Background Tasks Hang on DV import

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Level 1

8 points

Background Tasks Hang on DV import

I"m a FCPX noob. I am importing several old DV tapes from a Sony TRV900. They seem to import fine, but background tasks never complete, or even start. For instance, right now Transcoding and Analysis has five clips it claims to be analyzing, but they have all been at 0% for 20 minutes. Earlier, I imported some other tapes, but the audio analysis hung. In that case, I left the system running all night, not knowing how long such a process takes. But there was never any progress, so I killed them the next morning. I've disabled audio analysis but I still have Transcoding for Optimized Media and Analyze for Color Balance selected. Imports seem fine, but I cannot tell whether there has been any correction to either audio or video. I'd like some improvement, as these are old tapes.

I'm importing to a USB 3.0 hard drive. My MBP drive is an SSD. The Sony is connected via Firewire. But as near as I can tell, the hang is post-import.

Any suggestions/ideas?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4), 2.3 GHZ Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM

Posted on Jun 28, 2013 7:31 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ian R. Brown

Level 7

21,072 points

Jun 28, 2013 10:57 AM in response to BobFromIN

DV tapes do not need transcoding or optimising.

In fact you can't optimise them as DV is already an optimal format, the same as HDV tape.

It's only highly compressed formats such as AVCHD that can be optimised.

I have never used any of the analysis settings.

I would just import the DV tapes and the only thing that should be switched on is copy to Events folder. Turn off everything else.

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Answer 2

BobFromIN Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 16, 2013 11:22 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Thank you for your very helpful explanation (nice bike, by the way). I have taken your suggestion and turned off all of the setting except for Copy to Events. However, there still seems to be some post-import processing that is going on, and it does not ever complete. In particular, Transcoding and Analysis and Rendering run forever (or at least for the 18 hours that I left my machine on after importing about 2 hours of tape). I can cancel these tasks with no apparent affect on the clips--at least none that I can see. Does this make sense to you?

My larger question is: is there anything I can do to increase the quality (sharpness, color saturation, exposure, etc.) to clips that started life 15 years ago as 8mm, Hi8, and DV video? I guess I'm groping around for a plugin or something that might noticeably improve the video (and audio, although that's less critical) at a reasonable cost. I suspect the answer is "no", but I am grateful for your counsel.

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Answer 3

Jul 16, 2013 12:52 PM in response to BobFromIN

I've no idea why those background taks are running for so long and it should be OK to switch them off.

There is no need to spend any more cash on plugins as you will find filters to alter the brightness, contrast, hue and colour saturation in the Basics group of effects.

A sharpness filter can be found in the Blur section.

FCP X also has it's own complex pro colour-correction window and tools together with dozens of audio filters.

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