HVR-MRC1 Playback
 

Hi Everyone, would be grateful for anyones steer/help with the following:-

Santa called early this year and I'm now the proud owner of a MRC1 recorder to compliment my Sony Z5E. The manual is not perhaps as enlightening as it could be but I'm up and running with it and so far very pleased with the results (and the SanDisk Extreme III 16Gb Card).

Whilst I can copy files off to PC to view/edit I had hoped that I would be able to review clips during the shoot 'on camera'. Unfortunately just can't get this to happen. Unit is connected to the back of the Z5 as normal yet when I press it's (i.e the MRC1's) Play button nothing is displayed on the cameras monitor. Am sure it should work, can after all review shots from tape in this way, and was one of the benefits I'd envisaged when buying the unit.

It may of course just be a setup issue, but would welcome help from anyone in the know about this.

Many thanks

Lionel

Yeah, the manual explains everything except the basics: your Z5 must be in VCR mode.

Hi Adam

Yes had tried that previously also but it didn't seem to make any difference, unfortunately.

I know they say the MRC1 can sometimes not be recognised, but given it was recording ok would assume it would play back ok also when switched to VCR mode.

I wondered if there were any other settings you had to make or whether you had to switch the MRC1 & Z5 on in any particular order ?

No, nothing special. Playback works fine on mine. Strange.

No settings seem to make a difference, either on cam or MRC. I leave the MRC on all the time, as it switches on and off with the cam.

Just a quick update on my problem in case of value to anyone.

Having tried all config settings, resets, alternative cards etc. etc. still could not get the unit to play back on camera. In the end contacted Premier Support and they mirrored my actions on kit of their own whilst we spoke on the phone. Still no joy and therefore Z5 & MRC1 was returned to them for testing.

Pleased to report that 5 days later all returned and working perfectly having replaced a small component. Have to say this was an excellent service from Sony, great support from start to finish.

Z5 & MRC1 make a great partnership, very happy.

Great News that you sorted your issues out. I notice you are in the UK and I'm wondering if you could let me know where you purchased your SanDisk Extreme III 16Gb Cards? Did you get a good deal?

I'm thinking about buying a MRC1K for my Z1

The Sandisk Extreme has worked well for me (72mins on a 16Gb Card) and transfer of clips etc. to my PC has been flawless. I picked the card up from Jessops (the Calumet branch I usually use did not have any at the time) and I think I paid £80 for it.

I may have found a source for a similar spec'd card (35mg/per sec etc.) for approx £60 and will report back if any good.

Hmmm. Mine works fine on the Z1u. Perhaps the play format has to be changed. Sometimes if it's in hdv and was recording in sd it might have issues.

s.

Hi Steph

I'm really happy with how it integrates into the Z5 and my work-flow. Whilst everything else with it was fine the fact that I could not review shots acquired by the camera/MRC1 'on the fly' was a problem initially. However since the diagnosis/fix and super fast turnaround by Premier Support (they replaced a faulty circuit board within the MRC1) it's been great.

For anyone wondering 'should I/shouldn't I' get the MRC1 I'd say go for it. The combination of Tape & Card is a real benefit. Tape is great for added security and archive, and fast transfer/capture from Card into my edit suite is a real time saver. Not quite ready to go completely tapeless at the moment but may well do before long.

Thanks to all for all the replies on this.

Black frames at end of each M2T
 

Great little unit.

Hopefully someone can help me out. After transferring M2Ts to my PC from the MRC1, playing back the files thru Premiere Pro CS3 results in the final frame of each clip being black with no sound. For clients who want to see a raw footage proof, it's kind of annoying for them to see this black flash, especially for a large sequence of short cuts.

Any help would be fantastic!

Rich

Are you using the Sony Util to join all the clips back up?

http://support.sonybiz.net/software/search.aspx

Hi David,

Thanks for your suggestion, but yes, I'm using the "Sony Recording Unit Utility" v1.1. It's doing it when I use the software and when I transfer the files manually. I hope it's an option within the MRC1 that I'm overlooking.

Rich

Perhaps I should clarify. I'm not having issues when files are merged to create a file larger than 4gb. The black frame is appearing at the end of every single clip, regardless of the file size. I'm going to do some experimenting with different settings in the camera (Z7U) and MRC1. If anyone has experienced this, please let me know if you've fixed the issue. Thanks!

Rich

I've narrowed the problem down to my Matrox rt.x2 card. I created a new PPro HDV project (non-Matrox) and imported an M2T file, and there was no black frame at the end.

I also tried renaming an M2T file as an MPG, then importing that file into a Matrox project. What do you know, no black frame! Weird. So I have a few options now:

1) work in a non-Matrox project from now on.
2) rename all M2T files to MPG using a batch renamer
3) export a Matrox AVI from a non-Matrox project to edit in realtime in a Matrox project.

I so wish the Sony Recording Unit Utility had the option of merging ALL files into one. For years, my workflow has consisted of capturing from tape to one long AVI, and editing that file. With the MRC1, you're somewhat forced to edit the video using multiple clips. UGH.....

Rich