HDV tape random capture aborts in FCP

I am trying to capture many hours of HDV footage to disc. Capture Now is aborting frequently either due to alleged timecode breaks or alleged stream problems. But in fact the breaks seem to occur at random: on second or third attempts, capture passes smoothly over the supposed break point, only to abort again later on. I am rarely able to capture more than a minute at a time. Here are the hard facts:
Tapes are Maxell Professional DV-M63Master ME DV/HDV, recorded on only once
Camera for both shooting and playback is Sony HVR-V1P, connnected via FireWire to:
iMac G4 1.25 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, running OS X 10.5.8 and FCP 6.0.6
Capture disc is G-Tech 1TB G-drive, connected via FireWire (just bought to replace LaCie drive in the hope that it would solve the problem)
FCP is set to abort capture on dropped frames and on timecode break (I understand that this second option makes no difference with HDV anyway). I don't want to miss frames that are actually on the tape.
I know lots of people have had similar problems, and I've tried all the suggestions I have found on the forums. Have I missed something?

Julian,
With all due respect, you're asking quite a bit from a single G4 system. If you were back on Tiger and running FCP 5.1.4 you'd have maybe 25% more power, but you're real close to the edge. (I still have a dual 1.25 GHz G4 PowerMac and experimented with FCS2 on it...)
Attaching a fast disk array (RAID) might help a bit, but I doubt the central problem is disk speed. In reality, I think you only need to maintain something like 5MB/sec data transfer rate for HDV, but there is overhead processing and I'm guessing that a system that age probably has some "baggage."
I'd suggest that you freshen up the system by exporting non-critical data from the system drive until you have about 20-30% free space, repair permissions, run your crons (a utility like MacJanitor or Cocktail will do this) and run Disk Warrior on all attached drives. The point is to clean out the system to provide max efficiency at the basic level. You may need to disable apps that like to run in background and maybe even take the system off the net while working. If you can re-gain the original performance, you will probably make it through...
Good luck!

Similar Messages

HDV Capture Problems in FCP 5.1.1

We are using a Sony M10U HDV deck to capture footage in Final Cut Pro. Recently, on all 3 of our systems, the tapes seem to be coming in with a TON of time code breaks - and at each FCP creates a new clip. In a single 60-minute tape I will end up with 40+ clips. Not very convenient for multi-cam editing. We've been using the deck since FCP 5.0 came out over a year ago and have not had this issue in the past.
I can't seem to recall any particular software update that we might have done on the Powermacs at the same time that could have caused this. (For awhile, two systems were on 5.1 while the other was still on 5.04 and all had the same issue). I've tried skipping the Sony deck and digitizing straight from a camera with the same problems. I've tried different firewire cables too.
Also, if I play the tape straight to an HD monitor from the deck or a camera there doesn't appear to be any time code breaks or drop-outs. If I downconvert and capture as DV, everything captures fine with no timecode breaks reported. It only seems to be HDV related.
Short of clearing off and re-formatting my hard drives, (I currently have 4Tb of data and I'm not sure where to go with it all) I'm running out of ideas on what else to try.
Has anyone else experienced this issue?
I'm running:
FCP 5.1.1
Mac OS 10.4.6
Quicktime 7.1.1
Dual 2.7Ghz G5
8Gb RAM
GeForce 6800 GT
Xserve RAID 5.6Tb
Thank you.

Perhaps you have updated Quicktime recently?
If so, try a full quicktime reinstall.
Go to /library/receipts and delete any files that say Quicktime followed by a number e.g. Quicktime703.pkg
Go to the Apple quicktime site and download the appropriate version of Quicktime to your hard drive.
Run the Quicktime installer.
Repair Disk Permissions for your System Disk (Disk Utility > Select the system disk > Repair Disk Permissions)
Reboot
Good luck.
x

Best "Capture" workflow for projects mixing HDV tape and XDCAM footage

I'm trying to determine the best workflow for projects that combine XDCAM and HDV footage.
I'd obviously do the editing in a project designed for XDCAM, as that's the higher quality footage,
and render the HDV clips in the XDCAM timeline...ending up with an XDCAM end product.
I'd use SONY'S XDCAM TRANSFER to get the clips into FCP.
My question concerns capturing the HDV footage in this scenario. I've never been able to get
the Log and Capture feature for HDV footage to work, unless I've created an HDV project and am capturing into that HDV project.
So, generally, I create an HDV project, open the log and capture utility which is now set to capture HDV, and then capture the footage. I then close that project and create a new project, designed for XDCAM footage. I use XDCAM Transfer to get the XDCAM footage into the project, and I import
the previously captured HDV footage into that browser and start editing, rendering the HDV in the XDCAM timeline.
My question...do I really have to open, what is essentially a "fake" HDV project just to capture that HDV footage? You don't seem to have the option of capturing HDV footage (out of a camera or HDV tape deck) directly into an XDCAM project. If I try to change the capture or audio video settings of the XDCAM project to HDV, you get messages saying you can't do it.
Is there something I'm missing or a more streamlined way of doing this?
Thanks in advance for any input.

No need to jump through these hoops. Just set yourself up with a universal Easy Setup that will handle both. Choose your regular XDCAM HD Easy Setup then open the Audio / Video Settings window and change the Capture Preset to "HDV" and the Device Control Preset to "HDV Firewire" ... then click the "Create Easy Setup" button and save it for recall whenever needed.
Regarding the overall workflow, I'd seriously question the idea of creating XDCAM HD masters. No real benefit to that unless you need to export to XDCAM HD. Much better would be export your final master as Apple ProRes 422.
Best
Andy

Can FCP Black and Code HDV tapes?

(Reposted from the FCP Express forum)
I'm running FCP Studio 5.0.4.
I'm trying to stripe some HDV tapes for an upcoming shoot. I've set up a project using the 1080i60 Easy Setup. I have my Sony FX-1 set to HDV record mode and HDV input. When I go to Edit to Tape and hit the Black and Code icon, a dialogue box pops up giving me a dropdown menu from which I can choose the 1080i60 setting.
After the warning that I'm about to erase the tape with black and timecode, I hit OK and a status bar pops up saying it's 'Conforming HDV Video.'
All that is what I'd expect, but the estimated time for it to do this is 10 hours! I let it run for about 15 minutes just to see if that would change, but it looks as though it really would be that long. The status bar counted up to 1% complete during that time. That seems way too long to wait to stripe a tape.
I also tested doing this with Print to Video. I created an hour long sequence and filled it with slug. The same message popped up...only the estimated time was now 3 hours. Better...but not reasonable just to stripe a tape.
Any thoughts?
Other than the inevitable argument over striping tapes, I mean? : )

Its always been about a 50/50 chance of the previous footage cutting through frames of the new video when I have done this, so I never overwrite. Would overwriting black video be a safer bet?
And so the argument begins... Black is previous video whether it comes from a deck via edit system or a capped camera... either way is the same, you are laying down something that you are going to erase!!!!! If you have a break between takes, something is going to bleed through. The only reason you need a stripped tape is for insert editing.
That's why the recommendation is to not bother blacking tapes for shooting. Instead, take the time to ensure that you follow proper shooting practices that will avoid time code breaks.
As for re-using tapes... (that is essentially what you do when you black a tape before use.) Tape is cheap, why risk your money and rep by re-using tape.
rh

Capturing aborted because of "bad tape"! Help!

Help! I've been troubleshooting for days it seems, changing capture settings and referring to the help guides and so on-- I am trying to capture from my professional camcorder a Sony Z1-U.. when I go to capture from a perfectly good tape I get this error message--
"Capture encountered a problem reading the data on your source tape. This culd be due to a problem with the tape. Capture has been aborted and clip has been saved--"
It captures exactly 3 seconds of the tape then aborts-- I've tried dubbing to an entirely different tape, I've tried using different capturing devices, I get the same error code each time!
I am at my witts end, frustrated and over a much needed deadline...someone please help me!
LeeAnne
[email protected]
or
[email protected]

just thinking out loud, if you dubbed to a different tape, that rules out timecode and tape issues. You say "tried using different capturing devices" do you mean different deck/camera or a different computer with FC on it?
Do you have access to a different computer to try capturing to? Seems to me if you've eliminated the timecode, deck/camera and firewire cable, it must be hardware/software problem on the computer.
Also, just as a diagnostic, what happens if you try to capture with imovie?

Capturing DVCAM in FCP 6.0.2 and encountering strange capture behavior

I have FCP 6.0.2 and OSX 10.5.2 and QT 7.3.1. I have been capturing several DVCAM cassettes using my Sony DSR-20 deck. Although I have done this countless times before in earlier versions of FCP, I am encountering some strange repetitive behavior. I am capturing 30 minute clips one at a time. When I use batch capture it will cue the tape up properly to the in point...and then start capturing until it gets to about 10-12 minutes in, and then capture unexpectedly stops, no dialogue box, the tape rewinds and starts capturing again from the original in point. On this second capture, the tape sails past the 10 minute mark and keeps going to the end of the 30 minute clip. It then stops, gives me the dialogue box that it has successfully captured. And it has.
But every DVCAM tape I captured today exhibited the same behavior. Capture would be successful until about about 10 minutes in, then FCP aborts (no dropped frame message, no dialogue box) rewinds the tape back to the in point, tries again, and this time succeeds with the second pass capturing the entire clip. Note at the 10 minute mark there is no scene change or no camera start/stop.
Have other users experienced this issue? And if so, is there a workaround or a possible patch forthcoming from FCP?
Many thanks,
John

Yes, each tape has an in and out point defined. In my 6 years of editing with Final Cut and DVCAM tapes I've never encountered this issue before in the capturing process until now. I will have to see in future weeks with other captures whether this is an on-going issue or not, but at least I can capture for now.

Can't capture video with FCP 5.1

Hi All,
Here is the case. I'm trying to capture the video from my newly baught Sony HDR FX7. Here are the specs:
I've connected it thru Firewire 400 on the back of my G5.
G5 660GB HD, 5.5Gb RAM
In Easy set up I've selected HDV-1080i60
When I go to file-log and capture, it connects to camcorder and says VTR OK on the bottom of the screen.
When capturing the video (after I've connected to log and capture I push play on camcorder and then click capture now on FCP) I could see on the capture screen and my video running but here an there a green line would cross the film and then it would slow down for a 10th of a second and line would run accouss the capture window again. The type of lines you'd get in the old movie? .
After I've captured all 5 sigments I had on the tape and when I tried to play (I went to file-import-file, I've selected the captured clip from my internal HD where the FCP put the files). The file opened in browser. And then it open in preview window of FCP. At this point the clip that is 1 minute long would play for 2-4 second and end there. The quality of it was also very, very poor (and I filed it at HD 1080i.
So, the quality was really poor. It was the case with all 5 clips I've captured from FX7. All of them 2-4 sec. long and very poor quality.
Now, if I try to play the clip from camcorder and select "in" and "out" points and then batch capture via the same log and capture window, it would tell me that it's "unable to locate timecode, the timecode appears to be missing from the tape. Please verify that tape is timecoded correctly"
So, I was reading this forum and did this:
Tried to go to user preferences and set "on time code brake" select "make new clip"
Nothing helped.
Also it's worth noting. When I push play on camcorder and click capture now, new window comes up and it says on the bottom of it "searching for meadia..." press esc to stop or something like that. May be it's not finding it?
Also, when I first filmed with this camera, I would stop after every clip, turn off the camera, plug it into tv and preview what I've filmed.
Either way, the few seconds of the clips that I"ve got are very bad quality. When I view the clips on my TV and monitore connected thru 3 colored cables, the video was ok, I'd even say good, just too much noice in it. But quality of capture is horrible.
If anyone is readying this, could you please give me some ideas where to go with this. I don't know what to do from here

Question is answered

Capturing Issues using FCP 7 and Sony HVRZ7U

I am using FCP 7.0.3
On a Mac Book Pro OS 10.5.8
With 2.33 Ghz Intel Core 2 duo processor
I am capturing HD tapes to a WD 2TB external drive.
I am using the Sony HVRZ7U as my playback deck All HD footage was shot on Sony HVRZ7U and Sony HDRFX1.
I have my capture settings set to HDV apple pro res 4222
A. I have noticed that FCP is not capturing in “real time” is this due to the hi res capturing setting? and do I need to let FCP finish process footage even though tape is done with capture? (This usualy adds another 20mins per 1 hr off footage) Is there something I can do to maintain high quality and not have to wait for FCP to be behind capture?
B. Having already gone through aprox 20+ tapes I have come across a few tapes that wont capture? is this due to the fact that not all tapes came from the same camera source? or is it perhaps a bad tape? or something in FCP that went buggy? i tried the usual dumping my preference files, but still fcp keeps frezzing on the capture and then not saving any of the file. I tired to capture smaller portions of tape but still no mater where on tape I try to capture I get same problem

A. Yes and yes. Only by increasing the speed of the processor.
B. Maybe because of the different camera types, what cameras are they? It could be a bad tape. Can you view it playing back in your camera?

Importing DV/HDV Tapes

Hi,
I would like to know if there is any software to import DV/HDV tapes to my Macbook pro (doing the same job that we can do using the "Log and Capture" window) ?
I don't want to use the FCP to do it because I want to use it at the same time in another tasks.
Thanks

You cannot capture video AND use FCP at the same time doing something else. Meaning you cannot capture video AND edit video at the same time on the same machine. Just not possible. Nor can you capture and compress video at the same time.
To be able to capture video while you are working on something else in FCP....you'd need another machine.
Shane

Capturing aborted - Any ideas?

Hi Guys/Girls,
I'm getting this well known message upon repeated capturing attemps:-
"capture encountered a problem reading the data on your source tape. The could be due to a problem with the tape. Capture has been aborted and your clip has been saved."
footage: Mini Dv
Camera: Canon MD160, connected to Mac via firewire.
Capturing to: Lacie 1tb External HD, free space 200gb
Mac Intel core duo, 2GB Mem, OSX 10.4.8
FCP 6
Q/T - 7.6.4
Abort capture on dropped frames is unchecked.
What else.. Safe RT is checked
I managed to capture 55 mins of footage using capture now with no probs,
2nd tape is giving issues aborting every 20 secs or so. I tried logging and capturing a clip but still aborted. Forwarded the tape to half way through, still same probs when trying to capture.
Hopefully i haven't left other details out, but let me know if more info is needed.
Really appreciate any help as iv'e passed the my brain is frying stage.
Maz

While it could be the tape itself, there are a couple of things that you can try:
In Log and Capture, click the Capture Settings tab then change the Device Control setting to FireWire Basic.
If you are capturing to an external FireWire drive (you should be) connect it directly to the computer and connect the camera to the second FireWire port on the drive.

Printing to HDV tape

I have not sent a project to tape in probably 3 years, and I rarely work with HDV tape so I need some help with this one. My acquisition is Sony XDCAM HD. I have ingested the footage and have it in an XDCAM HD timeline. I am attempting to send this footage to HDV tape for a client who wants to edit this himself.
FCP recognizes the camera because I am able to capture in HDV. If I try to Edit To Tape, I get an error message saying "Unable to initialize Edit To Tape. Please check your device control preset in audio/video settings". And when I try to Print To Video, FCP does its thing but I never see the video on the camera's LCD screen. Even when I put it in record/pause mode, it does not see the video.
Do I need to change my sequence settings to HDV and then render first?? what am I doing wrong. The camera is a Canon HV10 HDV camcorder.
thanks

thanks, I had tried changing the sequence settings to HDV but it still did not work. and what was bothering me specifically was in the video playback options, I did not see any HDV or firewire settings.
I decided to restart FCP and when I did that, I suddenly saw a list of HDV playback settings, but they were shaded. I then checked "Different Output for Edit To Tape/Print To video" under A/V devices in Audio Video settings and then it worked.

How can I digitizing HDV tapes into FCPX

I am about to upgrade my Mac laptop and FCP, but I need to know how I can import (digitze) my HDV tape based video into FCPX. The camera has firewire 400, but I have used a firewire 400 to 800 cable to digitize into Final Cut Studio. What is the best way to do it?

If you get the Retina MBP, you will need to get a FW–Thunderbolt adaptor to use with your 4 pin to 9 pin cable.
Russ

Help - HDV tape import problem - Sony HC-3 broken - Questions/Warning

My Sony HC-3 HD camcorder has just failed. I've had it just over 3 years.
I really don't enjoy video editing much, and despite maybe shooting 20-30 tapes of HD footage of my young children, I'd only got round to importing a handful over Firewire, but was lulled into a false sense of security perhaps by treating the tapes as my film negatives (new tape each time).
The camcorder behaved a bit erratically a few weeks ago when inserting a tape, then the other day it gave an error, I ejected the tape and had a constant C32:11 error flashing. Lots of user reports on the web, no idea what the real issue is, but any suggested fixes didn't work.
Essentially I cannot close the tape transport compartment with or without a tape - it won't accept a tape and return to record/play position.
Almost feels as though something isn't clicking/catching when you push the tape in.
Anyhow, I thought if worst comes to worst I'll just buy Sony's latest model - then the realisation they'd discontinued consumer HDV tape camcorders. Not a happy bunny.
I've sent camcorder to local Sony repair center and am awaiting outcome.
Now my questions are:
1 - Is there any way of simply reading the tape data using an SD camcorder if I ever needed to ? - There are programs that use them to archive data so I guess in theory it must be possible just to read the data, unless it's stored in an SD compliant file format rather than just data.
2 - is 1080i HDV (1440x1080 res) as captured by the Sony HC3 a cross-vendor format or Sony specific - (if 1 is impossible) could I if needed say pick up a Canon HDV camcorder and use that to import my video?
3 - are we to assume now that DV/HDV is dead as a consumer format despite it's better image quality compared to hard drive/memory card video codecs.
Hopefully Sony will repair my camcorder for a fixed rate charge - if they can't or won't what are my options for importing the video I've got on tape?
There are bound to be companies who'll do this for a fee if worst comes to worst, but I feel a bit annoyed with Sony for dropping support for the format after buying an expensive camcorder only a few years ago.
Even if it can be repaired, I'm not sure I'll want to continue using it if there's a risk of future failure and inability to import old tapes. Frankly I'm glad I've used the video function on my Canon 5D II a lot in the last year or so for quick video clips even if many are transiently OOF.
Yes, my fault for not importing the tapes immediately after shooting, but I'd assumed that I would be able to import the data well into the future evene if it meant a new device.
AC

Jeremy Hansen wrote:
HDV is not dead!!! Heavens, the pros laugh at AVCHD and hard drive based cameras. When you shoot on HDV tape, you have a backup.
Sony do still manufacture HDV pro camcorders of course - it's the early adopter consumer they've left in the lurch.
One of my original reasons for using tape was this automatic backup - silly of me not to routinely import tapes to Mac of course.
To answer your questions:
1. No, you can't read it with an SD camera. you are correct that it is just 12GB of data, but no software really knows how to go back and forth, so to speak. In case you care, there was an app years ago (I forget which) that could use a Dv camera as a 12GB backup drive. But practically, no.
Shame really seeing as it's just data - I'd used the Firewire SDK kit DVHSCap app to pull off 12-13GB m2ts files in the past which I felt would be ok for computer archival, unedited direct playback on PS3 and fairly quick to convert to AIC as needed for future editing purposes using a utility.
I did wonder if DVHSCap might be able to pull the data from an SD camcorder, but maybe the tape just would not play.
2. HDV is HDV. If you had problems, pros would advise you to import with the same camera, or at least same brand. But, usually there are no problems. There shouldn't be, but occasionally there are.
I was hoping this was the case, great.
3. Image quality is NOT better with hard drive based camcorders. In fact, most use a higher rate of compression than HDV. What is the advantage? A tape-based camera takes an hour to import and hour. Hard drive cams go faster. Some look great, but there is no advantage over HDV.
Yes, the only advantage of HD/card based camcorders is simpler import faster than real time, and I'd always been concerned with HD camcorders you'd have too many eggs in one basket if the HD failed in between imports to computer.
I own an HC-3, and you have to realize it was an early camera in the high-def market. I don't use it often (except as a secondary) because of its optics.
I've always found it produced pretty acceptable results - constantly amazed that 3-4 year old products get regarded as obsolete by manufacturers who just want you to buy the latest gadget.
Here is my advice:
Get a Canon HDV camera. Use it to import your tapes, and enjoy its superior optics and color quality. Opinion? Yes, but I believe it.
I may consider that if repair fails - any model recommendations that would trounce the Sony?
Cheers
AC

Problems importing HDV tapes

Hello everyone,
First time I need to importe HDV tapes, frames recorded on HDV1080i 50i. I use a Sony HDV camera recoder, plug in with an firewire 800.
I set everything as it must be, then when I open the listed and capture the preview is black and when I start to capture it's says something like "missing of datas from the device, check the connections".
Do I need a special firewire cable for HDV images? Cause It works if I want to import some DVcam frames...
Please Help!! Just rent the camera for few days for import tapes...

Also, I have found that the WAY HDV is logged has a big effect as to how easily it can be captured - I used to constantly get the same warning you do. I started to mark my in and out points "on the fly" meaning the tape was rolling (NOT paused) while setting in and out points. Since doing it this way, I have yet to get that warning again. I imagine that it must have something to do with the GOP nature of HDV, but I'm not sure... I can use the same camera and cables to log and capture DV (paused) without an issue. As soon as I switch to HDV, the warning reared it's ugly head unless logged on the fly.

HDV tape as a unique file

is there a way to import an HDV tape as a unique file, instead of having all those hundreds of files, one for each time there was a recording ?

In the Log and Capture window, click the "Clip Settings" tab. There is a setting for "Create new clip on Start/Stop". Uncheck this box.
I'm guessing this might do the trick but I haven't been able to try it since I discovered it was there when importing HDV.

HDV tape random capture aborts in FCP

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