Newbie HD Capture Question in CS3 at DVinfo.net

Craig Lieberman · February 19th, 2008, 04:32 PM

Sorry for this remedial question.

I've spent days on this forum and have learned alot.

I just bought CS3 and have learned how to import HDV tape....turns out I had to go into the VCR/Play mode of the camera and turn OFF the Downconvert option.

Now, when I import from tape to CS3, on the monitor, it does not play what I'm capturing...it only plays the picture on the XHA1 screen. I imagine that's an SDI capture card issue, because I have a PC with Windows XP SP2 and no third party capture card.

I can live with that, unless someone has a remedy.

What concerns me is that all of my DV files in the current project are .avi files and all the HD files are MPEG.

Will I have any issues when I output the whole lot using an H264 codec (client wants MP4 files)?

Tripp Woelfel · February 19th, 2008, 08:28 PM

It won't play in the capture window while it's capturing. Why? Dunno. It's just the way it works.

You should not have any problem outputting in H.264. I'm doing straight HDV and have done a couple of short (<10 min) projects to H.264 without any problems.

Craig Lieberman · February 19th, 2008, 08:59 PM

Thank you, Tripp. In short, sounds like I do in fact need and SDI capture card.

All of my videos are 6 mins or less, so your input makes me feel better....although today, while capturing about 10 clips, each about 15 seconds, to my 500GB hard drive, it suddenly gave me an error saying I was out of disc space!!! Weird...it's writing to the correct internal 500GB hard drive and I have 450GB of space left. Hmmm.

Rich Hawkinson · February 20th, 2008, 01:03 AM

Craig,

CS3 doesnt playback video as it 'captures' in order to save resources to capture video without dropping frames. Or are you saying that it doesnt play back at all on the computer? Also, is your external HD formatted to NTSF (as opposed to Fat32?) Fat32 drives only allow a file size up to 4gb's (HD files can easily grow larger than 4gb).

-Rich

Jiri Fiala · February 20th, 2008, 06:38 AM

"Saving resources" when capturing is lame excuse from Adobe - Premiere is the only pro-level NLE that doesn't preview HDV while capturing. Premiere is colossally lacking in some areas, and while I like editing with it, Adobe shouldn't be able to get away with it as it is now.

Tripp Woelfel · February 20th, 2008, 08:25 AM

Craig, not sure if that will solve that issue, but I'm no expert on this. If I want to see the video while capturing, I output from the camera to the HDTV monitor. Since I log footage, then do a batch tape capture not being able to see the footage in a PP window is not an issue for me.

Jiri, yeah... seems silly. I'm with you on PP. I've been using it for over a decade and have used other systems but I just like the way it works so I stick with it. But, I keep running into things that make me wonder if Adobe is developing an integrated suite of contemporary products or simply herding cats.

Craig Lieberman · February 20th, 2008, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich Hawkinson

Craig,

CS3 doesnt playback video as it 'captures' in order to save resources to capture video without dropping frames. Or are you saying that it doesnt play back at all on the computer? Also, is your external HD formatted to NTSF (as opposed to Fat32?) Fat32 drives only allow a file size up to 4gb's (HD files can easily grow larger than 4gb).

-Rich

I see...it doesn't playback at all then, even with an SDI capture card? Ugh.

To be clear, The video does playback fine...after it's been captured and dropped on my timeline.

All my drives are NTSF formatted....I learned that awhile ago, the hard way. Before installing CS3, I had to reformat my C drive, reinstall XP and basically, start afresh. I installed a new D drive (500GB) the next day and now that everything's running, I've been working on ironing out kinks.

One huge thing was I spent two days capturing footage only to find my Canon's downcovert button was on...I captured DV NOT HDV. Ugh.

Thanks to this forum, I'm learning albeit on a steep curve.

February 19th, 2008, 04:32 PM	#1
Craig Lieberman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ladera Ranch, California Posts: 115	Newbie HD Capture Question in CS3 Sorry for this remedial question. I've spent days on this forum and have learned alot. I just bought CS3 and have learned how to import HDV tape....turns out I had to go into the VCR/Play mode of the camera and turn OFF the Downconvert option. Now, when I import from tape to CS3, on the monitor, it does not play what I'm capturing...it only plays the picture on the XHA1 screen. I imagine that's an SDI capture card issue, because I have a PC with Windows XP SP2 and no third party capture card. I can live with that, unless someone has a remedy. What concerns me is that all of my DV files in the current project are .avi files and all the HD files are MPEG. Will I have any issues when I output the whole lot using an H264 codec (client wants MP4 files)?

February 19th, 2008, 08:28 PM	#2
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	It won't play in the capture window while it's capturing. Why? Dunno. It's just the way it works. You should not have any problem outputting in H.264. I'm doing straight HDV and have done a couple of short (<10 min) projects to H.264 without any problems.

February 19th, 2008, 08:59 PM	#3
Craig Lieberman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ladera Ranch, California Posts: 115	Thank you, Tripp. In short, sounds like I do in fact need and SDI capture card. All of my videos are 6 mins or less, so your input makes me feel better....although today, while capturing about 10 clips, each about 15 seconds, to my 500GB hard drive, it suddenly gave me an error saying I was out of disc space!!! Weird...it's writing to the correct internal 500GB hard drive and I have 450GB of space left. Hmmm.

February 20th, 2008, 01:03 AM	#4
Rich Hawkinson New Boot Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 10	Craig, CS3 doesnt playback video as it 'captures' in order to save resources to capture video without dropping frames. Or are you saying that it doesnt play back at all on the computer? Also, is your external HD formatted to NTSF (as opposed to Fat32?) Fat32 drives only allow a file size up to 4gb's (HD files can easily grow larger than 4gb). -Rich

February 20th, 2008, 06:38 AM	#5
Jiri Fiala Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Brno Czech Republic Posts: 453	"Saving resources" when capturing is lame excuse from Adobe - Premiere is the only pro-level NLE that doesn't preview HDV while capturing. Premiere is colossally lacking in some areas, and while I like editing with it, Adobe shouldn't be able to get away with it as it is now.

February 20th, 2008, 08:25 AM	#6
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	Craig, not sure if that will solve that issue, but I'm no expert on this. If I want to see the video while capturing, I output from the camera to the HDTV monitor. Since I log footage, then do a batch tape capture not being able to see the footage in a PP window is not an issue for me. Jiri, yeah... seems silly. I'm with you on PP. I've been using it for over a decade and have used other systems but I just like the way it works so I stick with it. But, I keep running into things that make me wonder if Adobe is developing an integrated suite of contemporary products or simply herding cats.