[Brian Conner]

have you tried a different deck?

We tried a Z1 camcorder in place of the M10U. Using analog HDV component out of the deck or camcorder into the Aja HD-10A, and using the LANC out of the deck/camcorder into the RS-4/L.

I’ll be going onsite to the client’s location early next week, and I’ll get the setup to Email to you then. The client doesn’t have this G5 connected to the outside world, so I’ll burn to a CD-R and bring that to my place, and Email you from there.

But I can tell you that I took the “Kona2 uncompressed 1080i 8 bit” Easy Setup, then modified the Device Control to Kona2 RS422 using “LANC via the Addenda RS-4/L” adapter. IOW, I took the “Kona2 RS422 Sony A VCR” Device Control preset, duplicated it, then modified it to use the RS-4/L. Then I created an Easy Setup from that combination.

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

I spoke too soon. After packing the system up, delivering it to the client, and setting it up, the HVR-M10U can not find the In point of any logged clip. It tries, then takes off helter-skelter to the head of the cassette, and Log & Capture displays “No Communication”.

I’ve tried three different HDV cassettes. I’ve swapped out the K-Box cabling for the Kona2 octopus cable. I’ve tried a new RS-4/L. I’ve substituted a Sony Z1 camcorder for the M10U. I’ve reseated the Kona2. I’ve replaced the K-Box and the K-Box cables.

The only things left to try are a new Kona2, and uninstalling the Kona2 driver.

I called Aja tech support, and Clarke suggested adding the Panasonic (reduced) deck polling plugin. I’ve Emailed that to the client, and they’ll try it on Monday. He said that FCP5 doubled the number of times that Final Cut polls the deck as it finds its way to the In point of a captured clip. The Panasonic plug takes that back to the FCP4 polling routine.

Is this a singular problem, or have others heard of such troubles?

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

Walter,

A couple or three days ago, Paul Hart posted this on the FCP-L:

_____________________________

This was posted earlier this year. It could still let a spike go
unnoticed but I like it.

One of my favorite tricks is to get a pseudo “real time”
Waveform/Vectorscope during playback by holding down the In/Out
keyboard shortcut while youre playing back your timeline. Works great
for checking for transient illegal spikes in luma/chroma.

Aloha,
mel

Paul Hart

____________________________

AFAICT, he means Mark Clip (the X key). Hit Play, then hold down X. Watch the scopes.

FWIW, though it’s probably common knowledge, and I might be the last one to know about it,

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

Just for the record, I have now used the Addenda RS-4/L to give RS422 control to the Sony HDV VTR (which uses LANC, not RS422). The Addenda plugs in between the AJA product and the Sony HDV VTR. There is no software to install – it just works.

Bob, thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Let me flesh this out a little. After you plug it in, and enable the Kona2 serial port in System Preferences > Network (if you haven’t used that port and enabled it before this), you need to edit the Kona2 Device Control preset in FCP. Change it from Sony VTR A to LANC via Addenda RS-4/L. Then, make that a new Easy Setup.

Before I changed it to LANC via Addenda RS-4/L, I was consternated by the fact that, even though Log & Capture could control the HD-M10U for play and stop, it couldn’t properly read and update the timecode displayed in the TC box.

Now it works great.

Brian Conner

P. S. On this same system build, I’ve also been fighting: 1) a defective FO cable to the Huge 4210, 2) corrupted firmware for the ATTO FC-42XS, 3) a squirrely connector on the back of the K-Box (Aja shipped a replacement, and when I swapped the cable, it fixed it, so I shipped the replacement K-Box back with what I thought was the bad cable. Then, the next time I powered up, I got No Video on either HD-SDI input again. Quickly figured out the connector on the K-Box is B-A-D. Aja is shipping another replacement.)

P. P. S. Since I’m venting OT, I’ll also mention the aggravation of the G5’s PCI-X slot mounting screws and the retainers they’re supposed to screw into. They do not want to catch and actually tighten all the way. ARRRGGGGGG!

[Brian Conner]

Thank you, Walter. I can control the deck without a problem if the capture setting is HDV and Device Control is HDV Firewire. But when the capture setting is Kona2 1080i 8 bit and the Device Control is Apple Firewire, Log & Capture cannot initialize the deck.

If I change Device Control to HDV Firewire or Sony HDV Firewire, an error message pops up telling me that if I’m capturing in something other than HDV, Device Control must not be set to HDV.

I’ve been through all the menu settings for the deck several times, and there’s nothing I can see to change. There are no physical switches to change. There’s a front panel light that is lit for either DV or HDV iLink, so I assume it’s auto-sensing based on the format loaded on the cassette in the tray.

I’m open for suggestions, and if it’s something obvious and easy, I’m willing to look stupid if it’ll help to get this resolved.

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

Thank you for the reply, David. It’s strange that FW deck control works fine when the capture preset is HDV, but not when it’s Kona2 1080i 8 bit.

This is the first FCP hi-def system I’ve built. I’ve got a lot of SD systems out there running well, but this is the first client who needed hi-def. So, I’m feeling my way along the walls.

If I cam’t find the secret soon, I’ll pull out the Visa Card and call Bruce at Addenda.

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

No go. I’ve tried everything I know to do.

Anybody have any suggestions, before I pay the $148 for the Addenda LANC/RS422 adapter?

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

Yes, I’ve done that, Gary. In desperation, I’ve tried all the firewire Deck Control presets, anything that says firewire, I’ve tried it (even though I knew they wouldn’t work, I tried anyway; we’re talking desperation.)

And I’ve done the usual power-cycling of all devices, and a complete Shut Down, to try to reset things. Still no joy.

It’s not making sense. Tomorrow I’ll trash prefs and start over. Going to bed – early appointment in the morning.

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

This might be more or less a dupe reply. The first time, it didn’t seem to post.

I’m trying to set up a new HDV/Kona2 FCP system right now, and I can’t seem to get firewire deck control to work.

Sony HD-M10U
Aja H10U
Kona 2
Huge 4210
ATTO FC-42XS
PM dual 2.7 G5
FCP 5.0.2
OS v10.4.2

Video from the HDV deck shows up in Log & Capture fine (Kona2 1080i uncompressed 8 bit), but I get the “unable to initialize deck” warning when opening Log & Capture.

When I change to HDV Easy Setup, there is no problem with either deck control or video, through the same FW cable (Granite Digital cable).

Any ideas?

Brian Conner

[Brian Conner]

Don’t have an answer, but one of my clients has a similar problem.

I did an Erase & Install of Tiger, upgraded him to v10.4.2, and installed Final Cut Studio fresh. Ran Final Cut once, installed the Io 2.0 driver, and Control Panel 1.0.0. Updated the firmware to 28-23.

The Pro Io US BetaSP Component 8bit is not found.

We’ve tried trashing the prefs, setting up in Control Panel, downgrading the firmware in Control Panel, then updating again. (BTW, we never see the “Programming complete, cycle power” message, but the 28-23 firmware is loaded, according to the Info tab).

Nothing fixes this.

The client’s system: dual 2GHz G5 (2nd generation w/ PCI-X), 4GB RAM, GeForce 6800 Ultra, Mac OS X v10.4.2, QT 7.0.1, FCP 5.0.2, Io 2.0 driver, Control Panel 1.0.0, ATTO UL3D, Huge Systems 320RX RAID3 array, Io.

I’ve told the client to call Aja Tech Support 1st thing Monday morning.

Brian Conner