Decklink HD problems… frames freezing

[Jonathan Smiles]

First thing it is very clearly stated that only FCP5 and DeckLink 5 drivers are supported in Tiger (10.4.x)

I would recommend going back to Panther (10.3.9) with the DL 4.8 drivers.

It could also be
Wrong framerate settings
Wrong Ref being fed to deck or DL
Broken timecode on tape
Faulty cables

You could also try changing your device control setting to “use deck search mechanism”
And also change in systems settings to warn about broken TC after capture, so at least you get the material in and can see if the clip is useable.

Jonathan Smiles
Managing Director/CEO
Digital Safari Ltd
UK – Specialist Reseller
dCinema – HD – SD
https://www.digitalsafari.co.uk

[Armen Grigorian]

Thank you for the insights!! Our G5 shipped wsith TIger and it is my understanding that you cannot revert the new G5’s to Panther. If we can run Panther, then we’ll certainly try reverting.

As far as the settings go, we disabled the warning for timecode breaks and did capture the footage. However, that is when the frozen frames problem was introduced.

With regards to reference, the Decklink HD doesn’t have a genlock input… although we do have a tri-level sync in-house if there’s a workaround for this.

I guess my question at this point would be how well is FCP 5 working with TIger? I think upgrading FCP is the way to go at this point.

Thank you again for the responses. If there’s anything else that comes to mind, please don’t hesitate to post. Your help is most definitely appreciated.

BTW, what does the “use deck search mechanism” option do? We tried selecting and deselecting it in this case with no difference, but I’d like to know in case we need it in the future.

Thanks!!

[Armen Grigorian]

So, here’s an update with still no solution. Any help woud be greatly appreciated still.

We upgraded FCP to 5.0 and the Decklink drivers to 5.0 and the problem still exists. We also dubbed the tapes with newly striped tapes (brand new timecode striped on brand new tape and insert-edited each tape over to the new ones and the new tapes still come up with timecode break error messages and image freezing problems. The timecode breaks and image frreezing problems seem to happen at the same points in each tape, but the tape plays fine and the timecode on the deck reads fine if we play the tapes or step through them frame by frame.

At this point, we’re looking at the sequence and seeing if there is a problem with the footage we’re digitizing and how we’re digitizing it. Here are the details:

-the master camera tapes were shot at 23.98 (24p). The tapes were originally dubbed to betaSP and offlined on Media Composer on a 29.97 sequence. If we batch the footage using the original betaSP tapes into our Symphony using the original sequence, the project loads and plays perfectly. If we digitize into our Symphony using the original HD tapes and upconverting in the deck (done by our online editor so I don’t have any more details), we experience the same timecode and feezing image problems.
-the sequence in Media Composer is exported as EDL’s and imported into FCP for onlining. The sequence is onlined in FCP at 29.97. Could there be an issue or setting that we’re missing that would do a 3:2 pull-up when digitizing this 23.98 footage into FCP and cut into a 29.97 sequence?
-one last note… if we log brand new clips and digitize them, we still see timecode break errors and frozen frames. The frozen frame problem exists even when capturing clips on the fly with no set in and out points.

Is there something we’re missing here? Does HD footage have any other information in it other than picture that may be tripping up our system during capture? Are missing a 3:2 pull-up issue when capturing?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Matthew Small]

-the master camera tapes were shot at 23.98 (24p).

MS – If the camera masters are 23.98, why are you onlining at 29.97? Take the EDL through Cinema Tools and conform at 23.98.

The tapes were originally dubbed to betaSP and offlined on Media Composer on a 29.97 sequence. If we batch the footage using the original betaSP tapes into our Symphony using the original sequence, the project loads and plays perfectly. If we digitize into our Symphony using the original HD tapes and upconverting in the deck (done by our online editor so I don’t have any more details), we experience the same timecode and feezing image problems.

MS – Symphony | Nitris isn’t out yet on the Avid side, so I’m guessing you’re DOWNconverting to digitize into the Symphony.
My guess is that your problems occuring when the source time code frames are 25,26,27,28, or 29. These don’t exist on the tape (because the tape is 23.98).

-the sequence in Media Composer is exported as EDL’s and imported into FCP for onlining. The sequence is onlined in FCP at 29.97. Could there be an issue or setting that we’re missing that would do a 3:2 pull-up when digitizing this 23.98 footage into FCP and cut into a 29.97 sequence?

MS – Don’t online at 29.97.

-one last note… if we log brand new clips and digitize them, we still see timecode break errors and frozen frames. The frozen frame problem exists even when capturing clips on the fly with no set in and out points.

Is there something we’re missing here? Does HD footage have any other information in it other than picture that may be tripping up our system during capture? Are missing a 3:2 pull-up issue when capturing?

Matt Small
Pair of Hands
Sherman Oaks, CA

“If it was easy, everyone would do it.”