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Batch capture from J-H3
I’ve been having issues for a long time while batch capturing from our JH-3 HDCAM deck.
It will capture a few clips and then I will get an error saying something about tape trouble or deck is in local mode when it isn’t. I cancel, then try again and it works. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries before it works. It is a real pain to have to babysit the batch capture all the time. We also have an F-500 which works a lot better for batch capturing although once in a blue moon we will get the same errors…but hardly ever. I have tried changing the TC between LTC, VITC, Drop frame, Non-drop frame…nothing seems to help. (the footage is Non-drop, 29.97.) I am using the Sony VTR A setting for deck control. I have tried changing the pre-roll to 1, 2,3, 4 and 5 seconds…no love. We use the same deck with our Avids with no problems.
Anybody ever have similar issues? Do I need to change something in the deck presets? I am using 6.03 with Kona 3 on an 8-core. -
4 Replies
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Chris,
There’s a know issue that is cured with a patch available from AJA, know as the called “DisableAltETTPolling patch.” Give them a jingle on the phone and they’ll send it to you.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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Chris,
We have that deck (JH-3) and I’ve witnessed the same kind of “klunky” behavior. Compare that deck to an SRW-5500 for example and the difference in performance is noticable. So is the price! However, I don’t think it’s the deck’s fault.
FCP’s deck driving protocol is nowhere near Avid’s. Period. Specifically when navigating timecode breaks… FCP takes up to 3 minutes to find the new clip and move on. I know. I’ve timed it.
Since we ONLY use TOD code, this can triple the time it takes to digitize a tape. Our only hope is to throw multiple systems at the problem, trying to keep up with production.
For what it’s worth…. if you want to baby sit the deck during digitizing this may help: When it goes into fast rewind looking for code, just hit the “stop” button on the deck. This will “wake up” FCP and get it going in the right direction. If you don’t do that, I’ve found that it will rewind ALL the way back to the begining, fast forward back to where it came from and THEN try to lock up. On a long tape, this can take quite some time.
Good luck.
Mark
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Apple now has instructions on how to create your own plug in for this:
From this link:
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1942?viewlocale=en_US?sr=xlr8yourmac
Serial device control and “Tape trouble” messages
When capturing from or outputting to a device using serial control (RS-422), Final Cut Pro regularly queries the device about its current state. If this polling is held off for any reason (such as the other factors listed in this article), Final Cut Pro may display a “Tape trouble” dialog. Updating to the latest Kona drivers and Mac OS v10.5.3 should help resolve this. If polling interruption is still an issue, increasing the polling interval may result in fewer warning dialogs.To increase the serial device control polling interval, take the following steps:
Use TextEdit (or another plain text editor) and create a new document.
Note: If you are using TextEdit, make sure the document format is plain text (not rich text) by choosing Format > Make Plain Text (or press Shift-Command-T).
Copy and paste the following lines (or type them exactly) into the plain text document:
startuponly
FileVersion(60243, 41391, 68)
codedictput(0,”kgDeviceControl”,”useAltETTPolling”, “value”);
Choose File > Save.
Name the file DisableAltETTPolling.txt and save it in this location:
/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins
Close Final Cut Pro and reopen it for the change to take effect.” -
OK, thanks everyone.
I will try the AJA patch first and see where that gets me.
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