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frustration with capturing and canon
Hi,
This question has been asked lots of times, but none of the answers in the other posts seem to be working for me, and I am getting very frustrated.
I use a Canon xha1 and Final Cut 6. I capture from my camera, which i know is not best practice.
It has always been a little flaky when capturing hdv footage, but even though it rarely works first time, it will usually capture eventually.
The problem is it has now stopped completely, just at a crucial point. I know it’s a conflict between FCP and my camera. My Macbook Pro (OSX) can see the camera, but fcp says it cannot initialize capture device.
i borrowed a sony this afternoon, and using the same firewire, managed to capture some hdv footage no problem.
My settings are all as you would expect and I keep trashing my preferences, which usually does the job and still nothing with the canon.
What is it with canon and fcp? I really need my equipment to work and don’t know what to try next. I have been through similar threads and tried a couple of the tips and checklists.
please help. I need to have a video finished by tomorrow and haven’t even started yet!!!
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5 Replies
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manually setting the DV
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Thanks for your reply. and so quick. But what do you mean by that? how is that done?
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whoa, thats weird, it cut off my post.
manually set the DV/HDV switch to HDV.
The canon’s revert every time you turn them off.
it also helps to have the mac and canon both
powered off when connecting up, then turn
on the camera, then the mac. -
I really wanted that to work but it hasn’t. thanks for your advice though, do you have any other ideas?
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Jessica,
Here are steps that I think someone posted here a long while back. They have worked for me:for HDV capture:
1. You FIRST need to disconnect the FireWire cable, then put your camera on VCR/Playback mode.2. Click on the menu button and go to SIGNAL SETUP. (Since you do not have the FireWire cable plugged in, you can NOW change 2 important settings needed to import HD footage).
3. Under SIGNAL SETUP, scroll down to PLAYBACK STD. Click on that and make sure the HDV is set. NOT the AUTO, it most likely will not import under AUTO. Once the HDV is set, you’re half-way there.
4. Next go back to SIGNAL SETUP and scroll down to HD DOWN-CONV and click on this. Make sure it is OFF. Once you set this, you’re done.
5. Go back to SIGNAL SETUP and check this settings to make sure they read:
PLAYBACK STD HDV
HD DOWN-CONV OFF6. You can now plug in your FireWire cable and you will see after a few seconds that these settings turn “gray” and you cannot change them.
7. Restart FCP
You didn’t mention if you’re logging and capturing, or just capturing everything at once. I’ve found Canon/FCP reliable for capturing whole tapes, but I’ve heard it’s less reliable capturing logged clips or on recapture. I haven’t done those much with this camera, so I can’t say.
Good luck!
Brett
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