HD capture with Sony GV HD700

Through research I may have found the answer to this but can anybody confirm it. Do I NEED a high def capture card or graphics card to capture HD to FCP (5.1.4). I currently have an older ATI Radeon 9600 in a Mac G5, is this card capable of capturing HD?
When I connect the GV HD700 thru firewire, Apple recognizes the unit and FCP can control the deck but no image is captured. I have gone thru all of the possible "Audio/Video" preset combination's and I am able to capture Standard Def mini DV just not HD video. My computer monitors are not HD either. I bought this G5 before FCP even had an HD version so I imagine some hardware upgrades will be required before I can continue with this project.

Thanks in advance for any input

CF

>Do I NEED a high def capture card or graphics card to capture HD to FCP (5.1.4).

HDV, DVCPRO HD, XDCAM...no. Those are capturable via firewire. Then there are the tapeless formats of AVCHD, DVCPRO HD (P2), AVCIntra (P2) and XDCAM EX...those are tapeless so no capture card required for input. OUTPUT...depends on what you are needing to output to.

>I currently have an older ATI Radeon 9600 in a Mac G5, is this card capable of capturing HD?

That is a GRAPHICS card...that you run your computer monitors off of. Not a CAPTURE CARD...that is something else entirely. www.aja.com, www.matrox.com, www.decklink.com

>When I connect the GV HD700 thru firewire, Apple recognizes the unit and FCP can control the deck but no image is captured. I have gone thru all of the possible "Audio/Video" preset combination's and I am able to capture Standard Def mini DV just not HD video.

Did you choose the proper EASY SETUP? That deck is an HDV deck, so you need to choose HDV 1080i60 in your Easy Setups, THEN restart FCP...have the deck connected and powered on BEFORE you open FCP.

>My computer monitors are not HD either.

They don't need to be. These are just what you use to see what you are doing while you edit. These are NOT for use as playback monitors to view your footage externally. Computer monitors are computer monitors.


www.shanerosseditor.com

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Thanks Brother

I changed the Easy Setup to HDV1080i 60, restarted the computer with the device powered and FCP opened with the new setup. No warnings popped up when I opened Log & Capture (which, in itself, is progress) however, when I go to capture from either of the 3 capture options, I get a warning that say...No Data From Device, Capture was aborted due to lack of incoming data from device. Check your connections (I can still control the device from the capture window so it must be connected correctly, wouldn't you think?)
I am making progress so I must be close. I used to get warnings just after opening log & capture, now I only get them when I try to capture.

Any suggestions

CF

Make sure your firewire connections are secure. Try another firewire cable. Make sure the tape is in the camera and rewound.


www.shanerosseditor.com

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Through even further research I believe I may have the answer. I have been using a 4-pin to a 6-pin firewire cable. That only allows for a 400Mbps data rate transfer. I need a 4-pin to 9-pin cable for 800 Mbps. That explains why the device is controllable but no data is transferring. Would you concur?


Thanks again Shane

CF

No...people use 4pin to 6-pin all the time.

just try another cable...or the 4-9 pin. Worth a shot


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
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Success at last!
The answer lay within the confines of this article by Brandon Fullmer.

[www.kenstone.net]

Although this article is about capturing from a Sony Z1U, I'm using a Sony GV HD700 which is apparently compatible, so these suggested settings were exactly what it needed.


Audio/Video Settings:

Sequence Preset: Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60
Capture Preset: HDV- Apple Intermediate Codec
Device Control Preset: Sony HDV Firewire
Video Playback: None
Audio Playback: Default

Thanks Shane, you got me on the right track and prevented me from buying an unnecessary firewire cable...Sweet Success!

CF