Batch capture

I have a lot of short clips I need to batch capture. Many begin within one to three seconds after a time code break.

Is there any way to change FCP settings to allow it to begin a batch capture with only a 2 or 3 second lead in instead of the 5 or so seconds it usually requires.

I'm capturing from DV unsing FCP 5.0, firewire off of a Panasonic DVX100A. I can rent a DV deck and use a Kona LS if this will give me more flexibility.

Ed

I would guess your best way to capture those clips is to FIRST, Clone the tape.

Cloning the tape will give you steady timecode, then you can get those seconds you need pre-roll for batch capture. Since FCP wants to make a new clip at TC breaks, it would otherwise be a real bear unless you could force a capture NOW. That. of course will not ever allow you to recapture, should you need to.

Two tape units - two decks, camera and a deck or two cameras. Set up one as source and one as destination over Firewire connection.

John's right. Since you're working in DV, just set up two DV playback/recording devices via FireWire and transfer the tapes. No need to match timecodes since your original timecodes weren't good anyway. It's the most time-consuming, yet cleanest (and fastest, in the long run) way to take care of the issue.

making FW clones is not as simple as it sounds, in my experience.

along with picture and sound, the TC breaks can also transfer to the new tape,
as glitches, putting the sound progressively out of sync.
that's what happened to me last time i tried it, which was admittedly a long time ago.

there must be a way to do it correctly, though...
maybe this hasn't happened to the folk who recommend it?

to answer the question,
you CAN alter the pre-roll.
open your A/V settings (options apple Q)
go to device presets,
and open your current one, or make a copy of it if you prefer.
in the Preset editor window, you can change the pre-roll.

the default 3 seconds seems pretty short to me,
and if you DO change it, i would TEST the shorter pre-roll before relying on it.


nick

Nick Meyers wrote:

> making FW clones is not as simple as it sounds, in my
> experience.
>
> along with picture and sound, the TC breaks can also transfer
> to the new tape,
> as glitches, putting the sound progressively out of sync.
> that's what happened to me last time i tried it, which was
> admittedly a long time ago.
>

I'll second that. Digital tape to tape copies can be "lossless" - means all errors are kept.
A better way way is to use "Capture Now", assign a new TC within FCP and then print to tape either with FCP (and the right recorder) or with SimpleVideoOut. This will not alter image or sound, but the timecode.

With the new tape you can "restart" a normal capture.

Andreas



Some workflow tools for FCP [www.spherico.com]
TitleExchange -- juggle titles within FCS, FCPX and many other apps.
[www.spherico.com]

> along with picture and sound, the TC breaks can also transfer to the new
> tape, as glitches, putting the sound progressively out of sync.

What Nick says is true...but when the timecode/dropout problems are big enough to warrant a redub, redubbing tends to solve more problems than it creates. I just did that last week with a tape that had been shot in LP mode. The DSR-11 couldn't play it, but my Canon GL-1 could, so I redubbed it. Instead of the four-second sync offset and dozen timecode/data errors on the original tape, I now had a tape with a single bad-data error which resulted in the loss of only 15 seconds of footage in a one-hour interview. Definitely worth it. If you still have additional problems, they are often small enough that you can then implement the "Capture Now without timecode" solution.

I usually say if a tape has more than five timecode breaks (resets -- timecode breaks that remain consecutive can be manageable), you really need to redub.

derekmok wrote:

>I just did that last week with
> a tape that had been shot in LP mode. The DSR-11 couldn't play
> it, but my Canon GL-1 could, so I redubbed it. Instead of the
> four-second sync offset and dozen timecode/data errors on the
> original tape, I now had a tape with a single bad-data error
> which resulted in the loss of only 15 seconds of footage in a
> one-hour interview. Definitely worth it. If you still have
> additional problems, they are often small enough that you can
> then implement the "Capture Now without timecode" solution.
>
> I usually say if a tape has more than five timecode breaks
> (resets -- timecode breaks that remain consecutive can be
> manageable), you really need to redub.

Good point. LP-mode is the "best" thing to screw up a project, since every recorder uses it's "own" error correction for this mode - so it's not possible to play/capture an LP tape in a secure way on a different recorder than the original one.
So better stay away from LP.

Andreas



Some workflow tools for FCP [www.spherico.com]
TitleExchange -- juggle titles within FCS, FCPX and many other apps.
[www.spherico.com]

Yes, on the destination deck, make sure it forces new timecode onto it's tape.
The Sony PD-150 and 170's always write new timecode onto a tape as it is recording incoming data.

PS, where did the LP mode come into play in this thread? The original poster asks "Many begin within one to three seconds after a time code break.

Is there any way to change FCP settings to allow it to begin a batch capture with only a 2 or 3 second lead in instead of the 5 or so seconds it usually requires.

Yes, you can change the pre-roll timing but doing so is very touchy for batch capture sake. Hence the Clone the Tape advise seems most applicable. NO?

Cloning is not really an option. These tapes were previously logged and there was a problem with the settings so I have to dump them into the system again. If I clone the tapes, I lose the time code already on them. I need to use the inputs from the existing timecode.

I'll try shortening the pre-roll and see if that helps. Some of this I may have to do manually.

Thanks for the ideas.

A word of warning: Shortening the pre-roll is only slightly better than capturing while ignoring timecode. You might end up with clips that can't be recaptured properly, which will not line up with your editing decisions. Back up your captured clips. And take a baseball bat to whoever shot this footage. Camera operators who record shots two or three seconds long on video shouldn't be paid to do this work. That's an amateur mistake.

>>And take a baseball bat to whoever shot this footage.<<

Heh. I've got this little scene in my head where an editor goes up to a camera op and says.

"You did a bad job, For that - you must accept this baseball bat. Har har!
Make sure you store it in a cool dry place, you naughty naughty camo."

"Camo"? That's a nickname I haven't heard before. But with two dozen timecode breaks on a tape and two-to-three-second shots, if I'm the editor, the camera operators would probably want "camo" (camouflage) so I can't find them.

> Camera operators who record shots two or three seconds long on
> video shouldn't be paid to do this work. That's an amateur
> mistake.

Actually, some of them were amatuers. I had to use interns to get additional footage for this documentary I've been working on. However, the worst offender was in fact a paid "cameraman" whom I've sworn to destroy if I ever see again.

None of the footage is that short, most of it is 10 - 20 seconds in length, the problem is the footage I'd like to get begins too soon after a timecode break, cretaing the batch capture issue.