HVX201 DVCProHD to OnLocation

M

Mr Whippy

New member
Hiya everyone,

Currently having issues recording from the HVX to OnLocation.

Basically, the camera recording settings won't allow any other option than DVCPro50, DVCPro or DV for recording.

I have no P2 cards (yet, I was assuming we could Firewire and capture)


OnLocation recording options are DV (Avi T1, Avi T2, and QTMov), and HDV (Mpeg M2T)


In the camera setting the best output we have had so far is 1080i but with the camera output set to DV. This results in a SMDV compressed video out of OnLocation.
Now, if I record in DVCPro50 setting in the camera and use 1080i, the video quality is worse, and is also encoded to SMDV out of OnLocation.

Mainly the issue is for keying with Chromatte. The DVCPro50 video appears to have what I would call compression artifacting on the edges between the talent and the keying material...
The DV camera setting in 1080i is much clearer, the key is twice as crisp along the edges.

The given bitrate for all video's in the SMDV codec when viewing the generated files appears to be 1536kb/s. I am not sure if that is important.


I have no idea what is going on.

Should the camera ever be showing me a "DVCProHD" option in the drop-down tab alongside the resolution used?



So far it feels like OnLocation is happy with DV format video output and then capture, but as soon as we try DVCPro/50 the image quality is much reduced.


Right now I feel like just getting a P2 card and going straight to MXF to see the actual quality, because so far it seems like OnLocation is having issues with 'seeing' the DVCPro signal and is either compressing it badly, or reading it badly etc.


Any ideas/help/pointers would be much appreciated.

Currently trawling the faq's here and have learnt alot already, but this topic doesn't seem so well covered. With some apparently using DVCProHD output to OnLocation without issue, and then others not.



Thanks

Dave
 
We are using the copy that comes with Adobe Production Studio I think...

We used to use Sony DV cams with DVRack (full versions on three capture machines), but we are trying to get the OnLocation software working in HD.

It seems that our HVX201 just doesn't want to give us the option to select DVCProHD in the setup screen, only having DV, DVCPro, and DVCPro50, and oddly DV is the one which gives the best image quality, with the other two giving what appear to be similar general quality but the compression artifacting is making them no better than stock DV 576 for keying.


So basically I guess the question is, are people here capturing to the full 100mbit uncompressed data stream down firewire with their HVX201 set to DVCProHD output, and into OnLocation?
Would anyone care to share their file sizes?

Right now my DVCPro50 1080p or 720p is about 14meg/s, my 1080 DV is 7.6meg/s and looks as good and key's alot better.


I'll get my camera software version shortly, but my OnLocation version is 3.0.1095.0


It is a shame the camera can't send MXF down the firewire to a decent hdd... :)

Here is wishing


Kind regards

Dave
 
1080 and 720 is ALWAYS DVCPro HD, never DVCPro 50.

At this point I'm guessing you are confused by the fact that the recording setup menu shows something other than DVCPro HD. However, please note that the menu item is BLUE, which indicates that the item is no accessible or applicable. The item shows the LAST setting that was used when it was accessible / applicable.
 
Ahhhhhh :)

Now that makes lots more sense!

Thanks for that. I was pondering the logic behind what the settings meant yesterday while doing more testing, and trying to figure out what they meant at different times.

Hmmm. Just one final question.

Has anyone compared an MXF source via P2 with an OnLocation capture of the same scene using the Avi T2 codec?

Is there any significant benefit to using the MXF format? I'd like to test it's just the cards are not easy to source for such a task.


Thanks once again

Dave
 
Ah, seems others are having issues here and there with OnLocation.

Personally I found DVRack great for DV capture, we have three capture machines each with a DV cam and DVRack, and they captured perfectly all the time.

OnLocation however, just doesn't feel polished. I think perhaps it's just not so well designed to manage the much bigger data stream that a HD camera is sending it and it just gives up :)

We'll have to try upgrading a single capture box and see how it goes. If it proves troublesome we might be cheaper/better off getting P2 cards and a single laptop for studio review (rather than three monitors/capture boxes)


Thanks for the advice so far everyone, really appreciated!

Dave
 
Using HVX200 & Onlocation with No P2 cards.

Using HVX200 & Onlocation with No P2 cards.

Hi there,

I am using an hvx200 and new to Onlocation. Am I right in thinking you can only record what you are outputting from the camera? I don't own P2 cards so cannot put the camera into anything but 576i mode.

is there a way to capture 720p in OnLocation without the P2 cards? Can i get any increase in quality over simply using tapes?

thanks in advance. I have looked for the answer but the manual doesn't clarify.
 
Yes you can record 720p and 1080 into OnLocation, and you don't need P2 cards to do it. And yes, either 720p or 1080i would be a huge increase in quality over using tapes.
 
HVX 200 720P/25 to Onlocation CS4 outputs strange artefacting

HVX 200 720P/25 to Onlocation CS4 outputs strange artefacting

Everything looks great from within Onlocation CS4 but the QT created creates very strange artefacting.

please see a screen grab here http://www.studio9.tv/images/onlocation.png

I have tried capturing in QT (all frames) & QT (selected frames). Avi's won't play in VLC or

Everything captures fine direct to Quicktime, Final cut pro straight from Camera. Have used second camera, same output. Used different machines with Onlocation. Have done 4.01 update also. nothing changes.

The properties in Quicktime are showing 720P/60

Am i missing a dvcproHD codec?

i tearing my hair out.....any other ideas?

not to sound too desperate but first solution before Monday 09:30 GMT gets a DVD of their choice sent to them as a thankyou as I have a big shoot where i need this as the only plausible backup for recording.

using Macbook pro, hvx200 with P2 cards inserted.
 
"Yes you can record 720p and 1080 into OnLocation, and you don't need P2 cards to do it. And yes, either 720p or 1080i would be a huge increase in quality over using tapes."

how? i have ntsc hvx to pc laptop onlocation cs3 to external hdd w/ firewire400 and usb 2.0? help! Barry Green i am looking at you. is it on the bootcamp dvd? which one?

I cant swim and i have jumped into the deep end!
 
Last edited:
Not sure i know what the question is -- I mean, with OnLocation you run the program, you plug the camera in by firewire, and then you see the results in the monitor. You press the record button on the deck and it records the footage.

Only thing to keep straight is that you cannot have the HVX set in 720pN mode. Any other mode will work.
 
I'll try to clarify the problem at hand.

We're experiencing a similar problem at our studio, where a HVX200 is connected to our new iMac via firewire400. Connection is great, at OnLocation displays the signal. No problem there. The videosignal is displayed in the Field Monitor, and the scopes, audio are all functional. When a stream is recorded in OnLocation and attemted to be played back, it shows some kind of stutter alike the screendump previously posted. Furthermore the files are dismissed by Final Cut Pro in both Log and Transfer and drag-and-drop.

Does anyone know anything about any codecs needed to solve the problem at hand? We've tried all the different recording modes available in OnLocation - problem persists.

Anyone?
 
Hello Nikolaj,

I just read your post. I could not reproduce your import problems in FC Pro. The DVCPro clips were prompted for conversion in the Media Manager, which proved to work fine. You state that you are using an iMac for editing DVCPro footage. I wonder if you have another MacPro or Macbook Pro with FCP that can import the clips? I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Barry_Green said:
Not sure i know what the question is -- I mean, with OnLocation you run the program, you plug the camera in by firewire, and then you see the results in the monitor. You press the record button on the deck and it records the footage.

Only thing to keep straight is that you cannot have the HVX set in 720pN mode. Any other mode will work.
Click to expand...

Hi guys,
I'm having problem using the HPX 172 1394 Control Recording with Adobe OnLocation CS 4.0.2 running on Macbook pro 10.5.6

With P2 card inserted in the camera,
Setting 1394 to OFF - Camera and OnLocation RECORD!!!
Setting 1394 to EXT - HPX-172 LCD flashes message: external 1394 disconnected
Setting 1394 to BOTH - Camera and OnLocation record as per normal.

I can record 'manually' by hitting the record button on Onlocation but I would love to have the 1394 Control Recording working.

Appreciate if someone can test the HPX-172 1394 remote control recording.

I have successfully captured a lot of clips with Onlocation. There's was only one instances when a captured clip is corrupted and can't playback in quicktime. I remember it was the clip that I renamed it to something else in Onlocation clip name column. That might have something to do with it?
 
Tarkovsky,

Thank you for the insight to your workflow. Consider your feature request documented. Feel free to let us know any other monitoring, capturing or metadata ingest gaps you see in your daily workflow.
 
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