Missing Clips - "camera playing"?

Question

Hi everyone,
When I try to import video using a Miglia Director's cut Scart there are portions of the import where the screen on Imovie goes blue and says "camera playing" - these portions are effectively then edited out of the final imported clip. So in effect there are gaps in my imported video.
I have played the same clips through my TV (i.e VCR connected to TV via scart) and there is good quality video in those 'gaps', so the tape itself is ok.
It's as if Imovie was ultrasensitive to any loss of quality and stops importing those bits. Anyone experienced this problem or got a solution?
Many thanks,
Richard

Answer 1

I don't know the Miglia DC Scart, but it certainly was the case that iMovie 2 was a good deal less "sensitive" than subsequent versions.
I tested this a while ago, and iMovie 3, for instance, wouldn't import anything except really stable material which had no glitches ..hence this bit of video starts where it does ..whereas iMovie 2 picks up poor frames well in advance of the good video.
"..there is good quality video in those 'gaps', so the tape itself is ok.." ..Not necessarily.
Some TVs, VCRs and monitors will 'repair' poor video on-the-fly, by reinserting a field or frame from the footage just preceding the poor quality, or by adjusting to poor timing signals, but iMovie doesn't do that, and tries to get the best grip it can on what's coming in. If there are poor 'timebase' signals - which often happens when playing VHS tapes - iMovie doesn't quite know where a new frame starts, and so 'drops' the picture.
"..got a solution?.." ..Some video devices - especially those which have two decks, for copying from one kind of tape to another ..e.g; VHS to DV - have a built in 'timebase corrector' or a 'frame store'. If you play your VHS through one of those, it should replace the old, wobbly, timebase signal with a new fresh one, thus giving a stable picture for iMovie to import.
The same thing usually happens if you import via a "digital pass-through" camcorder, which lets you play in video through an analogue input (..from VHS, for instance..) and simultaneously sends that video out through a digital FireWire connection.
I don't know if - and it seems like not - the Miglia Director's Cut has a TBC (time-base corrector) built in. Without that, you're experiencing dropped frames. With a TBC, you should be able to capture most, if not all, of your video. Some old analogue effects devices or video mixers - e.g; the Videotech VMX 410 ..made in Kent.. video mixer - had a TBC built in. (..It's no longer made (scroll halfway down here) but may be available on eBay.co.uk..) ..If you bought and used something like that between your VHS and Miglia, you might get better imported footage..
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