Problems capturing video

I'm trying to digitize some video tapes and transfer some DVDs to my computer. I just got a new Mac running Leopard (10.5.1) and I'm using FCP 5.1.

I finally got the log and capture screen to come up (with some difficulty) but I'mhave two problems:
1. The picture from the video source to be digitized shows in the preview screen but keeps flickering on and off (as if it's a bad cable, but the cable is fine) and jumping.

2. When I try to capture, I hit the "Now" button and a black window comes up that says "waiting for Timecode, Device must be in VTR mode when Device Control is enabled." So I cannot actually capture any video.

3.Also, some of the video I'm digitizing is to be used in a concert setting and projected on large screens. I am wondering what my settings should be for capturing these clips? Should I adjust any settings anywhere?

So, I'm wondering if anyone has had these problems listed above (1 & 2) and can help with number 3 too. I'm not a whiz with FCP, so I'm sorry if this is something easy or obvious.
Thanks!

Sean

What video tapes are you capturing? Are they VHS? If you're capturing DVDs, it's better to use mpeg streamclip. DVDs do not come with timecode, so you need to change your setting to "non-controllable device".

What cable are you using, are you set appropriately to PAL/NTSC?

The larger the screen, the higher the resolution... but you can't get higher resolution than your source material. What are your source material?

EDIT: Your capture codec is dependent on a few main factors (not in order of importance)- 1) what your source footage is, 2) how much space is available for edit, 3) what your final format is going to be.

II'm sorry but I'm not an expert with this program, so I hope to keep things simple. I'm not sure what a "Capture codec"is, for example...

I'm capturing from VHS tapes and also from DVDs.

The cable used to connect my media converter to my computer is a firewire cable that I've used before (on another Mac) with no problem.

- Regarding the DVDs; how do you use "mpg streamclip"? Is this a capture setting? Where do I change to"non-controllable device"? I haven't even tried to work with the DVDs yet, I'm just trying to capture from VHS at the moment.

- If I'm projecting on screens about 12 feet wide, what should my capture settings be? Where should they be adjusted?

- I'm using a Sony Media Converter. I've used this before on a Mac laptop years ago with no problem. But now, using Leopard, I'm getting this jumpy and flickering picture in my preview screen and also not able to even capture the video.

If you mean a jumpy and flicekring picture in the capture window, that's mostly likely due to poor analog video that's too unstable for the converter to convert.

I also believe the Sony Media Converter no longer works with current versions of the OS. I remember Apple some time ago specifically removed it from the qualified devices list, and Sony has stopped manufacturing it. It many work again, as that was some time ago, somewhere late in QT5 or 6.

DVDs are different. They're already digital. MPEG Streamclip is free conversion software that can be downloaded on the web.

I would suggest you look in the FAQ for answers to a lot of beginner's questions.

For the DVD. Read this [www.lafcpug.org]

Sounds fairly simple enough- the Sony Media converter. Capture as DV, edit away. What country did the tapes come from? I believe you should be capturing it as a Non-controllable device, because vhs doesn't contain timecode. In the log and capture window, select 'non controllable device' under the capture settings tab, under device control.

Cool... never seen a sony media converter before...

Great, I got it to capture the video, jumps and all. Now I just need to figure out the jumping/flicker problem and make sure my settings are correct so that the resolution is high enough (any help on that appreciated!)

One thing- when I capture video it says that my "audio sample rate does not match the sample rate on the source tape, this may cause the video and audio to be out of sync, etc..." How do I set these settings?
Thanks...

analog mediums (eg vhs) do not have a sampling rate. What does Sony media converter convert to? Is it 48khz? if it isn't, you can try 44.1, or 32.

One other thing- when I can capture the video it saves it a as Quicktime file. But when I open the file it looks like a wide screen image (the screen is squished a bit and very wide). If I can just get the settings set properly I think I will be fine providing I can get the flicker and jumping under control. Under AUDIO/VIDEO SETTINGS, CAPTURE SETTINGS it's set to the locked default. I'm not sure the fps set correctly or the resolution, etc.

I don't know. The capture settings are set to the default "DV BTSC 48khz" I am not sure how to change it.

You don't want to change it. You want to get a Tape Head Cleaner for the deck, or find the Tracking control to zero in on the best alignment for playback of those tapes. You may have to do that tape by tape. Modern VHS decks have an "autotracking" feature. I'm guessing: you need to clean those heads. Best Buy should carry a VHS head cleaner tape.

HTH

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Instantly find Next/Previous timeline Gaps with Shift/Option -G !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Cool, thanks for all the tips guys. Most everything is resolved, but something thing I cant figure out, or find specific info on, is how my capture settings should be set...

I went to Audio/VisualSettings, Capture settings, and created a new setting where I set the FPS to 30 ( I think I remember doing this last time I digitized video years ago. Is that correct for digitizing VHS?) and set the frame size to NTSC 4:3 and fixed the sound problem. However the Quicktime files this generates still look like widescreen files (long and squished).

So my question- how to get the files to be normal 4:3 and is my FPS set correctly? Should I reset anything else in order to assure getting the best quality digitized files?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Go back to Audio Vidoe Settings, Capture Setting,s and make sure the Anamorphic box is not checked.

You're capturing to DV NTSC 4:3. For frame rate you want 29.97. Some apps understand that to mean 30, but don't rely on it. Also, you want Field order to be Lower.

Your audio should be 48K.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Instantly find Next/Previous timeline Gaps with Shift/Option -G !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Anamorphic box is not checked, however the Quicktime files still look wide screen. Anyone else experiencing this? Frame Size to "NTSC (4:3)".

I don't understand how to set the Field lower. How do I do that?

When the audio is set at 48k I get an error message after digitizing saying the sample rate of the captured media files is different from the source tape, creating visible sync issues. I set it to 32k earlier and the error message stopped.

the 48k/32k, depends on the setting from the converter. Is there a way to set it to 48k in the converter?

There isn't anything to set on the media converter. It's just a box. I have no idea how to change anything internally (or even if you can). The sound isn't that important to me anyway (but the error pop up window was annoying), I'm mainly interested in having the video be as high quality as possible for projecting as large screens (about 12 feet wide). So if the audio is passable at 32k then that's ok.

> however the Quicktime files still look wide screen.

I have an alternate theory: Perhaps you're not used to looking at the difference in pixel aspect ratios? Any 720x480 movie file that looks proportionally correct on an NTSC monitor will look "fat" and vertically squished when played on a computer. If you're checking your 720x480 QuickTime movies on a computer, then they'd all look distorted.


www.derekmok.com

DerekMok, thanks but I don't think that's the issue. As you can see here in this screen capture there is clearly a difference in sizes. Here's a few random tests I did today off TV video compared to an older Quicktime video I didgitized:

[i62.photobucket.com]

Figure A is a file I digitized a couple of years ago.
Figure B is the problem I am having today with the file being "widescreen".

Then... just before posting this I did one more video capture and it seems to have fixed itself...

Figure C is a surprise. It suddenly started saving the files like this (which is more along the lines of the older files I have). So perhaps the problem somehow solved itself after my computer was just sitting around for a while. I haven't changed any setting- it just started saving them differently. I hope it lasts.

Now the only remaining question providing this size issue is somehow resolved- are there any settings that I need to change to make the files as high quality as possible?

Yup, frame C looks perfect for DV 4:3. Glad it's sorting out.

DV is a very respectable standard definition codec and should look great projected 12 feet wide. It'll depend on your projector illumination and lens quality, too.

Just remember, how you capture and how you play back afterward can be two diferent settings, and usually you want one setting for both-- otherwise, you may find you have to render before playback.

You can look in your current Sequence Settings (Command-Zero) to check that the Anamorphic box is unchecked for playback and that your DV-NTSC 29.97 fps field order is set to "Lower." If it's working when you cut it into the timeline, leave it be. You're on your way.

As I recall, there is a swithc on the Sony Media Converter which allows you to switch from 32K to 48K audio. But I may be insane. It may only come in at 32K. In which case, you may hear BEEPING when you play back audio in the timeline-- this indicates you need to render the audio tracks.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Instantly find Next/Previous timeline Gaps with Shift/Option -G !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

I have a Power Mac G4 with dual 533 MHZ processors 640-mb ram and a canon xl-1. when i try to log and capture there are many things that happen. 1 in about 2 - 3 minute it says that all of my 500 Gb external is used (it was empty to start with). 2 it is having trouble log and capture it says that there was dropped frames and it aborts the process. also it just stops sometimes half way through and freezes my computer. can any one help me? thank you.

KMartin

First, have you ever had FCP running smoothly on this system? Is this a new development, or has it never worked? If it used to work, has anything significant changed since it worked last? Any updates to the OS, QuickTime or iTunes?

I'd lean towards you need a ton more RAM in that G4 as the first part of your problem.

FCP needs minimum of 1GB of RAM for itself, and then you need more for the system to use. 2 GB is really the minimum you should have to attempt to use FCP.

Tell us more about this "500 GB external". This is likely the second half of your equation for problems. Is it Firewire? USB? If Firewire, have you added a second Firewire bus to the computer? Using the same FW bus to capture from and save to can create all sorts of headaches. If it's USB, the nature of how USB sends data makes it unreliable as a media drive for FCP. If it's USB, replace it with a FW drive and a FW bus card for the computer.

Also, if it is FW did you re-format it Mac OS Extended, not journaled, before trying to use it? Even if it says "formatted for Mac", it's best practice to re-format it for use as a media drive.

Which version of FCP are you running? Also, it might help to know which version of the of OS & QT you have, as well.

And lastly, next time, it might be best for you to start your own thread. At the top of the Message List page is a button for "New Thread". That way you don't get tacked onto the end of somebody else's problem and possibly overlooked.

Report back, and hopefully we can help more.

debe

Can anyone help with my problem? As I wrote above, it solved itself spontaneously (I changed nothing in FCP) but now has spontaneously changed back - so now all my captures are generating widescreen .mov files, which I can't use.

Here's a few random tests I did off some TV video compared to an older Quicktime video I didgitized:



Figure A is a file I digitized a couple of years ago. It's fine. Figure C is a capture I did recently where FCP fixed itself (after having installed FCP all captures looked widescreen. Without me changing any settings FCP spontaneously changed itself and started capturing video like Figure C. However it has "unfixed" itself and is now back to capturing all video in Widescreen, like Figure B).

Figure B is the problem I am having now with the file being "widescreen" when opened in Quicktime. Can anyone help? I'm completely stuck on this project without being able to capture any video.

Sean

this is more to my earlier message
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My computer is running final cut pro version 4.5HD and i am running mac osx 10.4.11. My external is a WD My Book (500 gb) fire wire. yes it has worked before, however this is the first time i have ever tried to capture something over 15 mins, and the first time i have ever tried to save it directly to a external. the external is formated Mac OS extended (not journaled). I do not remember the updates i have done because the come so often all my built in softwear is updated to its latest version. today i tried to reset my scratch disk to my 2nd internal HD, the same thing happend, in about 2-3 minutes all 250GB of the remaining storage was gone. all my settings are default so i have no clue as to what it might be.

KMartin