Cannot capture video in any PAL Modes!

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Cannot capture video in any PAL Modes!

Hey everyone,

I recently came back from Israel and I have some footage that was taken in PAL. Being that I am from the US, I use NTSC and have no problem capturing that footage.

But I have tried to capture the PAL footage and Final Cut Express HD will not let me. I have chosen each of the four "Easy Setup" options for PAL but none of them seem to work. FCE still recognizes the camera as my VTR device and still allows me to control the device from the program. But when I hit play, the video does not show up in the preview window, and so when I try to capture the footage, FCE brings up an error message saying that "the footage was unable to be captured as there is no video."

Anyone have a similar experience? How do I deal with this? Do I need to upgrade to Final Cut Pro???

Jared

PowerBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 28, 2007 9:29 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 28, 2007 9:32 AM in response to dubs RS

You have given no information about what you are doing or the equipment you are using.

Without detailed info nobody can help you.

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Answer 2

dubs RS Author

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Jul 28, 2007 9:33 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

I wrote an entire paragraph of information and it just deleted it all. Hence the three posts. >=|

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Answer 3

dubs RS Author

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Jul 28, 2007 9:34 AM in response to dubs RS

I'll try again. I recently came back from Israel and I have some footage that was taken in PAL. Being that I am from the US, I use NTSC and have no problem capturing that footage. But I have tried to capture the PAL footage and Final Cut Express HD will not let me. I have chosen each of the four "Easy Setup" options for PAL but none of them seem to work. FCE still recognizes the camera as my VTR device and still allows me to control the device from the program. But when I hit play, the video does not show up in the preview window, and so when I try to capture the footage, FCE brings up an error message saying that "the footage was unable to be captured as there is no video." Anyone have a similar experience? How do I deal with this? Do I need to upgrade to Final Cut Pro???

Jared

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Answer 4

Jul 28, 2007 9:38 AM in response to dubs RS

The one thing that is certain is that changing to FCP would be a complete waste of time and money.

If you have taken the video correctly and have set up FCE properly there should be no problem.

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Answer 5

Jul 28, 2007 9:42 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Are you sure you are at the beginning of the tape?

I once tried to capture from the end!

Are you playing the tape back in the PAL camera that shot it?

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Answer 6

Tom Wolsky

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Jul 28, 2007 9:41 AM in response to dubs RS

Are you using a PAL camera, or an NTSC camera when you capture? You have to capture from a PAL device.

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Answer 7

dubs RS Author

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Jul 28, 2007 9:47 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

I'm using a cheap Sony HandyCam from America so I guess its in NTSC. Is that an issue.

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Answer 8

Tom Wolsky

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152,809 points

Jul 28, 2007 9:57 AM in response to dubs RS

Absolutely. It will play back NTSC, but not PAL. When you play the material back what do you see in the viewscreen or viewfinder?

Message was edited by: Tom Wolsky

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Answer 9

dubs RS Author

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Jul 28, 2007 10:04 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

The video plays fine on my handycam. It just has the PAL symbol in the top left corner of the screen. On FCP, it doesn't show any video.

I also have a Canon XL2. Would that help in terms of playback/capture?

Jared

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Answer 10

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Jul 28, 2007 10:10 AM in response to dubs RS

Probably not. You could try capture in NTSC and see if it will work, but the frame rate's wrong so it probably won't work. If you connect your camera through the AV cables to a monitor or TV set hat do you get?

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Answer 11

dubs RS Author

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Jul 28, 2007 10:50 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Haven't tried it yet. I can tell you that it plays back fine on my HandyCam. I just spoke with the filmmaker i've been in contact with in Israel and he recommended I buy a converter wire to hook up my laptop to a DVD player. He explained that this would allow me to take the footage off of there easily.

Is this possible? Feasable?

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