Live Feed from A1
 

Ok I want to capture on the fly to my MBP from my A1 using FCP. Problem is I'll be doing many takes and I want the computer to create a new file each time I hit the REC button on my cam. Is there a simple way for this to happen? Where when I hit record on my cam, the tape will run (backup), and my mac will bring in that shot. Then I hit record again and it creates a new shot next time....not one long continuous file.

Kyle,

I can't think how this will work...Presumably you'll use "capture now" in FCP, which, as far as FCP is concerned, means one long take (ie file). Pushing record or stop on your camera will have no effect on the capturing --I have done a lot of capturing direct to disk with my G1 while it is not recording--the camera just has to be turned on.

I'm sure you're aware of this already, but to get discrete files that only show what you recorded, I think you need to capture from tape playback (which FCP will then automatically separate the files).

A workaround could be to simply "capture now" for the entire time you film (assuming you have the disk space) then once you've finished capturing, dump the single (looong) clip into a sequence and chop it up into the clips you would have recorded only to tape, and make those clips independent clips. The problem with this is that you're still left with a mammoth single file in the capture scratch...

Also, given you're using an A1 you must be capturing live to your MBP via HDV therefore the only benefit is the time you save to import (and one tape is only 60 minutes of playback time), so it seems to me like you're not really getting that much of a benefit for the cost of having an unwieldy single scratch file?? (If you had a G1 then you might be capturing via the HDSDI jack and getting uncompressed HD or ProRes 422 HQ, which has the obvious quality benefit...but that's not relevant here...)

Sorry that this isn't much help, but I can't think how else your plan will work...

Have you tested this?

I am not sure that the deck-control protocol that FCP expects is going to be useable when the A1 is in camera mode as opposed to VTR mode.

You have to put FC's Device Control into the Non-Controllable device mode.

The other HUGE downside of this is timecode. If you do a back-up to tape (meaning simultaneous recording), they will not match.