Can't even 'capture now'..?

R

Robstene

Active member
Hello...

I've tried capturing some footage from a tape into my F.C.Express..

And somehow I think I've not recorded a timecode...when I try 'capture now' something comes up saying 'cant find timecode' or something similar - if I haven't somehow recorded a timecode against the footage will I be unable to capture the footage at all - ever??

Many thanks,

Rob.
 
You should be able to regardless. Are you able to control the camera from the computer? If not, restart everything because you might not have a good connection.
 
Thanks Hanz...yeh I can control the camera from the computer, but it won't let me capture anything.

I tried with another tape - with a timecode running and it captures fine,..these two tapes though, with no timecode wont let me 'capture now' at all :(

Its doing my head in- as the tapes contain great documentary footage that I need to edit!

Thanks anyway mate.

Rob :)
 
Hmmm...have you tried imovie..that might work? I work in FCP so my knowledge is limited. When you play the tape back on the camera do you see timecode?
 
Thanks for the thread Hanz....no...I cant see the timecode at all. Its stupid, coz I'm sure I remember setting one...and they should run anyway shouldn't they (?)

Oh well....I'll come back again and tell ya if it finally works.

Cheers Bud.
 
Ok,..I'll try and give some more information to see if it helps anyone that might of had similar...

I shot the documentary on my DVX100b on scene file 5...

Am now wanting to upload footage onto mu Imac. Am using a little Canon Minidv camcorder to send over the footage via a fire wire connection...

The easiest way for me as I like to capture all the footage is to go
1) Easy Set Up - in the file menu..

VTR OK is displayed so I think everything is ok...

2) 'CAPTURE NOW'..... The capture screen pops up, but remains black with the Final Cut Express Logo in the middle, and then in smaller letters at the bottom of the window it reads 'Waiting for Timecode...Device must be in VTR mode (which it is)....
Finally it says 'Press Escape to Abort' - which I do...then my footage appears up in the first window (showing what is rolling along in the camera...and it shows that my timecode appears as just:
-:--:--:--

Please help....I'm loosing the will to live!!!! :)
 
This could be a tape alignment issue that is caused by the Canon camera not quite hitting the same spot as the DVX.

Can you play the tape back, with Time Code, in the DVX? If so, you might want to try capturing only the problematic tape from there.
 
Hmm...you didn't record in LP mode or anything like that did you? I would definitely try to capture off the DVX.
 
Good luck with the Canon. Canons do not play well on the firewire bus. Never had.

My guess is that if you are capturing with two devices on that single FW bus with one being the Canon, you will have issues.
 
Robstene said:
2) 'CAPTURE NOW'..... The capture screen pops up, but remains black with the Final Cut Express Logo in the middle, and then in smaller letters at the bottom of the window it reads 'Waiting for Timecode...Device must be in VTR mode (which it is)....
Finally it says 'Press Escape to Abort' - which I do...then my footage appears up in the first window (showing what is rolling along in the camera...and it shows that my timecode appears as just:
-:--:--:--
Click to expand...

Well there's your problem. FCE is sometimes very slow to capture, especially if there's no timecode. When it comes up with "press escape to abort", that's just information on what to press if you want to abort, not an instruction. The best thing to do is just wait for it. If there's any problem, it will automatically abort the capture, if it's just showing a black screen, it's just sorting itself out before it starts capture.
 
ahh...maybe...it's just tht I kept aborting coz although it was black on the screen in FCE, the camera was still turning over with the footage playing...and I didn't really want to miss too much of it.

ANYWAY...I've somehow worked out how to capture it in Imovie and then send the files over to FCExpress,..but is annoying as I have to render the sound after every edit...

I'll try again and see if it is just FCE taking time to catch up - thanks everyone...
 
The camera will still be playing even when there's a black screen in FCE - it takes a while to find the timecode it's looking for. Sometimes it goes backwards and forwards past the point you want before it's sure it's in the right place.

Just give it a while. Walk off and make a cup of tea or something and come back to it later
 
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