FCP dropping frames/seconds

[Burt Holland]

I am having trouble digitizing footage shot on my HD100. During capture the system is contantly dropping 4-5 seconds worth of footage. It doesn't stop and go back, just keeps rolling and starts a new clip 4-5 seconds down the tape. The log and capture window says "locating timecode" during these drops. The drops most often occur near start/stops in the tape, the start new clip on start/stop is not checked however.

I have had this trouble playing back both from the camera and from the HD50 deck. My drives are more than fast enough, a SATA RAID running 100 mbps and an X-serve running 120 mbps. I am on a G5 dual 2.5, FCP 5.0.4. I am using HDV 720p 30 Easy Setup.

This problem doesn't occur when the camera doesn't start and stop. The timecode on the camera isn't jumping. Is this a camera issue or am i doing something wrong? All is fine in DV. Any suggestions?

[Carl Hicks]

Hi Burt,

Is your camera an "A" version? You can tell by looking under the shoulder pad, by the serial number. Is there a little "A" sticker?

The problem you describe was corrected in the "A" versions of the camera. If you don't have an "A" version, then you can get it upgraded by JVC for free. See this website for details:

http://pro.jvc.com/pro/special/HD100...00upgrade.html

Regards, Carl

[Burt Holland]

Thanks Carl, that seems to be it.

[Burt Holland]

Question now is, what should I do with this footage? If I dump camera to deck in HDV, will I still get this issue?

[Andrew Young]

Originally Posted by Burt Holland

Question now is, what should I do with this footage? If I dump camera to deck in HDV, will I still get this issue?

Hi Burt,

I've talked to several people that have had the problem you are describing. According to JVC it is a problem that is addressed in the A upgrade. They also told me that simply cloning the footage from camera to deck will not resolve the problem. The following is a workaround that Edgar Shane at JVC suggested for footage with this problem:

Capture it to an Adobe Premiere system with the main concept plugin. Play it back out to tape. The new tape will no longer have the problem.

The following are two other methods that may work (none of this is fun).

1) Capture the footage using DVHScap or HDVxDV and then transcode it to another codec such as AIC or DVCProHD using HDVxDV or MPEG Streamclip. Edit the footage in the new codec. AIC will maintain your original quality but will take up about three times the disk space.

2) Capture from the BR50 deck via component out to a system with a Kona LH card (or Blackmagic with an analogue to HDSDI converter). Use the RS-422 connection for timecode.

Basically, any method that does not rely on the mpeg timecode has a chance of working. But the above 3 are the only ones that presently come to mind. Good luck.