Videotape problem

Well, this is not really a problem with Final Cut Pro, which is pretty much the bees knees in my opinion but a problem with a videotape I thought another video enthusiast might help me with after no small exasperation on my part.
I am shooting with a panasonic AG-DVX100B in 24p mode using panasonic's AY-DVM63PQ pro tape. I shot three tapes in a row. The first and last tapes were fine but the middle tape, when I view it. is almost 3/4 covered by a blue or black screen, the viewable video itself is glitchy and the sound is buzzy with a lot of dropouts. I tried to record again at the end of my footage and this newly shot footage is fine, nothing like the problem footage coming right before it on the tape.
The thought of reshooting everything is a bit too much to bear but I am not quite sure how to handle this
Please help
Brandon

Wow, that really bites. I am at a loss here. Have you tried playing the tape in another camera or deck? I doubt that would have any effect, but you never know til you try. Also, are you looking at the tape in the capture window, or just viewing it on the camera's monitor? Sometimes I have gotten weird stuff in the capture window only to have it look fine once captured. If you have done all of this I would suggest the Guiness and a nap solution. It won't make your tape any better but it will help as you reschedule your shoot.
K

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Strongly suggest that you contact/call Customer Relations.
Relay to them what you stated in your post. With all those repairs, you may be entitled to a new iMac.
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4 months of iPad problems

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Computer to camera to external tv hookup problems

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Connections:
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Thanks for your quick reply. I trashed FCE preferences from Library;, Prefs folder but the problem persisted.
I'm new at this so I hope the following is the information you need.
Under the sequence setting, the track size is medium, and the thumbnail display is set at "name & thumbnail".
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jim reed

Home videotape to PE for editing

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But then the resulting DVD comes out in a non-editable format for working on in PE.
How do I convert it so it's editable?
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Take a look here in the FAQ: What is the best device for capturing analog video?
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Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

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DP G5 (2GHZ) Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Archive to Videotape

Hi all!
I admit... i was a avid editor... said WAS!
I´m using Final Cut since version 4.5.1 and today, only today i found something that i would need from Avid... the archive to videotape method.
I found this link:
http://www.ridiculopathy.com/projects/flunky/fcp.php
I´ll try but i would like to know if there another way of doing it in FCP studio 2? Is there?
I have more then 5 hours from different tapes in 2´videoclip i would like to keep the original clips with a 100 frames handles (i´ve captured clips with 20´each)
Any tip?
Oh... forgot to say i´m working with DVCpro HD 720p/50... so you can imagine the size...
Thank you!
HBars

Hi Joey!
Thank you for your post!
Do you know what is archive to videotape from avid?
Have you seen the link?
Old Avid editors used to do a archive to videotape and restore from videotape, when the work was finished avid created a "archive sequence" and "edit it to tape" (if you prefer FCP language) at a specific timecode. Avid then splits the clips in it´s own criteria and digital cut it to tape (with handles if you need) then you could delete the original files and restore your sequence from a tape and not from the original tapes.
That is my problem i have a 2´sequence, ok, it´s small... but i used a lot of frames from 20´clips from 5 tapes... it´s a way of store your edit in tape, like a backup!
HBars

Problem with copied DVDs--"DAMAGED TS FOLDER" (HELP or I shall go MAD!)

Hi folks--really, really hope someone can help me. This has got me beat. And I'm by no means sure it's a problem with my computer, but...
The facts:
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"The TS folder appears to be damaged."
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6. I have tried varying media, including high-quality Taiyo Yuden disks. That didn't help.
7. I have reset the recorder to original factory settings. That didn't help.
8. I have used a disk lens cleaner on the Imac. That didn't help.
9. I have spoken with Applecare and (God help me) Panasonic. Both pronounced themselves baffled.
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2 GZ PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)
2 GZ PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)
2 GZ PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

The only time I have ever expierianced an issue like this is from doing extensive burning. The cause is from the storage of the cache files and some of the older TS folders even after you trashed them from your machine after you burned.
The only way I have been able to work around this is
First Repair Permissions as is submitted by Gulliver.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=607640&#607640
I have also found that by running 3 freeware or shareware programs one right after the other and after the 3rd it will restart your computer all is well when I do it.
First run Macjanitor.
http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/downloads.html
Next run Cache Out X.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14850
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take note when you run Cache out X and Onyx be careful to not delete your favorites in your browsers.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20070
A note of interest, I have had to do this after I have done a lot of copying to get rid of all the excesive junk that is left behind.
Give it a try.
Good Luck Don

Exporting/transferring to 8mm videotapes

Hey guys!
I'm having a little bit of problem on exporting and transferring movie clips to 8mm videotapes.
Macbook pro OS X 10.9.2
using Premiere Pro CS 5
camera --- samsung sv-h35
videotape -- 8mm tape sony mp120 ntsc
samsung dvd player -(version unknown)-
I've exported two clips, one's 1920X1080 clip and another one's 720x480 sources. both exported on 29.97 ntsc.
I tried mov and mp4, and I have to record these two clips on 8mm videotapes. So I encoded mov and mp4 files into avis and connected dvd players which runs movies in usb --- avis.
I had 8mm tape camera, so I connected the camera and the dvd player with rca cable.
I problem is, I have to make the screen full but somehow the playing screen won't show the clip full --- there're slight black bars on left and right of the clip.
Weird thing about this is, that I can see it's normal like a second and then it shrinks smaller, to show black bars.
The first one, 1920x1080 one, when I exported this as full-size clip without resizing the clip, it goes very laggy while being played on the dvd player.
The second one, 720x480, I tried resizing it bigger or wider--two naturally have black bars--- but it won't change.
I connected dvd player to tv screen to check it, and it doesn't change.
do you guys think it's dvd player problem? should I try on newer players?
also, I heard about 'export to tape' but I don't really know what that is. is that possible to record to 8mm tape directly from premiere pro? that would be really helpful.
do i need extra cables or programs to run that?
thanks!

want to know if there's any way of creating the DVD with iDVD, then exporting it to a universal format (or to a DVD Image), then transferring the file/s to my bro's computer (I have an external HD), and finally recording the DVD there.
no problem...iDVD can do it. 1st USe "Save as Disk Image" in IDVD then-
Read Jeff's instructions here:
http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/macsupport/mac_help/pages/0023-convert_dmg_imgiso.html

Tape capture problems

Hi,
I made the stupid mistake of using my miniDV master as a dub tape. I made 40 VHS tapes one by one. In doing so, I must have caused a digital error on tape. The miniDV videotape looks and sounds good. However I can not capture the movie to quicktime. I have dubbed the faulty tape and the new tape has the same problem.
Is my only solution to make a analog submaster then go to digital again?

Make sure you leave at least 3 seconds or more for pre-roll after the break when you capture.
The way to dub the tape without bringing over the time code issue is to start the Target deck recording first THEN start the play deck.
This should write new time code and at least will address any TC breaks.
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x

Importing OLD black and white videotape - please help!

Hello!
I have imported many VHS tapes with a setup that includes iMovie HD '06 and a sony miniDV camera set to pass-through video. Quality of course limited by VHS tape source but problem importing a black and white VHS tape has me stumped. The black and white tape was actually dubbed years ago from reel-to-reel sony videotape, though I don't think that should matter:
Tape is a high-contrast outdoor scene and occasionally when less contrasted imported picture is watchable but mostly plagued by bands of light and dark. The really weird thing is that simultaneously with importing footage with the contrast bands the TV hooked up to the VCR shows a good, watchable picture! Something in the conversion must be astray - though same setup works fine for color (and in fact imports TV channel that VCR is set to when tape is not playing). I have a feeling that this is problem with some compensatory mechanism in camera that attempts to dampen the contrast and overcompensates - sort of like Macrovision works (my limited understanding of it, anyway!). Importantly, the picture on the camcorder shows the same artifacts. Anyone with any ideas? Would getting an S-Video player help (I couldn't find one a while back when I bought this VCR for dubbing purposes)? Any help appreciated! -Bob

It may be that your "black and white" tape is a copy of a tape of another TV system, e.g; it's a PAL recording of a French SECAM tape, or it's a US NTSC tape.
In other words, because it's a copy of an original of a different system, the colour information isn't reproducible.
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This is suggested because you say that "..the TV hooked up to the VCR shows a good, watchable picture!.." ..If it's a multi-standard TV which can display PAL, SECAM and NTSC, and it's a multi-standard VCR, then it may be showing you a reasonable copy of the original, but iMovie isn't automatically multi-standard (..you have to choose PAL or NTSC when starting a project..) and so it's caught between two systems. Why not see if you get any better result by changing the default standard (PAL or NTSC; 25fps or 30fps) and then starting a new project?
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Video slips when rendered - a 24p problem?

Hi
I use a Panasonic DVX100B to shoot and Final Cut Studio 2 for post. On this video I am working on I make my cuts where I want them, but then if I apply any effect requiring a render, the clips slip by about 2 seconds when rendered. If a certain clip has an effect, but can play without render, then I get the slip when I export as a QT - surprise! Weirder, this only happens with some but not all of my footage.
I think it must have something to do with the 24p Advanced Pulldown Removal. Like the missing frames confuse the render function, which goes to get its info from the wrong place.
When I shoot 24p I can capture it with my settings as straight DV/NTSC or as 24p APR. (Usually I use capture now, as I find the camera often has trouble finding the start frame when I log first).
When I capture DV/NTSC I get no weirdness, but all my duplicate frames are there of course and when I edit into a 24fps timeline the wrong frames are removed. (Some way to make that not happen?)
When I capture APR I sometimes get audio out of synch, and I sometimes get this slipping when rendered problem.
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sneedbreedley wrote:
My preset in CS3 is HDV 1080p30. The stills were taken from videotaping photos with my SONY Z5U camcorder. I believe they are 1920x1080p.
So you were using 1920 source in a 1440 preset. You then did frame grabs to create the stills? How did yo do that? You may be exporting to yet a different format.
So, rather than reverse engineering your whole workfflow; it would be easier to examine the actual source being used in the new project. Can you provide the details on the actual assets being used? IN CS4 it is very easy to create a new sequence in the same project with the correct aspect ratio; assuming that is the problem. But we are still shooting in the dark since we dont know the details of your assetts.

Videotape movies (old VHS) into FCE

Is there an easy way to capture VHS videotape images from the old tapes into FCE for editing please?
I have a few sections from older movies that I'd like to incorporate into a current project in FCE4. Can it be done? I have tried placing the movie camera in front of the TV or the projected images on the screen from the multimedia projector, but the quality is quite poor (understandably). The focus, audio, brightness and keystone effects are issues.
Any advice please? Thank you. Keith

Hi
My list on this topic.
*Analog to Mac/Digital*
From
• S-VHS, VHS, VHS-C - Camera or VCR (VHS-C needs adaptor cassette)
• Video 8, Hi8
Can be done via
• Camera and tape or video trough function (if present) (miniDV or Digital8)
• A/D-box - Several brands (Must be FireWire)
............Canopus ADVC-55 (now Grass Valley ADVC-55) - (only on way)
............Canopus ADVC-110 (now Grass Valley ADVC-110) - (two ways)
............Canopus ADVC-300 (now Grass Valley ADVC-300) - (Timebase/code-correction)
............Elgato EyeTV
• VCR --> DVD
Captured/Imported by
• iMovie 1 to HD6
• iMovie’08 & 09 & 11
• FinalCut Express or Pro
• QuickTime Pro
• iDVD
SCART - Must use an SCART-adaptor with in and out switch. The one that came with Camera is one way. Camera ----> VCR/TV - not other way around. (common connector in EU - not in US)
Why
• Want to do a DVDs (then avoid iMovie'08 or 09 or 11 - due to quality loss)
• Want to edit
Connect VCR to A/D-box via SCART---RCA (EU) and RCA---RCA (US) and set SCART switch to out. The A/D-box may have an in resp. out side. Connect to in-side. Set A/D-box Input selector to Analog in.
My ADVC-300 has two sets of dip-switches on bottom - for PAL they are set to
Left one number 6 is set to on - all others in off state.
If 6 in off state then it is NTSC
From A/D-box via FireWire 6-pin to 6-pin or 9-pin end to Mac FW port.
Now turn A/D-box or Camera ON
Start iMovie or QT or FinalCut
Select Import or Capture
Re-wind tape in VCR or Camera
Start - Play on VCR or Camera
Import or Capture Now
See that the saved movie is collected on a hard disk with sufficient space
1 hour needs 13.5Gb
8 hour needs 105-110Gb (eg a 240VHS tape recorded in LP-mode)
How to store the material
• As is - Icon with a Star on it (iMovie HD6)
• As a set of DVDs
• Collected in a folder - FinalCuts Scratch folders + Movie document on an external/second hard disk
• As DiskImages
• Back to miniDV tapes
Do not use LP-mode with miniDV tapes. Two major problems.
a. When Camera dies - so does the tapes - Can’t be playbacked securely on other Cameras even if
brand and type number is the same - tolerances is to small
b. Audio goes out of sync due to 12-bit recording and/or drop outs in video makes video and audio
not walk in pace/parallell. Resulting in a very tough re-sync problem.
Yours Bengt W

A problem with threads

I am trying to implement some kind of a server listening for requests. The listener part of the app, is a daemon thread that listens for connections and instantiates a handling daemon thread once it gets some. However, my problem is that i must be able to kill the listening thread at the user's will (say via a sto button). I have done this via the Sun's proposed way, by testing a boolean flag in the loop, which is set to false when i wish to kill the thread. The problem with this thing is the following...
Once the thread starts excecuting, it will test the flag, find it true and enter the loop. At some point it will LOCK on the server socket waiting for connection. Unless some client actually connects, it will keep on listening indefinatelly whithought ever bothering to check for the flag again (no matter how many times you set the damn thing to false).
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This was one solution from the socket programming forum, have you tried this??
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A problem with Threads and MMapi

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See Code example below:
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          mTrucking = false;
     public void play()
          try
               InputStream is = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/sounds/scale.mid");
               player = Manager.createPlayer(is, "audio/midi");
               player.setLoopCount(-1);
               player.prefetch();
               player.start();
          catch(Exception e)
               System.out.println(e.getMessage());
     public void run()
          Graphics g = getGraphics();
          play();
          while (true)
               tick();
               input();
               render(g);
      * responsible for object movements
     private void tick()
      * response to key input
     private void input()
          int keyStates = getKeyStates();
          if ((keyStates & LEFT_PRESSED) != 0)
               imgBackgoundX++;
               if (imgBackgoundX > 0)
                    imgBackgoundX = 0;
          if ((keyStates & RIGHT_PRESSED) != 0)
               imgBackgoundX--;
               if (imgBackgoundX < this.getWidth() - imgBackgound.getWidth())
                    imgBackgoundX = this.getWidth() - imgBackgound.getWidth();
      * Responsible for the drawing
      * @param g
     private void render(Graphics g)
          g.drawImage(imgBackgound, imgBackgoundX, imgBackgoundY, Graphics.TOP | Graphics.LEFT);
          this.flushGraphics();
}

You can also try to provide a greater Priority to your player thread so that it gains the CPU time when ever it needs it and don't harm the playback.
However a loop in a Thread and that to an infinite loop is one kind of very bad programming, 'cuz the loop eats up most of your CPU time which in turn adds up more delays of the execution of other tasks (just as in your case it is the playback). By witting codes bit efficiently and planning out the architectural execution flow of the app before start writing the code helps solve these kind of issues.
You can go through [this simple tutorial|http://oreilly.com/catalog/expjava/excerpt/index.html] about Basics of Java and Threads to know more about threads.
Regds,
SD
N.B. And yes there are more articles and tutorials available but much of them targets the Java SE / EE, but if you want to read them here is [another great one straight from SUN|http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/essential/concurrency/index.html] .
Edited by: find_suvro@SDN on 7 Nov, 2008 12:00 PM

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