capture VHS to FCP using Kona LHe

Digital timecode is not present in analog source material. I have an LHe but have only captured analog as component. 12 and 8 bit files are overkill for VHS. Get yourself an analog/digital convertor from Canopus and capture via FW.

Most VHS has NO timecode at all; digital or not. Anyway, the S-Video connection would provide the best quality ... but it would be even better if you run the analog signal trough a TBC prior to digitizing.

In FCP, make sure you set Device Control to "Non-Controllable Device."

-DH

I use the green bnc from the breakout cable of the Kona card and hook it into the composite output of the VHS deck. This will capture it as composite video, and I believe it carries the sound as well, but I could be wrong since I capture the sound through a mixing board that our VHS deck is running into. You have to tweak the settings in the kona card setup application to make it accept composite video. Check the manual for the how to if you get lost.

Thanks Brandon, I learned something about my LHe! So your mixer accepts the RCA stereo output from the VHS deck and outputs XLR to the LHe? How do the video and audio capture streams appear in FC? I have been using a Sony M25U to do the conversion and capture via FW. The audio and video are in sync but needs to be rendered (red line) for playback w/o the beep.

Yup, that's exactly how I do it. The XLR inputs go into the mixer and carry the audio to fcp, and the green component cable acts as a composite cable. The trick is in the setup. You have to use non controllable device as your capture settings, and then one of the AJA standard def setups for the video capture. I'm not in my system right now so I can't tell you which one I use, but I do remember having to go into the Kona Card setup application and telling it to use a composite signal from the analog input. The manual should have a section on capturing from VHS that should help you pick the right setup in FCP. I personally capture it as DVCPRO 50, since you're really not going to gain much using a higher resolution setting from a VHS source. And also, I'm pretty sure the composite signal will carry the audio as well, eliminating the need for the XLR input from the mixer, but since this isn't the way I do it I could be wrong. I would check the manual (which can be downloaded from the site if it's not handy) and it should sort it out for you.

Message was edited by: Brandon Parris

Everything else sounds good except the part where the Green BNC video connector (LHe Y/CVBS) might carry the audio as well. The ouput is generated by an analog VHS deck and I am sure the audio is not output through the composite (yellow) connector or SVHS, therefore the audio must be captured via the LHe XLR inputs. Now you need an impedience matching device to convert consumer line level (RCA) to pro level (XLR). One of the several I have, which works well, is made by Whirlwind. Or, use a mixing console as suggested by Brandon.

I actually hook the BNC connector into the coaxial composite output of the VHS, not the yellow composite output. The coaxial composite carries both audio and video, so In theory I think this will work, I've just never tested it. If you were going to connect the breakout cable to the yellow composite output, you would need a bnc to rca adapter for the breakout cable.

I like your thinking! I would hve never thought to connect BNC to coxial! My gut feeling is that the LHe will not detect and capture the audio from this stream. I am surprised the LHe recogizes the coxial video at all. I would check with AJA first. I got out (and dusted off) a VHS deck to give this a whirl, alas, no RCA to BNC in the house... off to Radio Shack.

I got back from the "shack" with all the connectors. It wasn't hard to setup and no, you can not capture audio from the coaxial to BNC (green). I had to use a RCA to XLR level convertor but everything captured and played OK!

Hope this solves your question! Good Luck!

Your analog VHS deck has a Yellow Red and White RCA connection for OUT. I purchased an RCA to BNC adapter for the composite video (Yellow) and connected directly to the Green (Y/CVBS In) on the LHe breakout cable. I connected the Red and White RCA audio out to a TecNec On The Level Hi to Low (OTL-1S) Audio Interface which converts an RCA line level to XLR level. There are many of these on the market, you could use just about anything, if you purchase a RCA to XLR adapter the level will be to low and unuseable (tried it). I opened the KONA Control Panel and adjusted the settings until I had a feed to my capture window on the Mac. The Kona will "read" the video input and tell you what signal it detects so just continue with those settings and set your audio to analog. In the FC capture settings make sure you select "non controllable device" and use the Kona capture setting from the Kona control panel. Viola, you got capture!

I have a Canopus Converter box that runs through Firewire. I've used it on my old Avid system and it worked fine. But when trying to connect it to FCP I get "Attempt to capture without a video device selected. Please select a video device in your capture presets and try again." I have input set to DV NTSC so this makes no sense. Any ideas?

Elias,

Rather than threadjack, post a new thread. Also, this is a common question, there are answers in the archives that can be found by searching.

When you start your new thread you may want to include what you've done to trouble shoot, things such as the capture settings, the device control settings that you've enabled, and so on.