Canon XL & XH 24F, 25F, 30F capture in FCP / FCE

Jeremy Naus · July 19th, 2007, 01:25 PM

What I now did was: press play in the log and capture window, next I pressed 'Now' and it seems to work. But the problem with this approach is that I loose the first couple of seconds of the tape. For this tape it's not bad but I'd like to have the capture start the tape itself and capture immediately.
In iMovie I just pressed 'Import' and the program started the play itself.

I assume there must be a way to have that in FCP too?

But thanks already for the hint, I already have 'a' way to capture footage :-)

Henrik Reach · July 19th, 2007, 02:33 PM

I use the way I just said, and if I'm quick to press "Now" after play, I don't loose the start of the tape. Is it possible for you to press "Now", and then press play on the camcorder itself instead?

I was used to working with DV, so I have always logged every clip and then batch-captured it, but with HDV I get timecode breaks all the time, so the capture now-method, which automatically divides the footage into separate clips (if I want to) seems to work better. At least since I have enough HD-space.

Jeremy Naus · July 20th, 2007, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henrik Reach

Is it possible for you to press "Now", and then press play on the camcorder itself instead?

When the camera is connected I can't control the tapes using the camera itself.
So I'll try to be quick with the "play" and "now" button.
Just also saw a tutorial that explained a bit how the "log and capture" works. A learned alot from it :-)
I'm still amazed how well the footage looks, the shots I'm capturing now was of a music concert and the footage looks like how I saw it with my own eyes :-)
I'm only a bit saddened by the sound, when the bhodran starts playing it ruins the sound, since the bhodran was very loud in contrast with the rest. I'll see if the sound editor can do something to fix it.

Lloyd Choi · July 20th, 2007, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy Naus

When the camera is connected I can't control the tapes using the camera itself.
So I'll try to be quick with the "play" and "now" button.
Just also saw a tutorial that explained a bit how the "log and capture" works. A learned alot from it :-)
I'm still amazed how well the footage looks, the shots I'm capturing now was of a music concert and the footage looks like how I saw it with my own eyes :-)
I'm only a bit saddened by the sound, when the bhodran starts playing it ruins the sound, since the bhodran was very loud in contrast with the rest. I'll see if the sound editor can do something to fix it.

In the future, lower the volume on the mic input. Make sure there's only one red thingy on the levels so it doesn't spike :)

I learned the hardway when I thought my mic's were broken on my DVX, and found that those vlume wheels were set to 0.

Heath McKnight · September 25th, 2007, 04:00 PM

New question: Nick, in FCP 6 (or 5.1.x), are you capturing in 1080p24 and seeing the pulldown removed so you get true 24p?

Thanks,

Heath

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Weeks

On FCP, make sure your device control is set to HDV and your sequence preset is set to HDV 1080 60i or 24p to capture. I've captured footage today that was shot at both 1080i60 and 1080p24 and it works great with FCP.

What settings are you using now? go to FCP menu > audio/video settings

EDIT - I just checked my FCP and forgot I made a custom device control preset for the A1 when shooting 1080 24F. Here are the settings:

Protocol: HDV FireWire
Time Source: DV Time
Frame Rate: 24

My capture preset is 'HDV' and my sequence preset is 'HDV - 1080p24'. When I capture 60i I use the device control 'HDV FireWire' and the sequence preset 'HDV - 1080i60'... and have no trouble. Hope this helps

Simon Frances · October 6th, 2007, 04:54 AM

Hi,

I’ve shoot some footage using 25F on the Canon XH-A1, not realizing I wanted to show it in slow motion, is there a way to get some good slow motion out of it?

Thanks in advance,

Daniel Ross · October 6th, 2007, 12:37 PM

Using a compositing application and a plugin, such as Kronos* or Twixtor, you can attempt this. [*The algorithm for Kronos is now built into the default time remapping in After Effects.]
I assume 25F means 25p, so you don't have the option of separating the fields, which could be helpful as well.
There is a limit to how much you can stretch your footage, and that's all that can be said about it.
One other thing to consider is using a motion blur filter, like directional blur [wouldn't expect great results], or ReelSmart:Motion Blur [same company as Twixtor] to add something more dynamic to the frames. It might help hide some of this. With RS:MB you can actually remove the blur as well, which might help some of the processing. Adding it in, though, could hide some of the effect. So, perhaps, remove it at first, then add it back in once slowed down? Hard to say, really.

Using FCP [and other similar options] will give you worse results because it just has frame blending. You'll see a strange strobing effect. It won't be awful, but it won't be great either.

The only other possibility would be using VERY complex and time intensive effects in a compositing application to separate individual aspects of the image and manually interpolate the frames. This might be an option, but only on some shots, and it is probably just way too much work.

This all depends on how much slow motion you need, too. It's not that hard to fake 50%. It gets harder to fake it by each degree of 2. It also may turn out that factors of 100 [50/25/12.5] may work better than random number [like 30%].

If you post the clip or a still, I could try to be a bit more specific.

You must remember, though, that this desired temporal resolution (time data) is just like upscaling SD footage to HD. There's only so much you can do and it likely won't turn out that well if you push it too much.

Simon Frances · October 7th, 2007, 02:10 AM

Hi Daniel,

Thank you for your detailed reply. As I’m a newbie to FCP and NLE as a whole, I’ve decided to let a friend of mine do it as I believe he has Twixtor.

I need to spend time learning FCP and AE and stop trying to wing it :)

Thanks again,

Simon

Robert Morane · February 8th, 2008, 06:47 PM

Can I capture and edit canon 30F using FCE 3.5?

Chris Harris · February 8th, 2008, 08:03 PM

Yes, it's carried in the regular 60i stream.

Robert Morane · February 9th, 2008, 03:08 PM

Thanks. Will shooting 30F and editing that way will make a significant positive difference?

October 6th, 2007, 04:54 AM	#141
Simon Frances Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 58	Slow Motion from Canon XH-A1 25F Hi, I’ve shoot some footage using 25F on the Canon XH-A1, not realizing I wanted to show it in slow motion, is there a way to get some good slow motion out of it? Thanks in advance,

February 8th, 2008, 06:47 PM	#144
Robert Morane Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 267	Canon 30F with FCE Can I capture and edit canon 30F using FCE 3.5?

July 19th, 2007, 01:25 PM	#136
Jeremy Naus Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Antwerpen, Belgium Posts: 60	What I now did was: press play in the log and capture window, next I pressed 'Now' and it seems to work. But the problem with this approach is that I loose the first couple of seconds of the tape. For this tape it's not bad but I'd like to have the capture start the tape itself and capture immediately. In iMovie I just pressed 'Import' and the program started the play itself. I assume there must be a way to have that in FCP too? But thanks already for the hint, I already have 'a' way to capture footage :-)

July 19th, 2007, 02:33 PM	#137
Henrik Reach Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Halden Posts: 106	I use the way I just said, and if I'm quick to press "Now" after play, I don't loose the start of the tape. Is it possible for you to press "Now", and then press play on the camcorder itself instead? I was used to working with DV, so I have always logged every clip and then batch-captured it, but with HDV I get timecode breaks all the time, so the capture now-method, which automatically divides the footage into separate clips (if I want to) seems to work better. At least since I have enough HD-space.

October 6th, 2007, 12:37 PM	#142
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	Using a compositing application and a plugin, such as Kronos* or Twixtor, you can attempt this. [*The algorithm for Kronos is now built into the default time remapping in After Effects.] I assume 25F means 25p, so you don't have the option of separating the fields, which could be helpful as well. There is a limit to how much you can stretch your footage, and that's all that can be said about it. One other thing to consider is using a motion blur filter, like directional blur [wouldn't expect great results], or ReelSmart:Motion Blur [same company as Twixtor] to add something more dynamic to the frames. It might help hide some of this. With RS:MB you can actually remove the blur as well, which might help some of the processing. Adding it in, though, could hide some of the effect. So, perhaps, remove it at first, then add it back in once slowed down? Hard to say, really. Using FCP [and other similar options] will give you worse results because it just has frame blending. You'll see a strange strobing effect. It won't be awful, but it won't be great either. The only other possibility would be using VERY complex and time intensive effects in a compositing application to separate individual aspects of the image and manually interpolate the frames. This might be an option, but only on some shots, and it is probably just way too much work. This all depends on how much slow motion you need, too. It's not that hard to fake 50%. It gets harder to fake it by each degree of 2. It also may turn out that factors of 100 [50/25/12.5] may work better than random number [like 30%]. If you post the clip or a still, I could try to be a bit more specific. You must remember, though, that this desired temporal resolution (time data) is just like upscaling SD footage to HD. There's only so much you can do and it likely won't turn out that well if you push it too much.

October 7th, 2007, 02:10 AM	#143
Simon Frances Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 58	Hi Daniel, Thank you for your detailed reply. As I’m a newbie to FCP and NLE as a whole, I’ve decided to let a friend of mine do it as I believe he has Twixtor. I need to spend time learning FCP and AE and stop trying to wing it :) Thanks again, Simon

February 8th, 2008, 08:03 PM	#145
Chris Harris Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 487	Yes, it's carried in the regular 60i stream.

February 9th, 2008, 03:08 PM	#146
Robert Morane Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 267	Thanks. Will shooting 30F and editing that way will make a significant positive difference?