robertfromroma

Q: FCPX skipping on tape import. Root cause analysis ?

Dear friends,

I have a Sony TRV-900E videocamera connected via FW800 to an iMac late 2009 with 16GB RAM, a 2,8 i7 quad core and a single original 1TB HDD with El Capitan.

 

When I import any of my miniDV tapes (which are from 2000 to 2012 approx and have been wound and rewound prior to capture and which have been mostly recorded in only one take on new Sony tapes and never reused) FCPX imports the footage in fragments of random size (from a few hundredK to 10-14MB) and frequently shows dropped frames and some audio distortion when imported into the timeline and replayed.

 

Tried creating archives first and then importing but the end result is the same.

 

What I cannot understand is that, at least seemingly, none of these "corruption" issues appears if I look/hear the tapes in the Sony videocamera itself !!!

 

I did try to use iMovie and same fragmentation occurs so I guess it's not related to FCPX sw itself.

 

Until now I was capturing on the iMac's 1TB HDD and now have tried to import on a 128GB SSD used in a USB enclosure (which is USB3 but if I'm not mistaken my iMacs USB ports are USB2). Same skipping occurs.

 

Maybe I need to setup the SSD in a different way and not only define it as the save directory for the imports?

 

If better ideas don't come to your mind the next tests I'll do are:

 

a) buy a NEW tape and try recording and importing from it. If this works it would indicate the older tapes are damaged but that would not explain why they seem good in the camera.

 

b) buy an head cleaning tape and carefully using it and see if the read/import would get better.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Message was edited by: robertfromroma. Added MacOS version. FCPX is 10.1

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), Late 2009, 16GB RAM, 2.8 GHz i7

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 5:40 AM

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Q: FCPX skipping on tape import. Root cause analysis ?

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  • by Tom Wolsky,Helpful

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 1, 2016 2:33 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 10 (118,338 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 1, 2016 2:33 AM in response to robertfromroma

    Try importing with the QuickTime player and see if you get the same results.

  • by robertfromroma,

    robertfromroma robertfromroma Sep 30, 2016 8:34 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Video
    Sep 30, 2016 8:34 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Hi there Tom,

    my guardian Angel ? :-) I'm very grateful.

     

    Launched QT and chose new movie recording from menu. Selected camera for both video and audio. Started camera and clicked record.

     

    See the video images and see the sound meter bars moving (but don't hear the audio).

     

    Around the audio bars I see 00:00 and zero KB which don't change.

     

    When I reclick the greyed out record button I get an error popup which says "Cannot record. Try recording again."

     

    :-(

     

    Quicktime player is 10.4 (855) with El Capitan

  • by Alchroma,Helpful

    Alchroma Alchroma Oct 1, 2016 2:33 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 6 (19,036 points)
    Video
    Oct 1, 2016 2:33 AM in response to robertfromroma

    After reading through the posts I'd be thinking about double checking your cables and sockets.

    Sounds more like an hardware issue.

     

    Al

  • by robertfromroma,

    robertfromroma robertfromroma Oct 1, 2016 2:33 AM in response to Alchroma
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Video
    Oct 1, 2016 2:33 AM in response to Alchroma

    Thank you Al. Just ordered a second new cable and hope that will make a difference.

     

    As per the Quicktime problem I had (see above) I did manage to capture by changing the "New movie recording" quality from the default High to Maximum (which is probably the source native). Unfortunately though QT just drops recording after a few seconds so again let's hope the new cable will be the solution.

  • by Alchroma,

    Alchroma Alchroma Oct 1, 2016 4:28 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 6 (19,036 points)
    Video
    Oct 1, 2016 4:28 AM in response to robertfromroma

    QuickTime X should record OK even id the timecode is flakey.

    Some firewire cables are not great for video capture, Rocketfish brand has a reputation for spotty results.

    BTW: Source Native is not available with QT X, QT 7Pro, yes.

     

    Al

  • by robertfromroma,

    robertfromroma robertfromroma Oct 1, 2016 8:41 AM in response to Alchroma
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Video
    Oct 1, 2016 8:41 AM in response to Alchroma

    Thanks Al.

     

    FWIW I even tried with QT7 (without realizing I had it installed alongside QT X) and also that aborts after a few seconds this time with a "Recording stopped because the format of the source media changed" - Media of the different formats cannot be recorded to the same file ...

    Go guess I'm waiting for the new cable with fingers crossed.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 1, 2016 8:44 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 10 (118,338 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 1, 2016 8:44 AM in response to robertfromroma

    Do you have different formats or record settings on the tape?

  • by robertfromroma,

    robertfromroma robertfromroma Oct 2, 2016 2:08 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Video
    Oct 2, 2016 2:08 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Nope Sir.

    The miniDV tape giving the error is a one uninterrupted take on the same Sony camera on a new tape so I guess (hope) that's due to a flakey cable/contact ... will report when I get the new cable.

    Thanks a lot.

  • by ChiralChris,

    ChiralChris ChiralChris Oct 2, 2016 4:04 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Video
    Oct 2, 2016 4:04 AM in response to robertfromroma

    Does it drop the exact same frames each time you try to import the video?  If it does, it's not the cable.

  • by ChiralChris,

    ChiralChris ChiralChris Oct 2, 2016 4:10 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Video
    Oct 2, 2016 4:10 AM in response to robertfromroma

    I realize you use sony tapes.  I've only used sony tapes due to the different lubrications used in other brands like panasonic, memorex, sony, issue that can cause lubrication build up problems with the heads since I bought mine from the beginning.

  • by ChiralChris,

    ChiralChris ChiralChris Oct 2, 2016 4:35 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Video
    Oct 2, 2016 4:35 AM in response to robertfromroma

    The firewire input on the trv900 is known to be fragile and break easily.  Why don't you shoot using a new tape on your trv900, and play it back using the RCA red white and yellow outputs, run it to your television.  If everything is fine, it's not the heads, or tape mechanism defect, it's probably the socket on the trv900 (known to break easily), or you have to send it in for repair, an issue with the hardware, electronic circuitry.

  • by ChiralChris,

    ChiralChris ChiralChris Oct 2, 2016 4:42 AM in response to ChiralChris
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Video
    Oct 2, 2016 4:42 AM in response to ChiralChris

    Sometimes with minidv, the camera that recorded it plays it back fine, but try playing that same exact tape on a canon xl1 and you run into problems.  Welcome to mindv, the trv900 was a classic, but this is how it is with minidv sometimes.   

  • by ChiralChris,

    ChiralChris ChiralChris Oct 2, 2016 5:00 AM in response to robertfromroma
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Video
    Oct 2, 2016 5:00 AM in response to robertfromroma

    You have a simple task if you think it's the firewire cable.  Test the cable, hook it up to something else and see if it works.  If it works, it's not the cable.  Think of that at all?  It's most likely not the cable, the camera is 18 years old, time for repairs, mini dv are delicate.

  • by robertfromroma,

    robertfromroma robertfromroma Oct 2, 2016 10:15 AM in response to ChiralChris
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Video
    Oct 2, 2016 10:15 AM in response to ChiralChris

    Thank you Chris. You bring up all good points.

    I bought a new different cable and some new Sony miniDV tapes and am going to experiment with both to pinpoint the cause.

    If it's not the cable, then as you say most probably it's the "iLink" port on the camera.

    In that case I need to understand if it would be best to service the camera or to buy any other new one as cheap as possible just with a Firewire port.

    Another idea would be using a service and see if they can dump one of the tapes without glitches (I need to understand if they understand enough to dump the original stream without encoding).

    I just want to acquire those tapes to files and don't plan on using that camera anymore in the future.

    My future video needs (just family stuff) are covered by my Canon 5D and Sony RX1R :-)

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