TCG AND USRE BITS HELP!!! ME PLEASE.. please help!!!!

B

bodytemple

Member
I'm new here so i don't know if this was asked already but my DVX100a, which i had for a while now is giving me problems ever since I put the letus adapter on it.

My main problem which also happen to be a really big one to me is that i cant get my time code {TCG} to be recognize by my editing software , i'm using sony vegas, when i first got the camera everything was fine but just of late it seems to be acting odd.

This is the camera setting i'm using:
scene file 5 {24P}
my recording setup is:
TC MODE - DF {WHICH IS IN BLUE}
TCG - REC RUN
FIRST REC TC - PRESET
UB MODE - TCG
UB PRESET - BLANK { DASHES IN BLUE}


Now the thing is when ever i shoot and go into my edit one its in user bit mode so there is no tc for the software to grab, so all my clips comes out as on big take, which with the tcg breaks or the tcg in effect it would break up the clips so the computer to grab.. now i tried changing the setting and i tried looking it up in the book, which it really don't tell you anything..

now i'm not a dumb dude but if you could anyone give me a step by step walk through to fix this problem...cause its really kicking my ass on the edit side of things

SOMEONE PLEASE ANYONE HELP ME,
I DONT WANT TO RESET THE CAMERA IF I DON'T HAVE TO BUT AT THIS POINT I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.
 
DVX: Side of the camera. Under the LCD flip-out. Button labeled "counter." Use it to scroll back to TC display.
 
Done that

Done that

Hey thanks but i done that, that just changes the display, it dont change its out and on going function.

Also the time display that is suppose to be displayed should read>
tcg..........

But thanks alot .

Anyone else can help
 
bodytemple said:
But thanks alot .

Anyone else can help
Click to expand...

Just because my first answer didn't work doesn't mean that's all I have to offer. Thanks for writing me off.

With the camera in VTR mode, go to Menu>Recording Setup and scroll to the second page. See if "1394 UB REGEN" is on. If so, turn it off. Set "UB MODE" to USER.

If that doesn't work, we'll try something else.
 
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C2v, dude i'm sorry

i didnt mean to come off like i was writing you off...
I'm not a dick .... I'm just stressed cause i make a living off this camera and now its acting up... Its my only source of income and if it goes the i'm back at one...

I have the camera right in front of me i'm going through the settings that you said, i will also be running a test just to see how the computer takes to the new settings.

Thanks

once done i'll post up again
 
Just out of curiosity, do you actually use the User Bits function for anything? Is there a reason these settings would have been changed?

I know that you said things got wonky right around the time that you added the Letus, but nothing about adding a DOF adapter would create these issues. It had to be changed in the menus.

Knowing what you do use U-Bits for might help backtrack to what changed, if the last suggested menu settings don't help.
 
Still no go on the tcg

Still no go on the tcg

No i dont use or even know why i would use the user bits for
i'm not a point and shoot dp but i'm not a tech dude as well.

Also that 1394 ub didnt work.
 
The "User Bits" stream provides a (normally) hidden set of data that can be customized by the user (hence the name) to record information separately from the TC. It can be date, time, tape/reel number, all sorts of stuff. I don't know a lot of folks who use them anymore.

As for your issue... are you recording and capturing from the same camera?

When you record, is it displaying the time code properly in the viewfinder?

Are you doing anything differently than you did before?

I might add that using your DVX to shoot and as a capture camera in editing puts lots of needless wear on the camera. If you have a cheap miniDV camera handy and can throw one of these tapes in it, just to see if the system works that way, it can help narrow down the problem.
 
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IN FACT THIS IS MY WHOLE SETTING: WHEN YOU SEE THIS {} THAT MEANS THATS WHATS IT ON;
RECORDING SETUP - SCENE F5
REC SPEED - SP {LP}
AUDIO REC - {48K}
MIC ALC - ON
MIC GAIN1 - 50db
MIC GAIN2 - 50db
TC MODE - {DF}
TCG - FREE RUN {REC RUN}
FIRST REC TC - {PRESET}
TC PRESET -----
UB MODE - {TCG}
UB PRESET -----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AND THIS IS MY VCR SETTING:
RECORDING SETUP
REC SPEED - SP {LP}
AUDIO REC - {48K}
1394 TC REGEN - {ON}
TC MODE {BLUE - DF}
TCG - {BLUE - REC RUN}
FIRST REC TC - {BLUE - PRESET}
TC PRESET --------
1394 UB REGEN {ON}
UB MODE {BLUE - TCG}
UB PRESET -------

THESE ARE THE SETTING FOR MY CAMERA, MY COUNTER BUTTON IS SWITCH TO: {TC}

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT I NEED TO DO FROM HERE
 
Yes i know about the use of a mini dv handycam as play back, but the thing is and not to sound like a dick but its not really going to solve the problem.

Also i heard that the play back on a handycam is not as good as the camera that i would record the master on, due to the fact that the chips is different in each camera, even though i questioned it my self since its just binary code of ones and zeros, i'm looking at getting a clamshell but i'm in question of that since if and when i up grade to hd i would have to buy another clam shell unit
 
bodytemple said:
Yes i know about the use of a mini dv handycam as play back, but the thing is and not to sound like a dick but its not really going to solve the problem.
Click to expand...

Actually, it could help diagnose if we know that the tapes both play back with proper time code on another deck and that the time code is properly recognized by the system. So, yeah... it can lead us to solve the problem.

bodytemple said:
Also i heard that the play back on a handycam is not as good as the camera that i would record the master on, due to the fact that the chips is different in each camera, even though i questioned it my self since its just binary code of ones and zeros
Click to expand...

Who told you this? The chips have absolutely nothing to do with playback. The chips only affect the image recorded by the camera as they react to the light entering the lens. Once it is on tape, it is on tape. Digital is digital... 1s and 0s in, 1s and 0s out. You were right to question it, and should listen to your instinct there.

I'm not a fan of using cheap camcorders as capture decks only because I do stuff that really requires the frame-accuracy and robust build of a true, dedicated deck. But there are tons of folks around here who swear by the cheap miniDV camcorders as capture decks.
 
bodytemple said:
IN FACT THIS IS MY WHOLE SETTING: WHEN YOU SEE THIS {} THAT MEANS THATS WHATS IT ON;
RECORDING SETUP - SCENE F5
REC SPEED - SP {LP}
AUDIO REC - {48K}
MIC ALC - ON
MIC GAIN1 - 50db
MIC GAIN2 - 50db
TC MODE - {DF}
TCG - FREE RUN {REC RUN}
FIRST REC TC - {PRESET}
TC PRESET -----
UB MODE - {TCG}
UB PRESET -----
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AND THIS IS MY VCR SETTING:
RECORDING SETUP
REC SPEED - SP {LP}
AUDIO REC - {48K}
1394 TC REGEN - {ON}
TC MODE {BLUE - DF}
TCG - {BLUE - REC RUN}
FIRST REC TC - {BLUE - PRESET}
TC PRESET --------
1394 UB REGEN {ON}
UB MODE {BLUE - TCG}
UB PRESET -------

THESE ARE THE SETTING FOR MY CAMERA, MY COUNTER BUTTON IS SWITCH TO: {TC}

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT I NEED TO DO FROM HERE
Click to expand...

FIRST, POSTING IN ALL CAPS IS THE SAME AS SHOUTING. I know that this is frustrating, but it may take a few more questions before we figure out what's going on.

Now, I would turn the UB REGEN off, set the UB mode back to USER, and not worry about setting anything in the UB PRESET. If you aren't actually using your user bits, then keep it out of the loop. That'll knock one more variable out of this.

That having been said, let's go back to the beginning, just to make sure that I understand exactly what's happening. And there are still a couple of questions you have not answered.

1) When you record, with your counter set to display the time code, is the time code running as it should?

2) When you added the Letus, did you change anything in the menus?

3) Back to the beginning... do I understand correctly that Vegas is pulling in the User Bits, and not the time code? If so, how do you know this since you have your UB set to record the TC values. Here's what you said in your original post:

bodytemple said:
Now the thing is when ever i shoot and go into my edit one its in user bit mode so there is no tc for the software to grab, so all my clips comes out as on big take, which with the tcg breaks or the tcg in effect it would break up the clips so the computer to grab.
Click to expand...

I'm having a hard time figuring that out. To be honest, some of it really comes from jumbled and/or incomplete sentences... that's not a crack, it's just an honest assessment. For instance, "when ever i shoot and go into my edit one its in user bit mode so there is no tc for the software to grab." What does "go into my edit one" mean? And when you say "its in user bit mode," are you talking about the camera or about Vegas?

The other possibility here is, and this is a shot in the dark as I'm not familiar with Vegas, that some how a setting has changed in Vegas that's upsetting things. Answer the questions above and we'll try to figure this out.

Believe me... I'm just as baffled as you are.
 
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about the camera and play back deck, i heard that from two people so far, one is a professional editor / DP, and the other is a producer / editor.

WOW lol i really have to read what i'm typing. and not type and watch movies at the same time...yes i know about the caps sorry about that.

ok now to answer.
Q1 . when i record my time code display reads {TC} also the settings that i posted is what is being used.

Q2. when i added the Letus no i didn't change any settings in the menu, when i say that about the Letus, its cause when i started using the letus the vibrations from the Letus caused my camera to display "WARING PSD NG" so since then its just been driving me crazy with little things.

Q3. when i load into Vegas, i'm not sure if its reading the user bits or not since i'm not putting in any dates or time info or vaules other then for my time code.

now for the recap, what i was trying to say is this:

when i capture into Vegas , the software reads the time that was recorded on the tape but, anytime the camera cuts from one take to another take thats suppose to be a whole seperate clip and come out as such, {like when i first got the camera} but it doesnt do that what it does instead is record all the takes as one full take and not the clips. now i wanted to be sure of this so what i did was record on my dvx then dump out, then record on my daughters mini dv and dump out,
on my camera the dumped recordings came out as one full take,
where as the recording on her camera came out as clips.
what i have yet to do is put my recorded footage in her camera simply cause to me thats not going to fix the problem

also i really want to thank you for your help so far, most people i guess since they only take this as a hobby they reply once then keep it moving...but since this is my living its really not helping me with the here you go good luck type of thing... so once again:

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR STICKING IN HERE WITH ME THUS FAR..

OK BACK TO THE CAMERA...LOL

what i'm going to do is look into the vegas settings, i even wanted to try calling up Panasonic but theres no real tech support.
 
Okay... now we're getting somewhere.

bodytemple said:
ok now to answer.
Q1 . when i record my time code display reads {TC} also the settings that i posted is what is being used.
Click to expand...

So, still looking for a specific answer here... do you see the numbers of the TC moving when you record? You should see "TCG 00:00:00:00" with moving numbers in place of all the zeros. Is that happening?

Please, just for the sake of troubleshooting, take a tape from your camera and put it in your daughter's camera. See if Vegas does what it's supposed to do there. I know that you think it's not going to help, but it can point out the source of the problem and show if it's really that the camera is malfunctioning or that the camera and Vegas have stopped playing nice for some other reason.

As for lesser camcorders as viable capture decks...

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=162829
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=151614
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=153024

I advocate using a deck, like I said before. But it has nothing to do with quality of playback. Camcorders will wear out eventually... and much, much sooner than a deck.

But, seeing as how you can get a new, cheap miniDV camera for under $300 nowadays (Canon ZR-900, $209 at B&H), if we figure out that the footage from your DVX captures properly into Vegas using another camera... well, there's your solution.
 
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ha this is what i'm talking about...

yes i see then number run when they in tc rec
now the thing is its showing
TC not TCG like it should be

now i just took the scratch tape that i was using for this from the dvx and put it in my daughter camera and just as i thought, when i dumped it into the vegas the same thing happen it recorded as one big take.

so thats telling me what i knew that its some where on this damn camera...lol its that the tcg is not showing up some where on the camera

now you see when i first got the camera it was displaying TCG 00.00.00.00 and my number count would run for rec...now its only on that damn user bit TC and the numbers run when i'm in rec on that but my computer doesnt rec break like it should.

Also what i did just to be sure is with that same scratch tape i recorded over that footage with my daughters camera and then dumped in vegas and the takes all showed
as clips like it should have... so it has to be my DVX settings
 
Excellent! Now we're starting to peel away the layers. Thank you for doing that... I know you figured you were right, but we had to be absolutely sure.

And the "TC" vs. "TCG" is a very important piece of information that wasn't clearly communicated earlier. That will help. And I have a strong feeling that User Bits has absolutely nothing to do with what we're talking about.

Gonna do some brainstorming this morning, and play around with my DVX100a, and see if I can reproduce this.
 
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i called up panasonic and the dude there had no clue the one they he did say was that there is no TCG display on the camera its always TC
 
Don't know if either of these bits of info will help, but for what it's worth....

Vegas' scene detection breaks the video into clips based on jumps in the camera's date/time, not time code breaks. If the camera's internal clock isn't set, Vegas will capture everything as one big .AVI file. So first, make sure the camera's internal clock is set. If it wasn't set when the footage was recorded, nothing can be done to make that footage capture as separate clips. But setting the clock will allow future footage recorded to be captured by Vegas as separate clips.

The other thing is -- make sure 'scene detection' is enabled in Vegas.

Good luck!
 
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