frozen video/no audio

[Sharon Lawler]

Help. I have used the "capture now" in FCP HD to capture from a VHS tape.

I even color-corrected it.

Now, when I move the playhead in the timeline, the playhead moves, but I get no audio, and a black screen. When I load the clip into the viewer, the playhead will show me still screens of where it originates from, but will not play the video. Again, no audio.

Any thoughts on what I can do to fix this?

[Jeff Donald]

At the top of the forum the first post contains instructions for deleting FCP preference files. Try that and see if it helps. If not post back and I may have some other suggestions.

[Boyd Ostroff]

There's a bug in FCP3 (and I gather that it persists in FCP4) that has to do with the size of the canvas window. If you set the size to 100% sometimes you get a blank screen. The fix is simple, select the option "fit to window" from the drop-down menu above the canvas. I have no idea if this also is a problem in FCP HD but it might be worth a try...

[Sharon Lawler]

I have done the "repair permissions" and trashed the preferences, but neither worked. Still have same problem. Ideas welcome.

BTW: Working on G4, in OS X, Version 10.3.4, with 800 Mhz and 512 MB ram. FCP HD.

[Jeff Donald]

Will the clip open and play normally in QuickTime?

[Sharon Lawler]

Okay, I got the clip to open (and PLAY!) in Quicktime. But there is no audio.

Next thought?

[Jeff Donald]

Try re-importing the clip into FCP, or just drag it to the timeline. You may not have captured audio with the clip. How did you capture the VHS clip?

[Sharon Lawler]

Okay, since I started this thread, I just hooked up a Panasonic AG-DV2500 deck. I also have my VHS machine (my source material was VHS) attached to a Sony Media Converter, and here's the setup:

I'm taking the S-Video signal from the VHS deck, into the Media Converter, choosing "Analog in". The media converter is daisy chained into my two external hard drives, which then are run via firewire into the G4. Now, I also have the AG-DV2500 hooked directly into the computer. So the computer has two sources that it could capture from, right? The media converter's signal, or the DV signal daisy chained through the external drives.

So, I tried to recapture the clip from the VHS deck, using the "Capture Now" function. I get the message that says "The operation could not be completed as there is no video."

So, whaddya think? And thanks so much for all of your help thus far. It's really nice of you to take the time to respond.

[Boyd Ostroff]

You don't mention how you're capturing audio. You are aware that s-video doesn't contain any audio, right? You sort of lost me with the other stuff, when you say the DV2500 is "hooked directly into the computer" does that mean via firewire? Does it make any difference if you unplug it and just use the media converter? It sounds like you have several completely different problems here (a known-good clip refusing to play, lack of audio, and capture issues).

Have you contacted Apple's tech support about these problems? The FCP forum at apple.com is also another good troubleshooting resource.

[Jeff Donald]

Unplug the Panasonic Deck and plug the media convertor directly into the FireWire input. In the capture preferences select uncontrolled device. You will need to send video and audio into the Sony convertor. Try a short capture now clip and see if FCP can playback the new clip.

[Sharon Lawler]

Finally! Got it working. I turned off the power to the Panasonic deck, plugged the media converter directly into the G$ via firewire, and hooked up the RCA cables, rather than the S-Video. Everything is now captured, and playing back as it should. Thanks so much for all of your help!

Looks like I'll need to get an additional firewire card in order to plug in both the panasonic deck as well as my external drives, since I need the external drives to be plugged in as well, and ideally want to stop this re-cabling everytime I need to do something.

Thanks again!