t a huge issue since all I need to do is archive this info in DVD format for later access. Any help would be greatly apreciated.
  most of my work is with minidv format so I haven’t really run into this before. I’m trying to archive news footage that was previously saved to VHS tape and we have it in no other format.

  If it matters, I’m using a G5 powerMac running Final Cut Pro Studio and OSX. My miniDV cam is a Sony DCR trv38. I’m just using the camera as a AV-DV transfer right now. I have done it before but only for really short clips.

  Thanks,
  Tony

  If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got! Think about it!

  Brasilnut replied 20 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 4 Replies
• 4 Replies

• 

  Bouncing Account needs new email address

  October 31, 2005 at 12:10 pm

  Lots of incorrect assumptions here, but nothing we can’t overcome 😉

  1. When you captured your VHS via a DV camera, you converted the signal to DV.
  2. An hour of anything from DV is ALWAYS about 12-14 GB. That’s the DV compression rate.
  3. You can’t use other compression settings to capture from a DV camcorder and end up with a “smaller file” that would give you “usable” quality.
  4. If you want to create a video DVD (one that plays on a standard DVD player).
  You will need to burn the DVD via a program like iDVD, or Toast (many others) that further compresses the audio and video to the “DVD format”.
  An hour of this will easily fit on a 4.7 DVD with room to spare.
  5. If you intend to access this footage for a later edit, your best avenue is to copy to a DV TAPE and save the TAPE for editing.
  This will be much better quality than the DVD as the compression will only be “5-to-1” (DV) and the DVD will be a much greater compression.

  My advice is to go ahead and make your edits to this footage in FCP, output the edited timeline back to a DV tape (and STORE that).
  After that, if you want, you could burn a DVD of the project as well (for reference).
• 

  Brasilnut

  October 31, 2005 at 7:04 pm

  Thanks for the explanation and advice. the material I’m working on now is nothing that I will use again but thanks for the advice on keeping it in a higher format.
  i do need to burn to DVD now but continue to have problems with idvd. I am exporting out of FCP by way of quicktime movie without making it a selfcontained movie. I drag in my quicktime file so that it is supposed to start upon disk insertion. then I click “burn”. here it gives me a warning saying that this file is to large for a 4.3 gig disk. I can’t seem to get past this step. I don’t get it. I’m new to Apple software so I’m on the bottom end of the learning curve. It seems like it should be simple but I’m stumped.
  Thanks for any hints or advice,

  If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got! Think about it!
• 

  Bouncing Account needs new email address

  October 31, 2005 at 9:05 pm

  [brasilnut] “I drag in my quicktime file so that it is supposed to start upon disk insertion. then I click “burn”. here it gives me a warning saying that this file is to large for a 4.3 gig disk.”

  Say again how long the timeline is.

  What version of FCP, of iDVD?
• 

  Brasilnut

  November 1, 2005 at 2:29 am

  Thanks for your help. I think I found the problem. I idvd set for “best performance” instead of “best quality”. I guess it was not allowing me to put over an hour of video on a DVD. wouldn’t have thought of that. It seems to be working now. If burned a few DVD’s from the timelines and haven’t had a problem.

  just to answer the questions:
  the time line was about 1 hour and 6 minutes giving me 14.53gig of material
  the software I’m using is FCP5 studio.

  Thanks again. Good to know I’ve got somewhere to turn for help when I run into problems cause I know i’ll have more questions soon.

  If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got! Think about it!

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