serious JH3 HD Kona 2 problems

[Jeff Bernstein]

If I were to channel Bob Zelin, for a moment, “you backed yourself into a corner and you’re blaming the equipment. What you really needed was a good dose of RTFM and a discussion with someone who has done this before.”

That said, I would recommend the following for next time…

Since you have the Kona2, you should capture directly from the 23.976 HDCAM tapes and use the Kona2’s built-in downconversion to DV. This way, you keep the original timecode, yet you have the datarate and convenience of DV.

Then, when you need to do your Conform/Finish/UpRez, you don’t need the lousy and cumbersome CinemaTools. Everything should line up with no mess and no fuss. It even makes a great table wax.

Jeff Bernstein

Digital Desktop Consulting
Apple Pro Video VAR
XSAN Certified

323-653-7611

[Walter Biscardi]

[Jeff Bernstein] “Since you have the Kona2, you should capture directly from the 23.976 HDCAM tapes and use the Kona2’s built-in downconversion to DV. This way, you keep the original timecode, yet you have the datarate and convenience of DV.”

This is pretty much the exact workflow we use on a DVCPro HD show. The SD version is cut capturing directly from the 1200A deck via SD on an Arenaline and then I conform the show to HD via FCP / Kona 2. My TC matches the original cut since we’re using the same tapes, same TC for both cuts. Works very well.

Again, we did a ton of testing before we started cutting “for real” on the actual episodes.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Now in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Steve Covello]

This is an excellent solution which I plan on testing for myself.

The only caveat I would add to this workflow is that if there were to be any additional need for the footage after it has been digitized i.e. vizcode dubs, SD DC clones, etc., then your only source for the footage are your camera masters. I tend to think of HD CM’s like negative and try not to touch them too much.

So if you forego making downconversions to DVCam, for offline convenience, or DB’s, to online in SD, then you must rely on the integrity of your HDCam deck to not mangle your CM’s. I guess if you have 200 hours of HDCam masters and the thought of coughing up for 200 DC’s, I could see your point. It’s a risk you have to take depending on the situation.

I still don’t feel comfortable post-jam syncing timecode only onto a TC DAT by hitting play/rec. Call me risk averse… Put it this way:

The ground can’t cause a fumble.
An editor should not cause a re-shoot.

steve covello
double wide post

[Walter Biscardi]

[weevie833] “then your only source for the footage are your camera masters. I tend to think of HD CM’s like negative and try not to touch them too much.”

In the case of this series, they simultaneously record to a 1200A so we use the VTR recorded tapes for edit.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Now in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Justin_n]

I dont have that luxury….Only the ONLINE room (3 hours away from the offline edit suite) has the
Kona 2….we were given the kona LS….see how f’ed we are???
We also didnt have the luxury of testing, as 14 tapes built up before we got our HD deck in, so testing was not an option.

Oh, to have $$……. so lucky……..

[Justin_n]

I dont have the Kona 2, it is ONLY in our online suite, 3 hours away from our offline…..
I was only given the Kona ls……..see what a corner Im in? And now there are tapes building up and our HD deck is 3 hours away and the online didnt work and Im frustrated as hell and having to drive 6 hours every 4 days and this sucks ass. Whne the equipment was bought for us I said “It isnt right” and nobody took notice and now Im screwed. (they’re screwed)

[Walter Biscardi]

[Justin_N] “I dont have that luxury….Only the ONLINE room (3 hours away from the offline edit suite) has the
Kona 2….we were given the kona LS….see how f’ed we are???”

You don’t need the Kona 2 for the offline. As I stated, we’re using the 1200A directly into the Adrenaline for the SD show. The 1200A has a downconverted SD-SDI signal right out of the machine. So the AVID editor captures directly from that machine to her system. When she’s done, I get the OMF and re-capture the show in HD, again off the 1200A machine.

So in your case, you should have captured your offline material using the built in downconversion feature of the JH3. Feed the SD signal into your Kona LS and use the 8bit to DV capture setting. That would give you perfectly matched timecode off the camera tapes and still give you the storage savings of DV.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Now in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Justin_n]

thats fine, but thats not the issue……..Ive completed the offline, and its time to do the online now.
This is getting frustrating. Re-read from the top down to get the clear picture of what the problem is.

Best,
J

[Guy]

You could get dubs from the 24p HDCAM tapes to 29.97 HDCAM tapes. Then the timecode should match with the DV offlines.
This isn’t an ideal solution because you lose a generation, but it should work.

[Guy]

A couple more ideas:

If it worked fine with 4.5 do an XML export from 5 and import 4.5 and capture there. Or just import the DV offline quicktimes into 4.5, recapture in 4.5 and then relink in 5.

Use capture now without device control, then modify timecode to match offlines and reconnect (not sure if this would work because of the difference in clip durations).