Error while transfering VHS media into Final Cut Pro

[Scott Sheriff]

Are you sure the deck is in E-E, and passing the video?
Or maybe FCP is expecting a signal from the deck with TC on it, which pass thru video won’t have. You didn’t say what your capture settings are. Change your device control to ‘uncontrollable device’.
Also try rebooting your system with the deck hooked up, and turned on. FCP doesn’t see some FW devices unless they are present at start-up.

Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com

[Madeofthis]

what is E-E?

my settings are set to non-controllable device and i the dv deck is being read by the computer. do i need to pass the vhs player through a tv and then into my dv deck for final cut to recognize the vhs media?

thanks scott!
technical idiot

[Aaron Neitz]

….somehow, and it depends on the hardware because every deck is different, you need to tell your DV deck to RECORD/LOOK AT the analog video feeds coming into it. There should be some sort of “input” buttons that tell the deck to cycle the inputs it’s looking at.

[Scott Sheriff]

E-E stands for ‘Electronics to Electronics’.
It is the mode that the decks input appears on the output.
Professional machines usually have a dedicated switch. On a lot of industrial/consumer gear you can get this mode by pressing the ‘Record’ button.

Have you tried to play a DV tape out of the deck to make sure everything is working?

If you can’t get the pass thru to work, and don’t have an analog capture card, you could always dub the footage to a DV tape and then capture that.

Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com

[Ken Jones]

Almost every time I try to record more than a few minutes by passing an analog signal through a DV deck I get errors. I have a bunch of 184 minute DVCAM tapes and I just transfer the VHS footage to the DVCAM tape. I then log and capture from the DVCAM tape. Of course this takes twice as long, but I don’t have to sit and watch it. I just set a timer on my phone for the length of the VHS program and then go back and put in another VHS tape.

[Nicole Haddock]

I do this all the time, but moreso for DVD footage (instead of ripping). We have a combo VHS/DVD drive and I hook it up S-Video/RCA audio to my DV deck (Sony DSR-45), select S-Video as the input on the deck, and then Capture Non-Controllable Device like you have set up. Are you sure your deck is seeing the video? That’s where I’m guessing the problem lies.

[Madeofthis]

i am using a sony dv dhr1000 deck and have the wire configuration set up as mentioned above with non-controllable device, but when i capture, final cut has an error saying that there is no video. obviously the deck is not reading the vhs player connected to it.

is there a button on my dv deck to recognize the vhs player? i am connected audio and s-video out of vhs player > audio and s-video in to dv deck > dv deck firewire to my mac g5 tower.

it DOES seem that my dv deck can’t read the vhs player and i think i might be overlooking something very simple.

thank you

[Ken Jones]

I do not own a DHR-1000, but I do own a DSR-20 and I bet the controls are similar. Like I said, I prefer to dub everything to DV tape then capture from the DV dub, but to capture without dubbing:

1. Press the button on the DHR-1000 labeled “Input Select”. There should be three choices of input select: Video, S-Video, and DV. If your video from the VHS is connected with an RCA or BNC cable choose “Video”. If your video is connected with an S-VHS cable choose “S-VHS”.
2. Press the button on the DHR-1000 labeled “Menu”. Move the selection arrow down to the menu setting for “DV EE Out”. This should be set to “On”.

[Madeofthis]

ken,

i am using the remote controller panel connected to my dv deck and pressing “Menu” but nothing happens. is there be an interface to view this menu? it’s not coming up in my final cut project. do i need to run my vhs and dv deck through a t.v. to view this menu?

i can’t seem to get to the menu setting for “DV EE Out” to set to “On”.

thanks! you’re so helpful.

[Ken Jones]

The Menu settings won’t show up through the DV output – connect a monitor to one of the “video out” outputs and you should be able to see the Menu screen.