Please let me clarify: JVC Problems

[Arnie Schlissel]

[doin what I do] “when I commence to capturing Final CutPro continues to break time code and create individual clips. There is no break in the time code recorded on to tape.”

Actually, there is a break in the GOP cadence every time you stop the camera. This is normal for all HDV. Nothing is wrong. It’s just a crappy format.

Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog

[Gary Morris mcbeath]

Welcome to the world of HDV. I have an HD100U, same issues. Yes, there was a firmware upgrade, but I think it was for the 200/250 series, but don’t quote me for sure. And I think it only made the problem a little better.

What FCP is doing is creating a new clip at every start/stop on the camera, and maybe at the occasional random other times as well. You will miss some of the clip because of the pre-roll time of the camera or deck, and the time it takes FCP to find the “I” frame at the beginning of the GOP; remember this is like MPEG 2 compression, with I frames, P frames, etc.

Here’s what you do: when recording on the shoot, pre-roll the tape at least 5 seconds (7-10 seconds better), then call “action” or whatever. Do the same after the take: post roll the same amount. Then, when you capture, you will assure yourself of getting the part of the clip between the pre and post rolls, that you really intended to shoot.

As an aside, I’ve developed an unusual workflow, since logging and capturing hundreds of small clips can be a pain; I have a separate small two disk RAID I use just for capturing HDV. I start the tape, select a representative clip name, hit capture now, and let it rip. FCP will increment the clip numbers. Seems to capture more of the shots, and I can walk away and let it run for whatever time I have on the tape. I then review all the clips in FCP (faster than using the tape, and saves wear and tear on the deck), select the ones I want, rename them and import them into the intended project. After a few tapes, I wipe the disk, to ready it for the next batch of tapes.

If you’re shooting something where you need to capture a specific but unpredictable action, like the 15 car wreck at an auto race, remember tape is cheap: just start the camera rolling, so when the action happens, you’ll get it.

Hope this helps,

Gary
SaltAire Cinema Productions

[Uli Plank]

Hi Gary,

I tried to go the same route to avoid the hazzle of setting in- and out-points and doing a batch capture, but I observed audio sync issues sometimes when doing direct captures, which didn’t happen to the same clip when batched.

Did this never happen to you?

Regards,

Uli

[Adam Smith]

Ouch.. seems like a lot of wear and tear on the camera if it has to re-queue every time the you stopped rolling tape.

But handy in a manner as well I suppose!

[Walter Biscardi]

In the future, don’t start two threads for the exact same topic. Tom asked you for more information in your original thread, so post the clarification information in the same thread. That’s the way these threads work.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Gary Morris mcbeath]

Uli,

No audio sync issues; however, I don’t use the camera for capture; I use the BR-HD50 deck.

As an aside, I’m closely watching the development of the new generation of single chip, 2-4K cameras. Although the HDV cameras make decent pictures if used within their capabilities, and certainly is a lot of bang for the buck, and having worked for several years with an HDCAM, I am closely watching the development of the new single chip 2K-4K cameras; smaller, lighter form factor, and the potential of full raster HD and wavelet compression. I can hardly wait.

I guess we can all stay tuned.

Gary
SaltAire Cinema Productions

[Rod Cole]

Gary:

I just purchased an HD-110 and a BR-HD50 VTR. I have Final Cut Studio 2.0 and am having difficulty capturing video on my 24″ iMac (yeah, I know I need to get the Mac Pro but I am currently tapped out!).

Would you mind sharing your capture settings? Which codec, etc?

I can’t seem to control the deck via Firewire and I am sure there is something wrong with my settings.

I want to shoot in 720P 24 and also in SD when needed. As I am just starting, I am also open to your suggestions for shooting format.

Thanks

[Gary Morris mcbeath]

Stoneforest,

I’m not familiar with the i-Mac and its capabilities for editing. Perhaps there are others here in the pasture with more knowledge of that.

I shoot exclusively in 720 30p (since I’m not going out to film); I do everything on a G5 dual 2.7, 4.5 GB ram, Kona 2 card for running my evaluation monitor (it also does some acceleration of HDV processing).

Prior to this time, I captured, edited in HDV, then output to whatever format my end product required (like std def MPEG-2 for DVD etc.). Recently I upgraded to a new RAID in order to work in uncompressed, so I now plan to capture my footage as before, then use media manager to transcode to uncompressed 720 for all editing, color grading etc.

My settings are: Sequence – HDV 720p 30 (yours 24)
Capture – HDV
Device Control – HDV Firewire
Playback – depends on your system’s method of output to the monotor;
in my case I use the Kona 2 card’s settings.

There should be an easy-setup already in FCP that will work for you.

Regarding the firewire connection: you must connect the firewire cable to both the deck and the computer with both off, otherwise risk blowing the firewire interface in the deck or the computer; then start up the deck first, and then start up the computer; the computer should then see the deck. It’s not like USB, where you can just plug it in while hot.

Gary

[Rod Cole]

Gary:

Thanks so much. I will try your suggestions and see what happens. I will probably also shoot in 30p as well as 24, now that you mention it.

I am still kinda kicking myself for not getting the Mac Pro, but I can still use the iMac.

My dealer had warned me to turn off both the computer and the deck because of the very problem you mentioned, so I am very careful to do that.

Rod