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No timecode on tape and can’t record audio in FCP
Hi everyone,
I recently had my Canon XL2 ‘repaired’ and since it came back I’ve had nothing but trouble. The firewire socket was apparently fixed and it did work for a while but has now stopped working completely. I am now using an old JVC GR-D20EK as a deck.The video is capturing fine from the JVC, but the problem is the audio doesn’t register at all. I should have audio on the first two channels from my on board mic and audio on channel 3 from my radio mics, and I can’t get any of them to register in FCP. I can’t hear anything in log and capture or in the voiceover tool, either live or when it’s recorded. I also can’t hear audio directly from the camera speaker and I normally can. But I know the audio is definitely there as I can hear all channels when I play the tape in the XL2.
One thing I have noticed is that the timecode appears in the XL2 when I play the tape, but not in any other camera, and I think this may have something to do with it. Although I am at a loss as to how to capture it. I also tried the tapes in a Canon XM2 and the same thing happens as the JVC – video works but there’s no timecode and no audio.
I’ve tried capturing in imovie and it says it’s importing but then neither the video nor the sound works. I’ve also tried old tapes in FCP and they capture fine, both the video and the audio, so I think it must be something to do with these tapes.
So I have one camera which plays the audio and displays the timecode but doesn’t register in FCP, and two cameras which do register in FCP but won’t display the timecode or play the audio.
Is there any way of getting a timecode on there or of making it register in FCP? Or indeed any other suggestions of how I can get the audio off so I can finish my work! Do you also know what I should do in my camera to make the timecode appear in other cameras in the future, it is currently set to rec-run, although I’m pretty sure it was before the ‘repair’ and I never had this problem then.
Any help greatly appreciated thank you!!Laura
P.S. I’m using FCP 7.0.3 on a Macbook Pro.
P.P.S sorry for the long post… -
6 Replies
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An update:
The JVC does now show the timecode, but only when rewinding and fastforwarding, not while playing. So it might not be anything to do with the timecode. It’s still not playing any audio though…
Thanks! -
Put the tape in the camera which plays the audio, and reads code, but FCP doesn’t like…
Dub the tape to your deck you’re using through FireWire. See if that new dub doesn’t work OK.
You need to have that camera looked at again. What’s likely going on is it’s not tracking the tape correctly, so the audio and TC tracks are there but off a bit from where they should be physically on the tape I’ll bet.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski. My Blog: https://blogs.creativecow.net/Jerry-Hofmann
Current DVD:
https://store.creativecow.net/p/81/jerry_hofmanns_final_cut_system_setup8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX – Cinema Displays I have a 22″ that I paid 4k for still working. G4 with Kona SD card, and SCSI card.
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Hi Jerry,
Thanks for your reply. I’ll give that a go. Do I just connect using firewire?
I’ve spoken to the camera repair place and they are going to have another look at it. I don’t have the right kind of cable to connect firewire from camera to camera so I’ll order one and then when I get the camera back I can give that a go. Unless you know of another way to connect two cameras?Many thanks again for your help,
Laura -
Using a FW cable is best because there’s no analog to digital and back conversion going on. You’ll set the recording device to use the FW input…
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski. My Blog: https://blogs.creativecow.net/Jerry-Hofmann
Current DVD:
https://store.creativecow.net/p/81/jerry_hofmanns_final_cut_system_setup8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX – Cinema Displays I have a 22″ that I paid 4k for still working. G4 with Kona SD card, and SCSI card.
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[Laura Turner] “The JVC does now show the timecode, but only when rewinding and fastforwarding, not while playing.”
Clean the video heads.
Try a cleaning cassette.
rafael -
Thanks Jerry, I’ll give that a go. Rafael, this has happened in 3 different cameras so I can’t see how it could be the heads? I’ll try nonetheless.
Thanks,
Laura
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