HVR-V1E Capture Problem
 

I have a HDV Capture Now problem with my HVR-V1E (European version) and Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 on a new MacBook. FCP recognises the camera but the message "Searching For Media" occurs if I try Capture Now regardless how long I wait. (The camera capture is fine with DV Capture Now, HDV Log and Capture and if I use Sony Vegas 7.0c on a Dell PC.)

I have found a work around that allows Capture Now to work. When I switch the camera on, I initially place it in Camera mode for 5-10 seconds and then directly change it to VCR mode without pausing in the off position. This seems to work every time.

Although I have the workaround there is clearly something not quite compatible my combination of equipment. I have read that Capture Now problems can occur with the JVC HD100 and I have seen older threads about Capture issues with the HVR-Z1.

Has anyone else experienced this or similar with the HVR-V1 or have I just been unlucky?

I hope someone might be able to shed some light on this please?

Many Thanks,

Ryan Grayley (UK)

You need to select a different HDV firewire driver in the Audio/Video Settings menu.

I use, HDV 1080i50 FireWire Basic as the device control preset with complete success.

TT

HVR-V1E Capture Problem
 

Thanks for the reply Tony.

Yes I have tried a few alternate FireWire driver options including the one you mention. Unfortunately this has made no difference to the symptoms I have experienced.

Am I alone with this problem?

Simila HVR-V1E Capture Problem
 

I am experiencing exactly the same problem as you with *three* HVR-V1E I recently bought. My set-up is very similar to yours, only I am on a Quad G5 and use FCP 5.1.4. The whole thing is extremely annoying. I also have a Z1E which works without a glitch. Even with the V1E the problem is intermittent: I captured a lot of footage a while ago without a problem.
Log and Capture won't work for me, but the Apple Intermediate Codec will. Your trick of switching to "camera" and then VCR doesn't function at these latitudes.
I suspect there are many who are experiencing the same out there, but it's difficult to gather information. I was in touch with Sony Support a while ago, and they told me it was the first time they heard about these problems.
My guess is either the timecode in the V1E doesn't work too well and causes such serious dropouts, or there is an issue with the voltage coming out of the V1E which doesn't drive the Mac firewire port properly. Or, the FireWire transfer mechanism is different and not automatically supported by FCP... in other words, a new driver may be needed.
Did you come to any more cogent conclusion? I'd love to hear from you.

capture issues...
 

It took me a day to make it work last year December. Tony was on "hotline" suggesting various options. My Mac has not recognized V1E, regardless what I have been trying. Then all of a sudden it worked.
I have never realized what made the trick.... Restarting the cam and the Mac was involved - maybe that helped, too.

I have capture many hours ever since, and capture is never relieable. Sometimes "capture now" takes a whole tape with no glitch - other times I simply cannot capture a part, regardless I try capturing single clip, batch or capture now.
Then next day the same part will be captured...
I wont mind if someone could give me advice on how to do timecode settings in my V1E, there are several options and I have no idea what do they mean.

In the meantime I have realized that HDV editing sucks big time... last week my G5 was running day and night and I had to stop heating in the room - my computer was sufficient to maintain 23 degrees centigrade.
Having 20 hours footage captured, I am sort of reluctant re-trying in intermediate codec...but I tend to listen to those who have experience with them.
What is the lowest cost capture card solution? (no HDMI card please, I have old PCI slots)

Help is highly appreciated.

capturing from v1
 

I experienced the same problem, my a1 captured perfectly, then I got my v1, my laptop only saw the camera one time, but I still couldn't capture, On my new office computer, xp with sp2, it works perfectly, , its definitely a windows issue and a driver issue. Sony should have a driver cd with the cam and maybe no one would have this stinking problem

HVR-V1 connection to computer
 

Tony Tremble:do mean using a different firewire driver in the system device manager, I tried this, no luck with my V1, although I think this is what I did to get my A1 recognized, but, if you mean something else please elaborate for me. thanks



You need to select a different HDV firewire driver in the Audio/Video Settings menu.

I use, HDV 1080i50 FireWire Basic as the device control preset with complete success.

TT

Sony V1 Capturing Nightmare!
 

Hi all,

I have been shooting my own doc in Uganda over the last 2 months, immediately after buying the V1 in London. Now back in the UK I was planning to capture using my V1... or so I thought!

It seems I have had the same intermittent problems as you guys, but now cannot capture anything with out the "searching for media" message coming up on the capture window. It either captures nothing or breaks the clip into sections of the exact samne length (eg. 4sec 24 frames). I have tried different machines, different tapes and different cables. I have also trie a variety of device control settings and differnt user settings etc.

I really think this is probably a hardware problem on the V1 (or at least some V1) as it seems to have effected non FCP users and FCP users alike. I think it might be a warranty issue but it may well turn out to be another case of being squeezed between the software and hardware manufacturers.

Can you let me know if you have any new solutions to this problem or any further leads. As this cam was bought to be a deck as well, I am really introuble on a project of some 85 hours of tape!

Regards, Nick
ps. Anyone in the UK who reads this, have you heard from Sony support on this? Will be calling 1st thing Monday.

HVR-V1 connection to computer
 

It may be time for Sony to enclose a cd with a driver on it for these cam to computer problems

Nick,

I had the exact same problem. I solved it by just going through the HDV device control presets in FCP until I found the one which worked. See my reply above. If I remember correctly the firewire driver required was different after I had the camera "fixed" with the updated firmware.

Remember to close the log and capture window before changing the HDV driver then fire it up again. Keep doing that until you find the right driver then create your own V1E template for future reference.

I don't have the V1 any more so cannot check for you which HDV driver is required. I shouldn't bother with Sony support they are as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Hope that helps

TT

HVR-V1 connection to computer
 

You got that right, as big as Sony is they are worthless as tech support on most issues, I went round and round with them on my A1, finally figured it out myself, same with my V1, they never even acknowledged my email.i am going to try one thing and update my firewire card, if its possible, in my laptop, I guess I could reformat and reinstall a sp2 version on xp

Trials of A tryign nature....
 

Hey guys,

I have heard all the reports on Sony service and at the end of the day they will probably try and argue that its at the software end or soemthign like that.

I think I have applied the process you have suggested Tony in regards to the workaround workflow but I'll have another bang at it to make sure I am stringently sticking to the method. I am still stuck!

I will just have to push to get the upgrade back ASAP as I took the camera immediately after purchase and still need to arrange the "upgrade" which was originally described as a "recall" until the spin doctors stepped in.

Can I ask why you no longer own the V1? Do I guess correctly? Is it the same mid stage lemon that some people describe the PD170 as?

Well thanks for your info and please do let me know of any other workarounds out there, if anyone has any.

Regards, Nick

There was a long thread on capturing HDV on the Canopus boards quite a while ago, (well before they were closed), and the consensis from the Canopus mods was that you had to have XP SP2 installed to properly recognise HDV cameras.

It seemed to solve virtually all the capture recognition problems.

Hope this helps,

Vaughan

HVR-V1 connection to computer
 

I am starting to believe thst for all the money these new cams cost a new computer should be thrown in to eliminate all these little problems, new cam am year old computer, one can't keep up with other

The thread started has a new Macbook.... The problem lies some place else.

Capturing problems on the V1
 

hi again,

Zsolt, I really hope your not implying the problems are system/peformance based, as the different systems used and tried testify that this is not the case. I have dealt with many HDV projects on my G4 1.5GHZ 12 inch as well as much faster tower systems that I have also had the problem on.

I have also been testing the Device Control Presets as suggested by Tony. I have just finished going through each one, changing and saving settings/project before quitting FCP and then going back on, rechecking settings are still on most recent resetting befre closing (which they have been) and then attempting capture. NO LUCK. So unfortunately the most rigorous application of the device control workaround is failing too. Any other ideas??? It seems I am running out of settings to tweak, so it either comes down to hardware or software... any takers on that gamble?

Thanks again guys.
Nick

These "little problems" are essentially all "pilot error."
We have a collective of 21 computers here, both older and new Apple, and older and new PC, laptops and desktops, MacBook Pro, everything but Vista.
No problems of ANY kind getting any computer to see the cams.
Drivers are included in the Windows and Mac OS's.
If you have XP with service pack 2, it's automatically loaded. If not, or if you're using a pirate version of Windows, you need to point the cam to the Sony DVHS drivers. That's it.

Giving this further thought, I remember in particular from the Canopus threads that some guys found out that the downloadable SP 2 pack did NOT
load the drivers needed for the HDV cameras, you had to upgrade to SP 2 from an actual SP 2 upgrade CD to fix the problem.

maybe Microsoft fixed this, but it's worth a thought.

Cheers Vaughan

V1 not Z1
 

HI there Douglas,

Thanks for your feeback. Two things though. Firstly we are having problems with the V1, have you had experience with this cam? It's a brand new model and obviously new releases always have the potential for new problems even on basic functionality. On that note too, obviously by the intermittent nature of of the problem then the drivers are present, so not sure what else you can do but try different device control settings within FCP. Secondly, if you can think of any other pilot controlled steps that can be taken, then please let me know what they are as I have been using FCP on a Mac since version 2 and not had such a persistent problem despite all suggested work arounds. Looking through the posts above what else can we try?

Yours sincerely, Nick

ps Vaughan, I am also from Melbourne but living in London. Do you think the V1 has been popular in Melb?

Have you tried capturing using the AIC preset?

Do you have DVHSCap installed? Try capturing with that. It can be downloaded from the Apple developers site. It is in the Firewire SDK. You'll be able to check that you can capture from the camera.

What version of FCP and OS X are you using? What are you capturing DV or HDV 50i or 25Psf. In the pre-updated V1 I had it made a difference which HDV driver I was using for 25Pscan and 50i. After the firmware upgrade the same HDV worked for either mode. It is not always pilot error.

Just a few ideas to float out there...

TT

V1 capture issues
 

Hi Tony,

I am using FCP 5.1.4 and OSX 10.4.9. I am working with both 25p and 50i fooatge across the project but now need to look just at 50i for the rest of the capture. Previously both formats have captured fine. Hopefully the update will sort me out? I'll have to chat to Sony at the same time about this capturing issue I guess. In fact why not call now.

Also, I am downloading the ADC Firewire SDK but without yet looking at it, Can you tell me what it does before I install it? Just want to know what sort of trouble I could get into, if you know what I mean.

Nick

Just puts a FirewireSDK directory in the developers directory on your HD. Inside that directory there are a host of FW apps including DVHSCap.app.

I was a bit worried too when I installed it but it's nothing to worry about. No bad effects my end.

BTW I am using same FCP and OS X versions as you. No problems here on Macbook Pro.

TT

Developer tools
 

Hey there,

Sorry to be a pain but I am not sure what I need to do with these tools? Are they just utilised automatically by the system, or do I need to do something?

Nick

click n run.

Nick, I don't know what to add to the discussion here in terms of pointers; everyone has asked all the right questions and offered the same tips I would.
Yes, I have a lot of experience with the V1, I'll dare say probably more than anyone on the planet, given that I had a pre-production model going back to August 06. I also did the Sony V1 Training DVD. And have a couple MacBooks.
Follow the tips you see here, and that should set you right up.

Stringency
 

Hi,

Well at the end of the day I have tried all these suggestions, with variations on those suggestions, trying to apply the greatest stringency possible to my method. I am as sure as I can be that I have tried all methods suggested with the most cautious approach possible and yet I have yielded no results. How can it possibly be so difficult to do such a simple thing? The answer is obviously that it just should not. There is no excuse for this kind of technological anomaly.

So I am giving up and trying another deck or camera, and waiting to get this V1 back from the upgrade and Sony support taking a look at the same time. I dont hold my breath though, as support say "iLink either works or doesn't work", which is complete and thorough nonsense. I really don't have the money to pay for a deck so I am pretty stuck now. Please try and keep your ears out on fixes for this and update the thread if any news comes through. Thanks to everyone for your effrorts.

Fernandez

PS. As the V1 pro it's a shame we are not in the same country Spotted Eagle! Your knowledge may have been mopre useful.

I don't know that you've tried different cables? Reading through the entire thread, nothing has been said about cables...

Cables...
 

Hi there,

I bought a new FW cable yesterday morning... one of those pricey gold plate numbers... you know the BLING range of FIREWIRE, unfortunately no diamonds though!

Nick

Nick,

Do you have a other Firewire Device connected to you computer?
Is this working properly?

Then try this:

Unplug this FW cable from this device (Camera, Deck) and plug it in the V1
(in OFF, something to do about electrical shock)

Then start V1

The self installation process starts in XP
(Wouldn’t know how it is in Apple, sorry)

volki

Electric Shock Therapy
 

Hi guys,

I tried some variants on this power switching thing and managed to capture about 40 minutes worth of footage. Then it all collapsed again and stopped working. Was a critical interview I was missing at least! I then tried various repowering options and some tapes recorded much later. Still no movement. Looking closely at the capture, it seems like things go ok and then the image in the capture window seems to fall further behind then pixelates giving that nasty cyborg look in the moving part of the image, forcing the capture window message to switch to "searching for media". So it feels like it is the extra information processing required for motion/changing images that is freaking out the capture. Also there are som repeated habits in the capture durations. Often the first clip in a capture now comes up as 3:09 then all proceeding clips come up as 2:24. This happened 2 or more times each on two differnt tapes. I guess these two observations side by side are suggesting there is no significance in either of them... or is that in both of them... Or am I just train spotting? Or does anyone think this is significant?

Really frustrated with this, thinking about buying a new Hard Drive to test on???

Regards, Nick

After a quiet start, this thread seems to have become quite busy and very interesting. So perhaps I should give an update to help things along.

I still have the same problems that I initially reported but I have yet to try some of the more recent tips here. My V1E still has the original firmware but I don't think I will have the time to have it updated for a couple of months unfortunately.

Could V1E owners with the latest firmware mention on this thread whether they have had Final Cut Pro Capture Now problems or not please? I think that could be really useful information for those of us who are having problems.

Thank you everyone for all your contributions so far.

Ryan

Workaround working now...
 

Hey guys,

Sorry I dropped out a bit, this capturing started to work and my internet stopped working. BOTH seem to be workign now! It seems I had 2 cross over problems effecting my set up.

I went back to try capturing on different machines but had no luck, so then I tried capturing straight to the hard drive of my laptop, with the camera as the only device. At first it didn't work but then I tried the old "Quickdraw" method, quickly switching the camera from CAM mode to VTR and it worked. So now I am capturing each tape then pulling out the cam and putting in the hard drives, copying media over to media druves, reconnecting media and clearing internal HD. Laborious but at keast I'm up and running.

So it seems that in my case the camera/FCP comes unstuck when there are multiple devices hooked up through the firewire. I was using a firewire bus most of the time, but I had also tried plugging the cam direct into a G5dual 2ghz... maybe I didnt try the fast on/off method as well??? Cannot remember.

Obviously there is a problem there as I still need to regularly hit the on/off technique even now to continue capturing, otherwise the capture will drop out as before. Also, (one for douglas) the camera makes some kind of clunk when the mode is switched over? I guess this always happens but am I likely to cause some damage switching back and forth so often? What is this noise? Are you guys thinking this is hardware or software? I have tried all other devices and cables separately and they seem to work fine, even chained up togehter at the same time to run. I am now even running a new 640GB external drive in addition to the my main old drive.

So can I tell Sony there is a problem with the camera if I need to do the on/off thing? Or is it FCP not seeing the cam? Someone mentioned a potential issue with the power coming in (or was it out) of the device to drive the firewire? Is that possible? What can I do to get this situation fixed so I can capture direct to my media drives?

Happy to be capturing now - but not happy it's a workaround!

Let me know. Thanks again, Nick

Closing Off for now...
 

HI there,

Just wanted to say that for now I guess this is thread is partly answered for me, but I am really keen to hear what people think about this now? Somtimes I need to still do multiple switching off and on to get proper direwire connection. IS this ok... should this be considered normal? SHould I get something done about it?

Please let me know what you think.

Regards, Nick

Nick, it seems many of us has (had) the same problem - it still remains a problem. I for one do not find switching on and off too troublesome if that solves the problem, mostly if I compare it to having a job to do and losing days with figuring out what would work.
I guess we see a bug here that would be either fixed with update either at NLE or cam firmware side. if it would be fixed at all...

I've been having the same problem with my V1.

Talked to Sony and the technician reckoned it might be a buffer underrun problem in FCP.

Have read this thread with great interest as I am hitting the same issue. I have just bought a brand new Intel Mac Pro OS X 10.4.10, QuickTime 7.3.0 and FCP 6.0.1 with Final Cut Studio 2 with 9GB ram and 1TB internal SATA drives so no other Firewire connected and I have the updated V1E and it still has the same problems as all of you stated!

I did make progress with the HDV capture by setting my V1E's VCR Mode menu option from Auto to HDV in the In/Out Rec menu and this enabled me to use Capture Now, but it won’t work with in/out timecode settings.

So how can we get Sony or Apple to do something about this. Might be time for a petition?

Kevin

If you have the possibility to use a system with Win-XP or Vista, try this:

http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm

HDVSplitt is free; it works outside of any NLE-software. Later you can import the captured files in your FCP

**I don’t know MAC and FCP, so read the "how to do it" first**
-------------------------------

When I started using my Sony V1E, with Avid Liquid 7.2, I had the same problem. Today it is solved.

Maybe if you try it this way, you might solve the problem with FCP as well:

1. Clean and Delete all Sony camera drivers on your system.
2. Set your Camera to DV/DVCAM only (!!)
3. Connect camera with system, Camera on, then start your system
4. let your system recognise camera as Sony device
5. shut down system and camera
6. set camera to HDV (not auto)
7. start system new, it will now recognise camera as HDV

This is the way; I was successful with Sony V1E and a PC with XP-pro
Now Liquid see’s the camera

volki

I can see that's one way to go Max but to be honest I want to be able to log shots into FCP as I shoot films and so all the shots are logged and I need the flexibility of FCP encoding a series of clips using timecode. The very function I'm not getting with this problem.

Just spoke to Sony UK Tech support and they said the V1 uses the same firewire commands as any other camera like the Z1 and PD150 and so it's Apple's problem! So then I asked Sony could they talk to Apple and see if they could find a solution and they said they would pass my comments on to an engineer who may talk to Apple about the issue.

So a slim chance then that this may get resolved in a update to FCP.

Kevin

Solution 1 is just a way outside of any application

have you tried the 2 step-way, first DV only and then HDV?

in our group quite a few user have solved it this way

volki

What does "Solution 1 is just a way outside of any application " mean ?

I have set my V1 VCR menu to HDV only instead of Auto and that gets video in via Capture Now but it still fails when you use time code via Loging a clip which is what I need to work.