Export to tape w/ CS3 & Aspect HD 5.2 working?
 

I film a lot of hdv footage with a Sony FX-1 that I edit with Premiere Pro CS3 and Aspect HD 5.2. I have an edited movie on the timeline that I need to export back to mini-DV tape. I read on the forum history that there were several workarounds, but what is the latest and best solution?

I tried to just select export to tape in P Pro from the timeline and it asked me if there was a previously exported transport stream that I wanted to export and when I selected no (or cancel, I can't recall) it popped up a HDV Transcode status window and started to transcode to hdv, I assume in preparation to print to tape in my Sony HDV deck. Is this the easy way to do it now, or is this a seemingly correct solution that is ultimately going to bomb out on me?

I read some other solutions a while ago that suggested export to CFHD AVI then import that into a native Premiere Pro project, and then export to tape from there as a workaround, but I hope that the above effort I described is actually working feature now!

No more work-arounds.

File -> Export Movie the select CineForm M2T. It will produce an M2T that you can load into anything that plays out to your HDV camera/deck. You load it into HDLink and export to your camera from there.

I used File -> Print to tape and it automatically transcoded to hdv as I described above and it then automatically activated my Sony deck and seems to be recording to tape directly from the Premiere Pro timeline, no HD Link involved! Isn't this even easier? (I will know if twenty minutes or so if it actually works...)

It actually worked fine transcoding automatically and then exporting to tape straight from the Premiere Pro CS3 timeline! I was even asked if I wanted to save the m2t file to my hard drive afterwards as well. The only wrinkle is that the beginning couple of seconds of the movie were cut off even though I fast forwarded twenty seconds into the tape before I recorded onto it. I think it is because recording takes a long time to get started with hdv. I am going to try to add a few seconds of black video at the beginning of the timeline and let it re-transcode and re-print to tape and hopefully that will solve the issue.

I can't believe that more people aren't talking about this option! If it works it saves a step by avoiding exporting to m2t and then going to HDLink and doing the export to tape from there, right?

I just prefer the Export movie option as you don't need your camera hooked up during the M2T render. With a long render some cameras will time out, whereas the export movie option works everytime.

I added a few seconds of black at the beginning of the timeline and that worked to avoid getting the first couple of seconds of the program cut off while the hdv deck "winds up" to start recording! I recently purchased a Sony deck (HVR-M15U) since I do so much hdv filming capturing and master making and I am happy that I did it now! I have been using Aspect HD for a while and mostly going to CFHD AVI and then batch encoding in Cleaner XL or Sorenson Squeeze for web distribution.

But one new client wants the edited movies on mini-DV tapes. This newest version of Aspect HD with Premiere CS3 exporting to this deck straight from the Premiere timeline is the best solution for me now. Very simple and it even saves the transcoded m2t in case I need to do something else with it. Glad to know HDLink is another option. Finally I feel Aspect HD is really integrated fully into Premiere Pro.

I've actually done this both ways and both seem to work fine. I don't use HDLink but when you ask Premiere to Export to Tape it will ask you if you want to use a previously recorded file. That's where I point it to my already-rendered m2t.

One thing I've learned is not only to build in about 5 seconds of black on my timeline before the sequence actually starts, but also to use the "Delay Recording" option in the export box. I usually set it to something like 1200 quarter frames.

I was wondering about that delay recording option myself. How was it decided that a 1/4 of a frame is a useful unit of delay time? 1200 quarter frame s equals 300 frames, in other words, 10 seconds? So in essence the reorder winds up and the tape starts moving forward and then ten seconds later it finally starts recording further along on the tape? If this is how it works maybe I will just use 150 quarter frames or so and skip adding the black video at the beginning of the timeline.

Beats me. I have no idea what they were thinking.
That's my understanding of how it works, yes, but I could be wrong.
150/4=37.5 frames=1 1/4 seconds, so no, I wouldn't do this. I like at least ten seconds before I begin recording.

I also pre-record about a minute or two of black on the tape.

You can also insert bars and tone as well as universal counting leader to the head of your project in Premiere if you want to look really professional...

I meant 150 frames (600 quarter frames) not 150 quarter frames- in other words five seconds. But you are probably right 1200 frames or ten seconds is probably safer. I usually also play into the tape at least twenty or thirty seconds manually before recording onto it. In any case, I am glad this option works as well as it does.