Are you using "Capture Now" or do you have timecode in and out points set?

Larry Jordan advises on his tutorials there have been issues with sync using "Capture Now"

Capture now is to be avoided on the whole for the reasons Geoff/Larry mentioned and because it gets very confusing and potentially disastrous when you end up with thousands of clips called untitled. I tend to capture mine through batch capture in ten minute chunks(vaguely responding to the content of the tape), while FCP puts all the start/stop points into tidy clips. Very simple and easy on the heads. If you do want to capture the tape in one go put an in and out point at the begining and end and use either batch or clip settings rather than Capture Now.

I agree with Steve, sounds like your version of FCP needs to be upgraded to 5.1.4, or at least 5.1.2, then all you need to worry about is picking the right easy setup and everything will be fine. This is a free upgrade i believe?

I have FCP 5.1.4 abd aby time I ry to capture HDV, I only get the dialog that allows me to name the tape then it goes off and captures the entire tape.

I have yet to figure out how to get the log and capture window to come up while capturing HDV. What am I doing wrong?

As Chuck said, I only get the prompt to name the clip and then it captures the entire tape. I can't get the log and capture prompt either.

Check the Capture Preset in Audio/Video Settings. It has to be HDV to get the log/capture window.

Setting up FCP to Edit from Canon XLH1 HDV
 

I did a search in this forum...so if answers to this exist somewhere else...please pardon the question and link me to that section.

I don't edit on FCP alot....but want to do a quck job.

I shot footage with my Canon XLH1. HDV...60i.

I have tried all kinds of "settings" in fcp...to capture. I finally (by accident) found a setting for the sequence and capture that allowed FCP to capture. There was no control of the camera...it just went into record. Ok. So when I drop it into the sequence....everything has to render. ARRRRG.

What are the correct settings for setting up a project in FCP to capture properly and then playback the footage without rendering ?

Also..fyi...seem FCP will only record ch. 1 &2....you can't get 3 & 4 unless you have an external capture card....firewire won't capture all 4 channels. Nice huh ?

Thanks for the help folks...

Go to Final Cut Pro on the menu bar, pull down to easy setup.
In the dialogue box that opens, select the HDV size and framerate that matches your tape. This will set your log & capture and sequence settings. HDV only records 2 channels of audio, so no channels 3 & 4 on capture should not be an issue. To edit in HDV, you should use version 5.1.4 of Final Cut.

Dick,

Thank you...but that doesn't work. I've tried every version of the HDV options in the Easy Setup. I'm running 5.1.4 of FCP....

I've captured footage from my Canon XLh1....it's straight forward HDV 1080 (really 1440) 60i material.

No matter what I do...the footage says it is unrendered. Any other ideas ?

OK, that should have worked. Something is clearly not right here, as it should be easy if the mac you're on is set up right. You should have full control of the H1 from the log & capture window. Tried trashing your preferences yet? Have you tried setting up a new user account on the mac and capturing again?

If you drag one of the files you captured to QT Player and do a get movie info, it should tell you what you've got. If you mirror those settings in your FCP sequence, it should play without rendering.

I'm still a tyro at HDV, but have had FCP since version 1, and it really shouldn't be this hard. If anyone else out there has a better idea of what Kevin should do, please jump in here...

First you need to check and make sure your clip settings match your sequence. In the Bin, look at Frame Rate, Codec, Size, etc. Then go to your sequence (hit Command 0), and make sure the sequence settings make that of your clips. This should take care of the problems.

Also, the new Final Cut Studio allows any codec, frame rate, and resolution in the same timeline and it sets up the sequence based on the clip you drag to it, something to look into.

Also, try this, as stated above, go to Easy Setup, HDV - 1080/60i. That should allow capture, then delete whatever sequence you have and create a new one. There should be no problem.

Hi, It sound like the clip you recorded was in AIC. If you want to go down the HDV route, bin your existing capture and use the easy-setup for the HDV preset to match your camera.

Remember if FCP was open and there was already a sequence in the browser window, just selecting easy-setup won't change it. Add a new sequence after changing the easy-setup preset. Also 9 out of 10 times if you drag a clip captured into the sequence timeline and it needs rendering (red bar straight away) then your sequence settings/compressor codecs are not matching.

If you revel the original captured clip in the finder and open in quicktime and then do an 'Apple i' the movie info there is a little easier to follow then in FCP.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

Finally got it solved....yes the sequence that comes up when you open a new project...was NOT hdv. So by deleting it...then doing the Easy setup ...all works.

I just wish there was a way to digitize my channels 3 & 4 via firewire ....

Seems it only sees 1 and 2...and there is no way to even ...re-digitize the footage with just 3/4.

Any ideas ?....


Thanks again everyone.

There is a way to capture channels 3 & 4, I used to do this on my XL2 but you have to capture all the footage again (just the audio not video).

See page 288 of the online manual.

I can't remember now, but I think you have to capture the audio under the DV setup otherwise channels 3 & 4 do not show up in the log & capture window.

I will look into it...

FCP 6 can't capture from Canon XH A1
 

I've been using iMovie in the past to capture footage from my XHA1, but yesterday I got FCP6 and I thought capturing footage would've been as easy as with iMovie. But I just can't capture anything. I tried searching this forum for answers but I didn't find anything.
I can use the commands in FCP to make the camera play, ffw and rwd. But capturing doesn't work.
I created a bin, made it a logging bin and I gave my log a name (thus making an icon appear in my bin). I then tried clip, now and batch but they only give me a black screen. Pressing the play on the camera does nothing (camera won't play).
This is a fresh FCP6 install, so I don't know what I did wrong.

Hope someone can help me.

You say you can control the camera (play, ff, rw etc), and I suppose you get the picture in the logging window as you do?
If you get the image there, and click "Capture Now" while it's playing, you don't get anything?
Are you sure you have selected the right Easy setup?

What I now did was: press play in the log and capture window, next I pressed 'Now' and it seems to work. But the problem with this approach is that I loose the first couple of seconds of the tape. For this tape it's not bad but I'd like to have the capture start the tape itself and capture immediately.
In iMovie I just pressed 'Import' and the program started the play itself.

I assume there must be a way to have that in FCP too?

But thanks already for the hint, I already have 'a' way to capture footage :-)

I use the way I just said, and if I'm quick to press "Now" after play, I don't loose the start of the tape. Is it possible for you to press "Now", and then press play on the camcorder itself instead?

I was used to working with DV, so I have always logged every clip and then batch-captured it, but with HDV I get timecode breaks all the time, so the capture now-method, which automatically divides the footage into separate clips (if I want to) seems to work better. At least since I have enough HD-space.

When the camera is connected I can't control the tapes using the camera itself.
So I'll try to be quick with the "play" and "now" button.
Just also saw a tutorial that explained a bit how the "log and capture" works. A learned alot from it :-)
I'm still amazed how well the footage looks, the shots I'm capturing now was of a music concert and the footage looks like how I saw it with my own eyes :-)
I'm only a bit saddened by the sound, when the bhodran starts playing it ruins the sound, since the bhodran was very loud in contrast with the rest. I'll see if the sound editor can do something to fix it.

In the future, lower the volume on the mic input. Make sure there's only one red thingy on the levels so it doesn't spike :)

I learned the hardway when I thought my mic's were broken on my DVX, and found that those vlume wheels were set to 0.

New question: Nick, in FCP 6 (or 5.1.x), are you capturing in 1080p24 and seeing the pulldown removed so you get true 24p?

Thanks,

Heath

Slow Motion from Canon XH-A1 25F
 

Hi,

I’ve shoot some footage using 25F on the Canon XH-A1, not realizing I wanted to show it in slow motion, is there a way to get some good slow motion out of it?

Thanks in advance,

Using a compositing application and a plugin, such as Kronos* or Twixtor, you can attempt this. [*The algorithm for Kronos is now built into the default time remapping in After Effects.]
I assume 25F means 25p, so you don't have the option of separating the fields, which could be helpful as well.
There is a limit to how much you can stretch your footage, and that's all that can be said about it.
One other thing to consider is using a motion blur filter, like directional blur [wouldn't expect great results], or ReelSmart:Motion Blur [same company as Twixtor] to add something more dynamic to the frames. It might help hide some of this. With RS:MB you can actually remove the blur as well, which might help some of the processing. Adding it in, though, could hide some of the effect. So, perhaps, remove it at first, then add it back in once slowed down? Hard to say, really.

Using FCP [and other similar options] will give you worse results because it just has frame blending. You'll see a strange strobing effect. It won't be awful, but it won't be great either.


The only other possibility would be using VERY complex and time intensive effects in a compositing application to separate individual aspects of the image and manually interpolate the frames. This might be an option, but only on some shots, and it is probably just way too much work.


This all depends on how much slow motion you need, too. It's not that hard to fake 50%. It gets harder to fake it by each degree of 2. It also may turn out that factors of 100 [50/25/12.5] may work better than random number [like 30%].


If you post the clip or a still, I could try to be a bit more specific.


You must remember, though, that this desired temporal resolution (time data) is just like upscaling SD footage to HD. There's only so much you can do and it likely won't turn out that well if you push it too much.

Hi Daniel,

Thank you for your detailed reply. As I’m a newbie to FCP and NLE as a whole, I’ve decided to let a friend of mine do it as I believe he has Twixtor.

I need to spend time learning FCP and AE and stop trying to wing it :)

Thanks again,

Simon

Canon 30F with FCE
 

Can I capture and edit canon 30F using FCE 3.5?

Yes, it's carried in the regular 60i stream.

Thanks. Will shooting 30F and editing that way will make a significant positive difference?