Digitize over firewire gap resolved yet?

[Justin Ferar]

I was curious how the latest updates to FCP improved digitizing JVC's implementation of HDV so I did some testing on 720p60 and 720p24.

Up until this point I have been using the Intensity Pro and digitizing as ProRes via HDMI out of the JVC deck.

Anyway I can report that HDV over firewire now works (at all frame rates) but I am getting a 10 second gap between takes. I know this was widely reported before the update but I was wondering if anyone has been able to digitize with less of a gap? I can deal with 3 or 4 seconds but 10! It's like I would have to call out "Speed!" when out on a shoot.

8 core with 8 GB Ram, 2.5 TB Biggest S2S
OS 10.4.11
FCP 6.0.2

[Mark Silva]

There is some issue with the HDMI output, that might be causing that.

I see your running fcp 6.02, could that be part of the problem?

I just captured 45 minutes yesterday via hdv over firewire
with fcp 6.01 and I have every second of tape captured and just
breaks/new clips where the camera started/stopped.

[Steve Oakley]

6.0.2 made no real improvement for me with native capture. I still have to use DVCpro for the odd clips that refuse to come in. its happening a lot less now, but it still happens. its not 100%. I"ve had good luck with maxell tapes as of late when I couldn't get the usuall AMQ's

[Justin Ferar]

Originally Posted by Mark Silva

There is some issue with the HDMI output, that might be causing that.

No issue with HDMI capture- it works fine, captures whole tapes in one clip, which is what I like.

I'm strictly talking firewire here.

So Mark, you are saying you don't lose any source footage at all over firewire? That's amazing. Can you confirm that?

[Alexei Berteig]

Running FCP 5.1.4, MacBook Pro 2.0 Ghz

Also experienced 7 second gaps between takes, couldn't get FCP to do "capture now" or "batch capture" - kept getting the same message over and over, regarding there being a "data error" and "it could be a problem with the tape."

I have recently upgraded to Leopard, and I suppose automatic updates took me from 5.1.2 to 5.1.4 at some point.

The most incredibly frustrating thing is that using 5.1.2 and Tiger I captured 24P, 25P and 30P flawlessly many many times already.

What the heck happened? Scratching my head. Even DVHScap showed occasional hiccups, though not at the head of every take.

[Justin Ferar]

I wonder if Leopard with FCP 6.0.2, improves anything (the most current config possible). I haven't bought Leopard yet because I'm working on deadlines right now.

Anyone try that?

[Alexei Berteig]

Yeah, anyone try FCP 6.0?

[Mark Silva]

Originally Posted by Justin Ferar

No issue with HDMI capture- it works fine, captures whole tapes in one clip, which is what I like.

I'm strictly talking firewire here.

So Mark, you are saying you don't lose any source footage at all over firewire? That's amazing. Can you confirm that?

I misread your HDMI explanation.

But yes, I consistently capture entire tapes from my HD-50 deck
(still running original firmware) over firewire without any loss of takes.

It does break clips up when the recording was stopped or started
but all HDV cams do that.

When recording though I always warn the shooter to record black
or bars on the first minute or two of tape and to always pre & post roll
each take for at least 10-seconds. Not sure if that affects it.

There is a setting in the capture utility where the audio and video
checkboxes are and audio levels where it says "don't break up clips"
or something to that affect if that helps.

[Justin Ferar]

Originally Posted by Mark Silva

It does break clips up when the recording was stopped or started
but all HDV cams do that.

Canon's A1 (over firewire) does not break clips up at start/stops.

Not sure about Sony.

[Mark Silva]

Originally Posted by Justin Ferar

Canon's A1 (over firewire) does not break clips up at start/stops.

Not sure about Sony.

I've had broken clips from the Canon cams as well as Sony.
EVERY HDV camera does this when capturing over firewire.
When a GOP is broken a new clip is made and breaks the chain.

Thats my experience with HDV over the last 2 years.

[Dave Beaty]

To resolve the long gaps during HDV capture that occur at each clip start, you must edit the Easy Set Up to include your own custom Device Control setting.

Change the Pre-roll setting to 1 sec.

This will remove the extra 7 secs of gap when FCPro encounters a break and interprets the pre-roll incorrectly. This WILL leave a 1 sec gap.

Dave

[Mark Silva]

Originally Posted by Dave Beaty

To resolve the long gaps during HDV capture that occur at each clip start, you must edit the Easy Set Up to include your own custom Device Control setting.

Change the Pre-roll setting to 1 sec.

This will remove the extra 7 secs of gap when FCPro encounters a break and interprets the pre-roll incorrectly. This WILL leave a 1 sec gap.

Dave

Thats how I got around that problem as well Dave.

[Alexei Berteig]

I will give that a try, thanks.

[Justin Ferar]

So I went ahead and switched to digitizing 720p60 via firewire (as opposed to HDMI) and yes! Only have 1 sec. gap between takes after changing the device control pre-roll to 1 sec.

NEW PROBLEM!

Any take longer than say 10 minutes or so starts to get broken up into separate clips. This behavior is TOTALLY RANDOM!

I'm using BR-HD50 deck
Brand spanking new JVC Pro HD tape
Fully upgraded HD200 (2 of them)
Fully updated FCP with 10.4.11 OS
8 Core mac with 8GB Ram
La Cie Biggest S2S 2.5 TB RAID

I have officially given up on HDV over firewire and am going back to Intensity over HDMI (which has it's own set of quirks but works well).

[Mark Silva]

Originally Posted by Justin Ferar

NEW PROBLEM!

Any take longer than say 10 minutes or so starts to get broken up into separate clips. This behavior is TOTALLY RANDOM!

being random then I take it the breaks are not occuring where recording was stopped or started.

have you unchecked the option in the capture window (where audio can be checked on or off) that says something about breaking up clips? Thats something to try.