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Home: Video University Forums: Mac Video:
Capturing LP in FCP

brian_a
Novice

May 11, 2006, 4:49 PM

Post #1 of 8 (994 views)
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Capturing LP in FCP	Can't Post

I'm having a problem capturing a tape in Final Cut Pro that was recorded in LP. I get this error message:

"Capture encountered a problem reading the data on your source tape. This could be due to a problem with the tape. Capture has bee aborted and your clip has been saved."

This happens after about 3 seconds of capturing. I also tried capturing with iMovie. The video would import, but it seemed to play back at double-speed.

Any ideas about what's going on? Any suggestions? The only solution I can come up with is to dub the tape onto a new tape using SP and then capture that tape.

RatVega
Enthusiast

May 12, 2006, 3:03 PM

Post #2 of 8 (978 views)
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Re: [brian_a] Capturing LP in FCP [In reply to]	Can't Post

I hope I'm not the first to tell you that recording in LP is a bad idea. This is because most NLEs aren't set up for this inferior format. The reason that iMovie will capture it is because it's more focused on the amateur video guy.

You can probably capture in FCP if you select "no device control" and then Capture Now (as you'd do with VHS) but you'll be without timecode. you could also import and slow-mo the footage from iMovie (you'll probably need to render it first) which will also be without timecode. It's probably not literally twice the speed; more likely 1.5X or whatever the ratio of LP:SP is.

Dubbing the LP to SP may give you the best quality (never done this) and would also get you some timecode info.

I'm sorry to sound so negative, but here's what's going through my mind:
Without a timecode, you'll have no way to accurately re-capture if anything goes wrong.
Working from the iMovie-captured footage means a lot of rendering and the slo-mo will be adding frames and "blending" which may result in jerkieness (frame blending off) or a soft image (frame blending on).

You may want to check out BTV (www.bensoftware.com) and try capturing with it. I've used it on some problem footage. If you output as a .mov, it should be fine in FCP.

______________________________________________________________
Currently on a loaded 2.5GHz G5 dualie/5GB/1TB internal RAID/dual 19" monitors. Final Cut Studio, Adobe Suite, Boris RED. Shooting with Canon.

VU California Crew, Inland Empire Sub-Chapter (paragraph?)

backfocus
User

May 12, 2006, 3:54 PM

Post #3 of 8 (977 views)
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Re: [RatVega] Capturing LP in FCP [In reply to]	Can't Post

You're wrong Ratvega. Capturing in FCP with "no device control" still transfers over the timecode. And visual quality doesn't suffer either when recording in LP. The only problem with recording in LP is lowered tape playback reliability, which could mean broken timecode.

His only bet would be to dump the LP footage onto new blacked tape in SP and try recapturing from there.

RatVega
Enthusiast

May 12, 2006, 6:00 PM

Post #4 of 8 (964 views)
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Re: [backfocus] Capturing LP in FCP [In reply to]	Can't Post

I stand corrected on the Capture Now issue, it's the only way to capture non-timecode video. I got it mixed up. Mea culpa. BTW, this isn't my first time being wrong or having an error flagged...

Although there are varying opinions on the subject, I'll go along with on your statement that "...visual quality doesn't suffer either when recording in LP mode." The same amount of digital information is being written. The image quality issue most commonly occurs during playback since the track width in LP mode is reduced to 6.7 microns (from 10 microns for SP). This is also the source of the common problem of not being able to play back on anything but the device that recorded the tape. To me, the net result is the same...

Dubbing to SP isn't the only bet, but it's probably the best bet.

To clarify one other area, footage captured in iMovie is captured as .dv (multiplexed audio), not .mov and that's where the rendering and other issues come in.

______________________________________________________________
Currently on a loaded 2.5GHz G5 dualie/5GB/1TB internal RAID/dual 19" monitors. Final Cut Studio, Adobe Suite, Boris RED. Shooting with Canon.

VU California Crew, Inland Empire Sub-Chapter (paragraph?)

brian_a
Novice

May 13, 2006, 7:50 AM

Post #5 of 8 (956 views)
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Re: [RatVega] Capturing LP in FCP [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thank you RatVega and backfocus for your thoughtful responses.

The video was recorded by someone else for me. I never use LP, and if I'd have known I was going to have a problem capturing, I would have told him not to use it either.

I'll try dubbing to SP. My 4-pin to 4-pin FW cable should arrive Monday. I'll give it a go and report back my success! (Hopefully Unsure

)

brian_a
Novice

May 16, 2006, 7:22 AM

Post #6 of 8 (923 views)
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Re: [brian_a] Capturing LP in FCP [In reply to]	Can't Post

I'm happy to report back that I was able to successfully dub my LP tape onto a new SP tape and capture the SP tape with FCP.

Joel
Veteran

May 24, 2006, 10:49 PM

Post #7 of 8 (890 views)
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Re: [brian_a] Capturing LP in FCP [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi Brian,

I shoot LP all the time - no problems - but I do capture on the same brand of camera I shoot with. I've heard anecdotal stories of problems with Canon and other brands with LP. Sony seems to be more stable with LP. Anyway, should you ever run into a problem with a tape that won't capture you may want to try loading up FCP3. When FCP went to version 4 they completely rewrote the media management. I get situations inwhich a tape will not capture with FCP5 because of reported timecode errors, but it captures perfectly with FCP3. Just a thought. I do most of my capturing with FCP 3 now. In fact, I can capture with FCP3 and edit with FCP5 at the same time on one computer. Pretty nifty...

In Reply To

I'm happy to report back that I was able to successfully dub my LP tape onto a new SP tape and capture the SP tape with FCP.

Joel

"Think of this business as a room with a huge table and a bunch of chairs around the table. There is a big pie on the table. Your mission is to take your place at the table, pick up your fork, and eat your pie. Do not look to the left and do not look to the right. Just eat your pie. There is plenty of pie for everyone."

starting | perfectionists

brian_a
Novice

May 24, 2006, 11:05 PM

Post #8 of 8 (887 views)
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Re: [Joel] Capturing LP in FCP [In reply to]	Can't Post

You may be on to something here, Joel. The tape was recorded using a Panasonic, but I'm capturing with a Canon.

Also, my only version of FCP is 5.1. I guess I could find an old copy of version 3 somewhere out there on the Internet, but hopefully I won't have this issue again.

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

Brian