Odd FCP Capture Issue

I'm working with an G4, two internal drives and an Aurora Igniter card which has in/outputs for both RCA and S-video. The video shot on a Canon GL2 and is being captured using a Sony DSR 11. The final cut of the project will be about 75 minutes.

Upon recommendation from Aurora, I'm using the s-video input with RCA audio rather than the firewire cable for capture. They claim the video quality will be significantly higher. I want to have as many options as possible for final output... either broadcast or copied to film.

I capturing a small amount of video using my Canon camera and another small consumer camera, using the s-video/rca combo. Audio is fine. No distortion.

When capturing from the DSR-11, the audio levels are off the charts. Totally overmodulated and UGLY.

Is anyone aware of the Sony machines running audio "hot" compared to camera levels? If so, is there any way to fix this when capturing? And is there a known benefit to recording mini-dv on s-video???

Thanks for your help.

Kathleen

You may have a -10db Vs +4db issue between the deck and the card. That being said if you are capturing in DV/NTSC codec, then I dont think you are gaining any quality by capturing with the card as oppossed to firewire. In fact you are putting the video through a digital to analog conversion and then from analog back to digital. I dont see any point in using the card unless you are capturing and working in another codec.

Crazy people at Aurora. I'm not sure who would think that a digital to analog hit would be higher quality than a straight file transfer (thru firewire). Plus I've heard some things about S-video connections that have made me consider them a poor choice for ingesting video. However, your own eyes (or someone else's) are the best judgement. Digitize a small amount of video both ways if you're not sure and see for yourself which is higher quality.

For my money, I would stay digital with the FW unless there's a reason for you to work in another codec apart from DV.

As for the audio, if you're digitizing analog, then you can adjust the gain in your Log and Capture window to keep your audio from being too hot.

Of course, there's no need for adjustments in digital; you're get exactly what you got in camera.

Andy

Thanks for the info. I'll try the firewire option. That being said, I'm still slightly concerned because the audio is fine via the analog option through my two cameras -- it's only when the tape gets to the Sony that things get distorted.

In addition, even though I am digitizing through an analog system (non-controllable device), FCP will not allow me to lower the gain. As I said, it's all odd.

I originally had the Aurora for Beta digitizing. My last round of correspondence with Aurora got me terribly suspicious of their motives, since they concluded it with a sales pitch for a "new" product that does the same thing as the Igniter card I currently have.

Check the specs of your deck and your card to see if the audio outputs and inputs are -10 or +4. If you have a mismatch that would account for the over modulation.

> In addition, even though I am digitizing through an analog system (non-
> controllable device), FCP will not allow me to lower the gain. As I said, it's all
> odd

I assume you've already checked the Advanced audio settings in Capture Presets?

I'm with Andy -- FireWire is the way to go here. I've never seen anybody capture DV with an RCA (yuck) connection.

Yep.. advanced audio doesn't work. I'll check the specs on the deck and then do a firewire test with one of the particularly bad problem interviews.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll update the post if the troubleshooting worked.

The Capture Preset, when set to DV Audio, disables Gain adjustments because DV goes in verbatim as digital data. Have you tried Built-In Audio for that setting?

Usually what you should do is just capture as DV without applying any gain changes (if your raw footage is DV, the audio is what it is), then adjust only in post. Take all analog devices and connections out of the equation and you *should* end up with what you shot.

yeah go back to DV via FW.

no audio issues at all, other than what you make for yourself during the shoot:
with DV over FW it's a straight transfer of what;s on the tape direct into your system.

picture quality would be better, too.

nick

There is no real visible difference capturing DV via S-Video vs. FireWire in my experience. Ever do a side by side comparison?

Comes in handy sometimes to do this if you have mixed footage or want to work in 8 bit or 10 bit for your graphics, etc.

But as all have pointed out, DV via FireWire is simpler to deal with and gives smaller file sizes.



Kevin Monahan
Social Support Lead, DV Products
Adobe
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro Community Blog
Follow Me on Twitter!