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Problem Capturing HDV Tape… FCP won’t caputre full tape without breaks.
Hi all,
So this has been a problem for me for the past three years, and am puzzled that I seem to be the only person who either has the problem, or complains about it.
Here are the basics…. I record hour long teaching sessions where I press record at the start of the tape, and let the tape go until the end without stopping.
When capturing the tape using log and capture, (pressing play, then just clicking “now”), FCP invariably puts anywhere from one break in the tape, to one tape that I recently captured that captured as 23 different segments.
I’ve had this same problem with five different macs, stemming back to FCP6. MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, iMacs, and a Mac Mini. I’ve also had the same problem using four different cameras…. Cannon HV30, Sony Z5U, Z7U, & V1U. Have also had it with any tape stock I use.
I can only conlcude that I’m doing something wrong. I’m capturing straight to the HDV quicktime format, so no real time conversion…. what do I have to do to get finalcut to capture the whole darn tape without breaks????
Here’s another hiccup…. I can capture the same tape multiple times, and the breaks wind up being in different spots…. which should mean its not a dropped frame issue. Have also tried different firewire cables.
Any help to get this fixed would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
Drives me bat s#@% crazy 🙁
B.
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2 Replies
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B,
Are you missing any information. I have seen this with HDV where usually there are a few seconds or even just a few frames missing. This is because HDV is mpeg2 and if your tape skips or anything you loose more than you would with DV.
I would suggest purchasing higher quality Tapes and see if this makes a difference I had this issue with the medium grade Sony tapes for HDV
Hopefully this helps.
Mikey B!
Check Out My Sky Replace Tutorial
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HDV is notorious for phantom timecode breaks. No clue why, it’s just been that way ever since we started using those decks.
So whenever using HDV decks we set FCP to warn us about TC breaks instead of creating new clips. It’s in the User Prefs. “On Timecode Break” set that to Warn After Capture.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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