Using Card Files and Final Cut Pro (v6) ... at DVinfo.net

Stuart McAlister · February 7th, 2009, 01:44 AM

Dear All,

One of the reasons I bought this fab machine was to shoot on card and (almost) say goodbye to tape.

So, I bought a Lexar UDMA card reader and a 16G Lexar card. Once all my footage had been 'logged and transferred' I set about editing my sequences.

The set-up in FCP was as follows:

Easy Set-Up
PAL
DV Pal Firewire basic

Sequence Preset: DV Pal 48k
Capture Preset: DV Pal 48k

I edited a few minutes worth and then tried to re-record back onto the camera for playout (the playout position does not have any firewire inputs, so tape replay it has to be).

FCP kept stalling telling me it was dropping frames and no image appeared on the Z7 screen.

I then recaptured all my footage off tape, did a further test edit and re-capture to tape and all was well.

Racking my brains but I can't find what I'm doing wrong with the card files and why they work straight out of the box? I should add that when I slide them into the timeline I have to render them (the red line appears above them all). The sequence preset is fine as it's 48k DV PAL - or is it?

Hoping you can help out!

Stu

Jonathan Richards · February 7th, 2009, 02:14 PM

I've never tried writing an edit back to a card or tape with my Z7.

I generally use my A1 as a deck for this kind of stuff!

Are you letting FCP determine the sequence settings when you drag the first clip onto the timeline?

Greg Laves · February 7th, 2009, 11:14 PM

I don't have FCP. I use Premier Pro CS3. But I have easily been able to record in HDV mode back to tape. I had the camera connected through the firewire, selected the timeline and clicked "Export to Tape" and bingo. It was done in a few minutes. The Z7 is capable so the issue must be in the settings on FCP. Actually, I really would have liked to take it out to the MRC1 but that wouldn't work.

Stuart McAlister · February 8th, 2009, 06:28 AM

Dear Jonathan and Greg,

The problem I have is not writing back onto the Z7 and certainly not onto the card (the firewire cable cannot be connected with the card recorder attached to the Z7).

Greg, FCP works just like your system with 'Print to Video' being our option.

It is simply the fact that I record DV onto the card, import into DCP using 'Log and Transfer'. Assuming that the files on the card are straight forward DV, then once they are in the system, selecting DV Pal 48k for both the Capture and Sequence presets would seem the obvious thing to do.

However, once the files are transferred from the scratch disk (that's were we FCP users store recently uploaded files) and then imported into the Timeline, they immediately need to be rendered and will not export using the 'Print to Video' function.

The Z7 is set to shoot 4:3 PAL - and on the card - so what are the files on the card? Real DV or something else?

February 7th, 2009, 01:44 AM	#1
Stuart McAlister Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Paris Posts: 71	Using Card Files and Final Cut Pro (v6) ... Dear All, One of the reasons I bought this fab machine was to shoot on card and (almost) say goodbye to tape. So, I bought a Lexar UDMA card reader and a 16G Lexar card. Once all my footage had been 'logged and transferred' I set about editing my sequences. The set-up in FCP was as follows: Easy Set-Up PAL DV Pal Firewire basic Sequence Preset: DV Pal 48k Capture Preset: DV Pal 48k I edited a few minutes worth and then tried to re-record back onto the camera for playout (the playout position does not have any firewire inputs, so tape replay it has to be). FCP kept stalling telling me it was dropping frames and no image appeared on the Z7 screen. I then recaptured all my footage off tape, did a further test edit and re-capture to tape and all was well. Racking my brains but I can't find what I'm doing wrong with the card files and why they work straight out of the box? I should add that when I slide them into the timeline I have to render them (the red line appears above them all). The sequence preset is fine as it's 48k DV PAL - or is it? Hoping you can help out! Stu

February 7th, 2009, 02:14 PM	#2
Jonathan Richards Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 107	I've never tried writing an edit back to a card or tape with my Z7. I generally use my A1 as a deck for this kind of stuff! Are you letting FCP determine the sequence settings when you drag the first clip onto the timeline? __________________ Jonathan Richards -- Cameraman, Editor, Motion Graphic Artist Mobile +44(0)7939 512215 mail@jonathanrichards.tv

February 7th, 2009, 11:14 PM	#3
Greg Laves Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Corpus Christi, TX Posts: 640	I don't have FCP. I use Premier Pro CS3. But I have easily been able to record in HDV mode back to tape. I had the camera connected through the firewire, selected the timeline and clicked "Export to Tape" and bingo. It was done in a few minutes. The Z7 is capable so the issue must be in the settings on FCP. Actually, I really would have liked to take it out to the MRC1 but that wouldn't work.

February 8th, 2009, 06:28 AM	#4
Stuart McAlister Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Paris Posts: 71	Dear Jonathan and Greg, The problem I have is not writing back onto the Z7 and certainly not onto the card (the firewire cable cannot be connected with the card recorder attached to the Z7). Greg, FCP works just like your system with 'Print to Video' being our option. It is simply the fact that I record DV onto the card, import into DCP using 'Log and Transfer'. Assuming that the files on the card are straight forward DV, then once they are in the system, selecting DV Pal 48k for both the Capture and Sequence presets would seem the obvious thing to do. However, once the files are transferred from the scratch disk (that's were we FCP users store recently uploaded files) and then imported into the Timeline, they immediately need to be rendered and will not export using the 'Print to Video' function. The Z7 is set to shoot 4:3 PAL - and on the card - so what are the files on the card? Real DV or something else?