Easy way to capture other than FCP
 

Any Mac software recommendations for capturing video other than FCP? I have FCP express, but I'm just capturing the entire 60 minute mini DV tapes strictly for backup up purposes -- so I really don't need to bother with making a "project file" and getting lot of folders...
I would love great software to just capture all footage and put one file on the hardrive. What are the best options? thanks.

capture with FCP, pull in the entire thing using capture now (audio drift is cured by changing the audio settings to 32 from 48 (I think, I'm capturing DV NTSC 48Khz). The file will be in your /Users/[username]/documents/Final Cut Pro Documents/Capture Scratch/[project name]/[reel name]. You can move the file wherever you need for backup purposes, it'll be a quicktime file (it may not have a file extension though).

You can use an Apple developer utility called DVHSCAP. It's a free download from Apple but comes as a part of a package of tools. Do a search and you'll find a link.

Hope that helps,

Liam.

thanks guys, audio drift? should I know about that? never heard of it.

sorry can't find DVHSCAP, looked on Google and version tracker. what about also quicktime pro? is one simpler better than another?

You'll find it here;

http://developer.apple.com/sdk/

You'll need to download the FirewireSDK 20 DMG.

Liam.

thanks Liam, but that looks like a real maze. I'm trying to do things "simpler"

iMovie.
Simple capture, but you have to export to QT movies after.
iMovie calls it Sharing.

I use it when the ingest function of FCP doesn't connect to the camera (which happens intermittently, and for no reason sometimes.)

FCP has been acting ridiculous of late - it's stopped ingesting in the middle of a tape, or ingested two tapes and not the third.

I'm always able to get it going again by rebooting, fooling with the preferences, updaing the QT receipts, etc., but I lost patience with all of that awhile ago and just use iMovie to capture/ingest these days.

It's a bit of a pain but at least it works every time.

I've found the image softer when I capture in iMovie. You may want to do some side by side comparisons to test it, but I had done some testing for a guy on imovie-users a while ago (when that forum still existed) and we found the image to be much fuzzier. He was concerned with a graphic he was inserting, so I made graphics of lines (big asterisks) and what not. I'm not sure if it was just the display rendering, or if it would do so to disk as well.

I've stopped using iMovie as a cpature solution. It's a consumer solution that doesn't framass well with Final Cut. DVHSCAP is a great little util though, I'd go that way if you need to.

Copy that. Good information. Thanks.
DVHSCAP it will be.
Cheers
Chris

Kevin:
Just download the Firewire SDK 20 disk image (.dmg) file and open it..
Then install the package.

Then under your root directory (or the drive where you installed it), there will be a /Developer folder, then /Applications, then the DVHSCAP app (program).

I just dragged it onto my dock, since I figure I'll be using it a lot.

It's set up for capturing form a digital VHS deck, but that's a firewire device too so it should work just fine.

I just downloaded it and set it up. Very small and simple application.

I'll post more caveats if I run into them but I don't think there will be any.

Thanks again, Cole!
Cheers
Chris

This ain't hard.

Create a folder on your Desktop. Name it Video Clip or whatever.

Open Final Cut. In System Settings set your Scratch Disk to the Video Clip folder.

Start the Capture Window. Set In and Out points to define the entire tape. Name it. Capture Clip

As for project names, when you open FC it will open to your last project. Just use that. When you shut down and asks if you want to save the project, select No

Thanks Chris, but you know, I don't think I have i movie for some reason, don't see it in app folder, even though I have Tiger, and every previous OS.

thanks Cole: I'd like to get DVHSCAP, but as you can see , no one so far seems to be able to provide a simple link to it. (and I hope it's a simple app)

Kevin, I posted the link earlier in the thread. All you do is click the link. Scroll down to where it says 'FirewireSDK 20' and hit download.

Once the download has finished you need to open an application called DVHSCAP. You'll find it in a folder named 'Developer'.

The only way I can see an easier way to do this is lie back on the sofa and watch someone else do it for you.

How simple do you need it?

Liam.

it's not that as simple as finding it at version tracker because it's a sample app for the firewire programmers kit from apple. In order to get the app, you'll need to download and install the SDK referenced earlier, then get the sample app from the samples folder and move it where you want.

Kevin

I just followed Cole's instructions and have DVHSCAP up and running on my machine. Took me maybe 10 minutes, and that's with trying to find out where the developer installation program put the app.

I noticed a little softening when digitizing with iMovie. Didn't try DVHSCAP yet, but I'm sure it's going to be at least as good as iMovie and probably a little easier too.

Victor:

I use FCP 5.1.4 all day long. Have cut three feature films and a half dozen TV shows on it, all since 5.1.4 came out.

I have a stack of approximately 60 mini DV takes sitting next to this computer from the latest feature film I'm editing.

What happens is this: I set up the capture scratch and import from the deck fine.

Everything goes along great, and then I swap out tapes or run across a timecode break and the digitizing/ingest window suddenly stops seeing picture from the deck. Loss of input signal, ingesting halted.

I reboot and it all works again, for another couple or five tapes, and then it goes dark again.

I've done three totally clean installs (starting from the OS upwards) and many, many purges and reboots.

I'm tired of it, is all.. I have 40 tapes to go on this job alone and after awhile it gets very annoying. Not insoluble, not an emergency, just a bug somewhere and a royal pain.

If DVHSCAP works consistently, then that's what I'm going to use.

And yes, I did my homework, have read the threads, visited Apple and the Pro Care sites. I've already done the QT library purge, the preferences reset, and all of that. And it all works, for a while.

I guess I must have put around 200 tapes through this machine (dual G5, Aja Kona) since 5.1.4 was installed, and FCP has failed on around half of them. Ingest deck is a Sony M10U.

thanks Liam, for kicking my butt and getting me off the couch. Ok, I downloaded, FirewireSDK 20'.

Now I went in app folder and am looking for that "developer" folder. Dont see it it app folder. did click a folder callded : TigerDevToolsFireWireExamples
in the firewire sdk package ( I think), the magic app still has not appreared.

I'm old fashioned. I'm used to here is the app, and that's it, so the hide and seek still contiunes for this.

thanks Cole, found a "examples" but not a samples package, not a folder but package, still can't find this mysterious software. I'm sure there is a good reason there are so many mouse clicks to find it, must be pretty good for those who finally find it.

Excellent post Chris you are way ahead of me, and interesting you have these issues, thanks for sharing that - (let me know how DVHSCAP works for you) I'll keep trying to find it in the meantime

Just searched my app folder again, don't see, DVHSCAP, Developer, or Firewire sdk 20, or really anything regarding the dowload. it's like I downloaded this and it vanished or something.

Kevin
It's not in the regular app folder.
Go to the root folder of the drive you installed it on.
You'll find a Developer folder
Open that and you'll find another Applications folder.
Inside that one, a Firewire folder.
It's in that one.
Cheers
Chris

DVHSCAP is intended to emulate the DVHS VCR and is made for capturing MPEG2 Transport Streams such as the ones my HDTV puts out over firewire. I can then playback to the TV set in HD. I'm actually using the newer Virtual DVHS2 app from the firewire SDK. There's also an app in there called AVCVideoCap. I have used it for capturing the raw .m2t files from a JVC100 camera.

I'm not certain, but I don't believe it will work with regular DV streams.

-gb-

Thanks Chris for solving the wild goose chase. does this have to remain there or can I put it in app folder?

dhvs -- vhs? any releation? I'm capturing form mini DV

Has anyone verified this may be more stable than FCP?

and the softness issue -if that's real, in a deal breaker really no? thanks!

imovie actually compresses a bit, hence the footage will look a bit softer.
I just downloaded the SDK and it looks pretty simple. I will give info on the results later.

Kevin
You can put the app anywhere, I just dragged it onto the dock so it doesn't matter where the app lives.

Don't want any compression. I backing up tape to tape and tape to hardrive.

The whole point of back ups is if the house burns down, they with match original in quality. So I'll avoid i movie, should I also avoid dvhscap?

and FCP does not compress correct?

the thread was suppose to be: easier way to capture than fcp
But now I am lost with this app, I can make it work but I don't know where the images are and also not able to open them.when I (think) I record, it bring me to the screen of my camera and when I press play it does the same.
If I clik on file I cannot open as quick time.
Is it me or this application seems a bit complicate,there is also no help in the app.so where do we start to work with that and know if I did good or bad.
because I don't see the use of that app.
thank you.

Martin: are you referring to the DVHS cap?
I have not tried it. but if you are saying the interface is more complicated than FCP for capturing, yes that's defeating purpose of this thread

yes Kevin I am writing about dvhscap, its easy to capture and probably easier than final cut an imovie also not to much set up to do.But once its capture I don't know what to do and there is no tutorial to show how do I bring the file in fcp.
and I don't know where that files is located.

Hmmm, well bringing it into anything is simple, file open. But you do gotta know where it is. Odd during capture process that was not determined.

Workflow using Apple DVHSCap:
Capture clip or tape using DVHSCap, very simple program with no preview.
You would have selected the directory in which to save the file, if you can't locate it do a spotlight for .m2t

The .m2t file can not be opened in Quicktime or FCP5 or 6.
Download the app MPEG Streamclip from http://www.squared5.com

Open the .m2t file in MPEG Streamclip and export in AIC, ProRes*, HDV.
*Final Cut Pro 6 has to be installed for ProRes.

I still prefer Apple AIC for speed and sharpness.

This may seem a long way round the houses but this yields a cleaner image than capturing directly in FCP using HDV codec.

Try this test: Film a short clip with a very bright red object in. Capture directly in FCP and also using DVHDCap. Using the .m2t file open in MPEG Stream clip and export as a unscaled HDV file (1440 x 1080) turn off the two ticks that default on Interlaced Scaling and ReInterlaced Chroma, and make movie.

Open both file up at 100% in quicktime and look at the red objects edge the .m2t file is much cleaner no jaggies and colour bleed.

Note: Based on a 25p PAL workflow

James, could you please post JPEGs of this comparison that you did?

Because it seems that you are stating (unless I've misread your post) that applying a SECOND bout of MPEG-2 compression and then placing a Quicktime wrapper around the file (i.e. taking the .m2t file and then transcoding it into an HDV Quicktime with MPEG Streamclip) will yield a better visual result than native capture in FCP which simply takes the .m2t file directly off the tape and puts a Quicktime wrapper around it with no extra transcoding or compression.

Another query is on your transcoding settings being "unscaled HDV file (1440 x 1080)". You mention that it's a 25p workflow (and it's HDV because of the .m2t file) so wouldn't unscaled be 1280 X 720? (Because HDV comes in 1080i and 720p.) Or have you done the tests with an interlaced HDV camera (1080i) which has a special "mode" to emulate a progressive look (like Sony's 25f)?

But if it's true 720p25 (HDV1) I'd be most interested to see the JPEGs because it could mean that I've possibly overlooked a hidden feature in MPEG Streamclip which could be of benefit to me (and others).

Thanks.

thanks James.
If I have to download app3 for app2 to work, that defines defeating the purpose of finding an app simpler than app1.

David, as I understand it the .mt2 file is mpeg compressed, when transcoded using MPEG Streamclip and selecting the native setting that does not require any scaling 1440x1080 square pixels and the outputting to AIC or Prores is a faster workflow for me in the long run.

I said back to HDV in the first post because it still looks cleaner than the FCP HDV capture. This is still the case with FCP6.

When the file is brought back into FCP for editing it goes back to the stretched horizontal pixel aspect. If you output from MPEG Streamclip as 1920 x1080 you would be scaling up the image.

Kevin, I use this method because it yields better results (for me anyway). You could always try the Fire-store.

Apple DVHSCap:
 

When I watched the footage after capturing it in Apple DVHSCap it seemed to have dropped the image stabilization and the windscreen...can that be possible?

Does this acutally work better than what's in FC St2?