[Richard Fomo]

Hi Jeremy,

Yes, the firmware is up to date and the drivers are version 6.0.3. This was the first time I captured DVCPROHD from tape in this particular way. I didn’t notice any obvious problems during the capture except that random clips would fail to capture occasionally due to a “timecode break” that wasn’t real. I just started the capture again with the same in and out points (not actually leaving that batch capture session) and it would invariably work the second time. Does this reflect in any way on my issue? I was thinking it didn’t. I just recently installed the OS (10.5.8) and all the software, but I won’t have an opportunity to recreate this for a while. The camera used to shoot the footage was the HDX-900; AJ-1200 deck to capture. And you’re thinking that the higher frame rate by itself wouldn’t be enough to bump up against the limits of real time playback on this Macbook Pro?

I had really hoped to avoid transcoding in Compressor in the future. Any other ideas?

Richard Fomo Video
3 Edge Hill St., unit 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Richard Fomo]

Hi all.

I recently used a Macbook Pro/ioHD system nearly identical to the one used by the gentleman who started this thread to capture DVCProHD 720p59.94 to ProRes 8-bit 720p59.94, full raster, square pixel aspect, because I captured the footage using a deck and HD-SDI. Shouldn’t be a problem, right? That seemed to be the consensus in this thread.

I’m tacking my issue on to this thread because the good news here should apply to me, but I’m not getting the result I would have expected. My Prores media, captured as described, has little real-time playback capability. With playback quality set to “unlimited real time” and medium video quality, the playback frequently drops frames or, when I turn the warning off, just freezes while the audio continues. This happens if I add any filter or any motion effect or any Motion clip. If its got a green bar (or orange), it doesn’t go. The media is playing off a Sonnet Fusion D-500 RAID with a Sonnet SATA Pro expresscard. For comparison, I imported some Prores 720p29.97 media that I still have from another, older project. This media was transcoded from Xdcam 1080p29.97 in Compressor. The transcoded Prores still has impressive real-time playback with several filters and several clips composited on top of each other. No dropped frames with the same settings for “real time” as noted.

Any idea of what happened? What could have gone wrong? How do I ensure that I don’t get this result again? My work-around was to edit in SD which was OK because the final delivery was DVD and WMV. I used a rented deck, the AJ-1200 I think.

My system:
Macbook Pro 2.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo
6 GB DDR SDRAM2 667 Mhz
7200 RPM boot drive
Sonnet Fusion D-500 RAID
Sonnet SATA Pro expresscard
ioHD v. 6.03
FCP v, 6.04

Thanks,
Richard Fomo

Richard Fomo Video
3 Edge Hill St., unit 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Richard Fomo]

Hi Matt,

The sequence settings are 720×480 anamorphic, 29.97 with Prores HQ compressor settings. The original footage is DVcam but I have a lot of After Effects clips rendered in Prores HQ and Motion clips set in 16-bit float. The dvcam gets re-rendered in 10-bit at output.

What I’m seeing in Final Cut is what I would call an “error in translation” from Motion in the use of this one specific generator, Image Units linear gradient. Over in the Motion forum, Stephen Smith suggested the workaround of making my background gradient ramp for the text using the shape tool and setting the fill to gradient. I made both colors of the gradient the same and then adjusted the alpha. That method looks correct in Final Cut. Nothing I did with adjusting the alpha in the Image Units gradient generator would look right back in FCP.

I’m guessing that this is an undocumented bug?

Thanks,
Richard

Richard Fomo Video
3 Edge Hill St., unit 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Richard Fomo]

Thanks Stephen, your method doesn’t “confuse” Final Cut. The round trip is WYSIWYG.

Richard Fomo Video
3 Edge Hill St., unit 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Richard Fomo]

Sorry, I don’t have any information for the original poster; but I’m chiming in because I also would like to know about any potential conflicts in Prores encoding between Blackmagic and AJA. Here’s my situation: I am going to begin working with a first-time documentary director who is setting up his own editing suite based on Final Cut Pro. The director and producer seem to be favoring a purchase of a Decklink card. I will be the editor and I have my own Final Cut Pro system that uses AJA’s ioHD. For the upcoming project, I want to be able to go back and forth between their system and mine. We agree that their HDV footage should be captured as Prores probably on their system with the Decklink card. So, are there any compatibility issues I should know about when transferring Decklink-created Prores media to my ioHD-enabled Macbook Pro?

Nobody wants to have the problem that the original poster is experiencing. Some honest disclosures would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
Richard Fomo

[Richard Fomo]

It’s true, the ioHD control panel does not have the TC burn-in option. I have a Kona LH card in my older G5 and that control panel does have TC burn-in. I was able to see it work. Unfortunately, from the G5, I don’t have access to my HD media that’s on the eSATA array. But I can eventually copy it all over to a firewire 800 drive or transcode what I have on the eSATA array to 720p which has more realtime capabilities with filters. Either way, I can get this done. We ioHD owners could definitely use that TC burn-in option in its control panel.

Thanks to Michael and Gary for their input.

Richard Fomo Video
3 Edge Hill St., unit 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Richard Fomo]

Michael – I tried to output TC via the control panel (just check the box “use Quicktime timecode” under output) and am getting nothing. I get nothing whether using AJA TV or FCP. What am I missing?

Richard Fomo Video
3 Edge Hill St., unit 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Richard Fomo]

Thank you, Michael, for the good work-around suggestions. I have not tried before to utilize the control panel in that way. As for exceeding the real time limits of my system: I like my Macbook, but desktops will always rule.

Richard Fomo Video
3 Edge Hill St., unit 1
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Richard Fomo]

Thanks Ben for the info about the quasi progressive mode of the PD-150. They actually used another Sony camera, the VX-2000. Same issue? But then I’m not sure why most of the footage looks OK and some doesn’t. What exactly could have changed? I have posted a still that illustrates the problem.

https://www.fomovideo.com/Temp_aliasing_problem.htm