[Richard Barber]

Thanks very much for your advice. I seem to have succeeded in converting it. I end up with separate video and audio files, an m2v and an m2a. The place I’m uploading to has specified saving in m2v and aiff. The audio file – the m2a – is labeled as a quicktime document when I get info on it, whereas the video file is labeled as an mpeg-2 file. Do you think there’s any reason the folks who are receiving this would not be able to use the audio file in this format? I emailed them asking this, and whether it would be safer to send them an m4v file (which is their second choice), and got back the not too helpful answer: “Do the best you can” from someone who is probably very harried on a deadline day. I’m experimentally trying to convert it to an m4v but it’s taking forever. Still, if that works that might be the way to go.

[Richard Barber]

Thanks for keeping up with my travails. I’ve tried every transcoding route you suggested within Avid. It really looks like at least with Avid Xpress Pro you can’t get there from here – I’m simply not given the option to transcode from 24p dv to hdv. And I can open a bin from a 24p project in my hdv project, but I can’t play or transcode the clips. Fortunately I hae the option of using iMovie as my transcoder.

[Richard Barber]

I am able to capture in a new project in 23.976p, capturing at dv25p 411 mxf. I can’t figure out how to play, import or transcode these clips in my 60i hdv project though.

[Richard Barber]

Thanks for trying to help me figure this out, Jon. I actually don’t think it’s an issue with the Canon. I’ve had no problem capturing HDV 60i from that camera. Plus I’m having the same results with both cameras with this 24p dv material – it plays fine on the camera monitor, camera control is ok thru the firewire, but no audio or video seen on the Avid monitor. Also no problem going from the Canon with the 24p material to iMovie. Yes, it’s registered software. I do wonder whether this isn’t one of those things that Media Composer has that Xpress Pro doesn’t. Fortunately it’s not urgent since I do have this workaround with iMovie.

[Richard Barber]

I’m playing the dv tapes on a Canon HV-20 (or alternately on a Sony z1U – I usually play Sony tapes on the latter and Panasonic tapes on the former – in any case I’m getting the same result with both at the moment). I’m going thru firewire to a Mac tower with Avid Xpress Pro HD.

But here’s perhaps a crucial piece of information: it looks like the dv tapes I’m trying to capture are shot at 24p, and my project is 60i. I guess the iMovie is doing a pulldown? If so I imagine the question becomes: can’t the Avid do the same pulldown to capture the video directly? If not this solution of using iMovie as an intermediary seems to be working, and there’s not a huge amount of material I’ll need to deal with in this manner.

[Richard Barber]

Thanks.

[Richard Barber]

I’m new to these forums and I just tried to rate a post for the first time – yours. For the record: I meant to give your very useful post maximum cows, but I mistakenly gave only one, and the vote apparently cannot be changed.

[Richard Barber]

Thanks, consolidating did the trick. I really appreciate the quick help, and this site that makes it possible.

[Richard Barber]

You’re right! But I there must be something wrong with the way I’m copying the omf files onto the other drive, because the audio is still offline. I started over again, trashed the copied mxf media files, then copied the mxf files into the folder that contains the rest of my mxf media for the project. Then I copied a folder labelled omfi media files onto the drive placing it in the Avid media folder. Again the clips play the video but not the audio, and the audio is offline. I tried relinking but that didn’t do anything. I wondered if I have to convert the omf files, but I didn’t need to do anything like that to get the audio to play from media on the firewire drive. Can you follow up your first astute diagnosis with another?

[Richard Barber]

Here’s a case of (provisionally) answering my own question. I’m on location with my laptop, which turns out to have iMovie HD after all. I created a 1080i project and successfully imported 720p video from the Aiptek sd cards (it takes a long time, but they were short clips). So I’m assuming/hoping that when I return to my Avid Xpress HD I can copy these transcoded video files onto my Avid project. True?