Trouble Importing HDV Tape

Hi there,

New user to both FCPX and fcp.co.

I shot some interviews on HDV tapes a while ago and am finally getting around to importing them.

The camera I'm using to import (the same one I filmed on) is a Canon Vixia HD30. I'm running OSX 10.9.2 and FCPX 10.1.1 on a Macbook Pro.

I shot the interview as an hour-long segment, so I was hoping to import that way as well.

But when I came back an hour later to stop the import, there were only two files: a 4.5 minute clip from the start of the tape, and a 12 minute clip taken from the middle. Nothing else.

I can't seem to find anyone else who's posted about this problem and am hoping one of you wizards here can help me out.

Thanks so much in advance,
Jeff

Hi Jeff, and welcome to the forum.

There can be a number of things causing this issue, so we will have to do this step by step.

1. Check your tape in the camera. Play it from the start and watch carefully around 4.5 minutes: do you see any black frames or dropouts on the tape between 4 and 5 minutes, or is the tape playing perfectly in the camera?

- If you see dropouts: post back for a solution.
- If the tape plays fine: proceed to the next step.


2. We will need to have some information about your setup:

- How exactly you are connecting your Vixia to your computer. What cable are you using and to which port is it connected on your MBP?

- To which drive you are importing the tape footage. To your internal drive or to an external? If an external: what kind of drive and how is it connected to your MBP?



-Ronny

Hi Ronny,

Thanks so much for your reply!

I played the tape in the camera; everything looks fine at the point the import cut out.

As for how I'm connecting the camera, it's a 4 pin DV to the 9 pin Firewire 800 on my MBP.

I'm importing directly to an external since it's such a large file (and I've had trouble transferring video files of a certain size). My external is a Western Digital 2 TB, connected to my MBP by USB-A.

I tried importing again and this time stopped the import around the 30 minute mark. But there was only an 8-minute clip when I checked.

Thanks again!
Jeff

I have the same camera. It looks like you have some timecode breaks on your tape. A common thing with HDV.

FCPX can bypass timecode breaks by creating a camera archive instead of importing first. Camera Archives will rewind the tape and then bring in everything on the tape. Then you import the clips from your camera archive. Also make sure you plug your HV30 into power during the import.

Hi Jeff,

I was going to suggest the Create Archive solution as a second suggestion, but Tim just beat me to it So yes, that's the next step you should try.

If this still doesn't work it could be that your USB2 drive is not fast enough to support the continuous HD stream you are sending to it. This would also explain the random stopping and the incomplete files. If this is the case, there's only one solution:

If you cannot connect the camera and a FireWire drive to your MBP but you have sufficient free space on your internal drive (HDV requires 13GB per hour) you can try capturing to the internal drive instead, then transfer the Event (or the imported files) to an external (preferably NON-USB2) external drive.

Just remember that you always must have at least 20% of your total drive space free, so if your drive is already quite full you might have to move some content to an external before trying this.

-Ronny

Thank you both, Ronny and Tim.

I tried what Tim said and archived the tape to my external; however only 17 minutes made it in.

Then I did what Ronny suggested and archived directly to my computer. That worked! So now I know it's my poor overused external which was causing the issue. It looks like I'll have to spring for a Thunderbolt or Firewire drive soon.

Thanks so much again to both of you for the helpful welcome to the forum.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Glad to hear you have found the cause of your problem. USB2 should never be used for editing, I even stay away from USB3 as much as I can. Get a decent Thunderbolt drive and you will be up and running in no time.

-Ronny

Jeff - FYI

I have never been able to import to an external Firewire or USB drive from a camera or deck connected with Firewire or USB on my 2012 Macbook Pro. It just doesn't work.

I have always had to import to my internal drive and then move the files to the external. I have not tried using an external Thunderbolt drive however.

Use USB 3.0, eSATA or T'bolt, so you don't overwhelm the FW port the drive and camera may both be using. USB 3.0 is faster than FW.