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Strange problem with HDV print to tape. Help!
Hi, All,
Very strange problem. I am printing an HDV file to tape via firewire. I have created a separate self-contained QuickTime clip of the whole project, put it in its own project on a dedicated timeline, and conformed it for the print. The conform process is quick, and the project starts printing to the deck (in my case a camera that’s cheaper than a deck itself).
BUT, a minute into the tape, everything gets funky. Although the show is playing fine on the computer screen, it stops and starts on the deck. The deck mechanism doesn’t stop and start, but the image does, AND the timecode, which flashes on and off at about two or three second intervals. The recording itself is similarly corrupted, starting about a minute into the project.
This is NOT the specific camera. I have tried this with all three of my cameras, including the Sony HC3 that I use mostly as a deck and two Sony FX-1s.
Nor is it the specific computer. This has happened with my G5, my Mac Pro, and my Macbook Pro. Print to tape has also been successful on occasion from each machine, though the reasons for success vs. failure are obscure.
I hope someone can help. I need a clean print-to-tape of this show by this afternoon!
Thanks,
Mike
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5 Replies
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HDV….
Can you play the self contained movie OK without it making the errors? if so, just crash record that signal. Put it on your fastest drive too…
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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Hi, Jerry,
Thanks for the quick response. Yes, the file plays back perfectly from the timeline. However, I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean by doing a crash record to my camera. I thought there was no other way of getting HDV out of the machine except to conform and print to video. Can you explain?
Many thanks,
Mike
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For anyone else who has experienced this, it does look like a bug to me. If a computer program tells you it’s going to do something, does it, and it doesn’t work, that’s a bug. If it can’t do what it promises, then it should give an error message, not just go ahead and botch the job.
It appears that the problem with Print to Video in my systems is related to the way the individual clip is made. I have now been able to print to video by making movies with the Recompress all Frames box checked, as well as the self contained one.
This seems odd, since one of the clips I made that didn’t work was a self-contained QuickTime movie turned into HDV from DVCPROHD, which one would think would result in recompression. However, codecs and their elaborate rituals of reconstitution are a bit beyond me, so I won’t speculate further. Recompressing seems to work; that’s good.
To me the bug is not in the fact that it didn’t like the self-contained movie I made without recompressing all frames; that could make sense. But FCP shouldn’t take those kinds of files and tell you that they were adequately conformed, then try to print them to the tape. It should simply either take the time to conduct the conforming procedure or it should tell you the file isn’t properly prepared.
Mike
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To perform the “crash” record…
set the playback to be going out the fw.. then simply put some black on the head of the sequence 10 sec should be plenty… then start playback and hit the record button on your recording device…. not tried this with HDV, but it sure works with everything else…
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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You can’t record to tape with HDV. The material has to be conformed and that only happens on print to video. It doesn’t matter if the material is a single self-contained file, it still has to go through the conform process, albeit much faster than and edited sequence.
All the best,
Tom
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy” DVDs
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