Capture HDV settings?

OK,
First time trying to capture HDV footage. I find the right project settings as HDV 1080i 60. However, I can't find any reference to HDV when I open the capture settings in the Log & Capture window. Where are they? It can't be Firewire NTSC anamorphic because HDV is not NTSC etc.....

FC Suite 5.1.4
Canon XH A1 camera
Mac Book Pro 17"
23" cinema display
Firewire 400
Firewire 800 external H Drive

Using camera as deck.

Well, I made some progress in audio/video settings but I am now reading in the DV forums that there are capture issues with the Canon XH-A1 and final cut. Everything from non-recognized connections to flaky capture response issues. I have the first. No matter what I do, the program is not seeing the camera. The camera is plugged directly into my Mac Book Pro via firewire 400. I believe this is an HDV issue as I've used the camera before to capture 16 x 9 anamorphic into FC without any issues.

Are there settings on the A1 that would prevent you from capturing HDV via FW? Downconvert etc?

After setting the video in the audio/video setting dialog, launch the Log and Capture window, click on the tab for capture settings and try the different types of HDV device control.

Did you shoot 24F?

24F isn't supported in 5.1.4.

Shot in 60i. I've checked everything I can think of in the camera.

The Log & Capture window does not list HDV at all. I have to find and set it in the AV settings or create something in Easy Setup. This whole business of different windows just doesn't seem to make sense. There's all these setup options in AV, project and easy setup, then the Log & capture window shows about 10 choices, none of which relate to HDV.

Go under the FCP menu and select Easy Set Up. If its not there, then re-install Final Cut.

Michael Horton
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Yep, it's there. Just not present in Log &Capture window settings. (?) I guess the best way is to use the AV & easy setup windows to configure the capture. I'm just so used to only working in DV that this is all new. I have an additional question about field order which I'll post.

On another note, I'm not too embarrassed to admit that my deck connection problem WAS due to downconvert set to ON in the camera. The tricky thing is (for anyone else's benefit) you can't get to these settings unless you unplug the firewire cable. There is a certain yet not quite well defined order of operations that you have to do to be successful. Anyway, hope this helps someone else.

After using the Easy Setup to create a project that is 1080i60, is there a tab in the upper right for "Capture Settings?" If so there's a drop down menu for devoce control which lets you pick which HDV protocol you want to use, FW Basic, Sony NTSC FW etc..

If its there, try them all. If that tab isn't there you can still reach those choices through the Audio/Video Setup in the FCP drop down menu.

I guess this could be a FCP6 thing, I don't remember.

thx for your help Chuck. You've saved me a lot of time

>>problem WAS due to downconvert set to ON in the camera<<

It's a hard one to get across to people for some reason. You say - have you got this set to ON? and they swear black and blue that everything is set up correctly, and then they often come back just like you and say that it wasn't set up correctly.

It's like there's some kind of blindness about it. Not.. I don't mean that in a 'you're all being idiots and it's so simple you're just blind' kind of way. I really mean that it seems to be hard to .. get your head around or something. Like it can't be seen until you've processed the concept.

Apparently - and I have no proof of this, but it's interesting - the Australian Aborigines could not see the English ships approaching them in the 1700s, because they had no concept of a ship. I dunno if that's true, but I think the HDV thing is similar. Also good to know about having the firewire disconnected while searching the menu.

Yeah, the firewire cable thing is odd....can't really see any reason for it. When I plugged in my recently purchased HV-10, I had old miniDV footage on a test tape then shot HDV footage on it. If the tape was at an HDV point when the firewire was plugged in, bingo. If at standard DV point...bam.

At least we all know now....

I think what adds to the problem is this. When checking the menu settings, The downconvert selected is not only grayed out, there's no indication whether or not the selection is a yes or no. On my camera, there's only a dashed line next to the text.
Being that it's grayed out, you can't select it either. It only comes alive when you unplug the firewire cable. Then you have to select it, then you get to see if it's set to on or off. So there is an "order of operations" that should be followed. However, if you don't do this every day, it's really easy to get confused. After all this, you get to deal with the software!

I agree. It's obviously not clear enough until you've been shown or somehow nutted it out yourself.

I had the same exact problem and after 15 hours and 4 weeks of going in and out of the Apple Store, I finally got it figured out. With the Canon XH A1 you CANNOT change the settings that you NEED to change if the camera has the FireWire cable plugged INTO it.
1. You FIRST need to disconnect the FireWire cable, then put your camera on VCR/Playback mode.

2. Click on the menu button and go to SIGNAL SETUP. (Since you do not have the FireWire cable plugged in, you can NOW change 2 important settings needed to import HD footage).

3. Under SIGNAL SETUP, scroll down to PLAYBACK STD. Click on that and make sure the HDV is set. NOT the AUTO, it most likely will not import under AUTO. Once the HDV is set, you're half-way there.

4. Next go back to SIGNAL SETUP and scroll down to HD DOWN-CONV and click on this. Make sure it is OFF. Once you set this, you're done.

5. Go back to SIGNAL SETUP and check this settings to make sure they read:
PLAYBACK STD HDV
HD DOWN-CONV OFF

6. You can now plug in your FireWire cable and you will see after a few seconds that these settings turn "gray" and you cannot change them.

Hope this helps. It was very frustrating to learn it was a simple correction after all the time put in to figuring this out, but such a relief now that it works. Good luck!
-Christina

I had the same exact problem and after 15 hours and 4 weeks of going in and out of the Apple Store, I finally got it figured out. With the Canon XH A1 you CANNOT change the settings that you NEED to change if the camera has the FireWire cable plugged INTO it.

That's pretty much true for a many of the HDV cameras.

Nice one, Christina. I'm going to add this info to the FAQ.

Here's the link

[www.lafcpug.org]