Timecode Issues?

I am using FCPX to import mini dv tapes from a Sony HVR-V1P camera via ilink with thunderbolt adaptor. My intentions are to archive and preserve them in the best quality possible to eventually edit the 200+ tapes.

I am new to video editing and FCPX and have been using the "create archive" button to import directly to an external hard drive. Things seemed to be going great until I decided to review the footage after Tape #31 on the external and found the footage broken up into 200+ 1 second clips.

Question #1: Is there a setting I can change in FCPX to make it not do this?

After much research online I decided to rule out it being a cable issue. I tried importing into iMovie, same thing happened with the 200+ 1 second clips, but they were not in the same places each time on the same tape (nor have they been in FCPX). So I tried importing into Quicktime and it worked perfect other than where I had recorded, stopped, and recorded again (“changed the scene” so to speak), Quicktime doesn’t recognize to keep importing. I find this frustrating as I have “changed scenes” numerous times on each 60 minute tape and have to keep setting it up to record again, thus breaking it up into segments that need to be put together again.

Question #2: I think this ruled out the cable being the issue?

Question #3: Is there a setting to change in Quicktime to recognize to keep recording?

Question #4: Is there a way to record directly to an external hard drive in Quicktime? I would prefer to use FCPX.

So then I wondered if it was the tape or the camera. Tape 1 started in 2006 and I’d imported the first 31 tapes (all are in chronological order), all of them had this issue. So I took the most recent tape from 2011 and imported into FCPX (via create archive into external hd again), and the same thing happened. This seems a bit extreme considering I know they were NEW tapes in 2011 when I did the recording and have kept the tapes safely in a controlled environment. I’ve also cleaned the heads regularly since I’ve owned the camera, (bought it new) so I’m not thinking this is the issue.

Another strange thing I noticed is that Tape 1 (from 2006) had been broken into only 15 clips total, and they were longer than 1 second- they were several minutes each. By Tape 31, there were 200+ clips, including the most recent tape from 2011 had 200+ clips. This confuses me because you would think Tape 1 being the oldest would have the most clips and the newest tape have the fewest or none at all?

Question #5: Is there an easy way to put all of these clips back together in FCPX? I have to ask, I’m running out of ideas!

1- No, it makes new files at timcecode breaks. Mini-DV tape is a consumer product, and TC breaks, even with clean, aligned heads, and a good quality camera, can/will occur. FCPX just does this, no way to change it.
2- Not the cable.
3- Not in FCPX, not a QT settings. But if you capture using QT Player, you should not get breaks.
4- Yes! In QTX Player, go to the File menu, "New Movie Recording".

What Ben says, plus question 5:

Yes you can assemble broken-up DV clips by selecting the sections in the Browser and turning them into a compound clip (ALT+G). The cc will act as a regular clip in the browser, you can set ranges in it and edit it on the timeline.

- Ronny

Thank you for the responses. Could this be a camera issue?

What would you recommend is the smartest, quickest, easiest way to import/archive these tapes given the issues I'm having?

It could be the camera heads but I have seen similar reports about dropped frames on DV tapes, even new ones. So I think Ben's suggestion to capture via QuickTime player will be the best solution for you. When capturing is done you just import the resulting video files in FCP X.

- Ronny

TC on tape has always been an issue. I've delt with tons of it way back when. DVCPRO seemed to be the most stable, but not perfect. I'm so glad to not use tape anymore. The industry standard digital video file is so much more trouble free. At least digital video/film isn't plagued with the plethora of HDV formats, and multiple DV tape formats and proprietary camera codec tweaks anymore. Thank goodness for solid, reliable industry standards, that are all very clearly "professional" tools. I mean, right?

Thank you for your guys' insights and input.

I'm back to QT Player version 10.3.

I am still experiencing "Recording stopped- try recording again" message several times throughout the import. I try recording again, but in the exact same spots I get the same message. Initially I thought, well, if it's only a few, I don't mind, but the more tapes I try the more frequent this is happening. Any ideas?

So far Tape 1 is broken into 6 segments, and I had about a minute left to capture but was experiencing the "recording stopped" message so often, I just gave up. This was the trouble spot on this tape as well when I captured using FCP X. Am I missing something here?

Thank you again for your help.

Thank you for your guys' insights and input.

I'm back to QT Player version 10.3.

I am still experiencing "Recording stopped- try recording again" message several times throughout the import. I try recording again, but in the exact same spots I get the same message. Initially I thought, well, if it's only a few, I don't mind, but the more tapes I try the more frequent this is happening. Any ideas?

So far Tape 1 is broken into 6 segments, and I had about a minute left to capture but was experiencing the "recording stopped" message so often, I just gave up. This was the trouble spot on this tape as well when I captured using FCP X. Am I missing something here?

Thank you again for your help.

If the tc/dropout issues always happen at the same place on a tape this can only mean one thing: there is something wrong with the tape. If capturing over QT does not help I don't think you are missing something, nor that this can be solved easily.

One thing you can do is try capturing the tapes using a professional tape deck. If you don't have a DV/HDV tape deck I'm sure you can rent one very cheap nowadays. Let me explain why this could be better:

Camera heads are mainly made for capturing footage, the playback component of these heads is of a lower quality and wears down very easily. Deck playback heads are of a much higher quality than camera heads, and professional tape decks even have playback error compensation technology. If the errors on your tape are not too bad a tape deck might provide enough error compensation to allow capturing over the breaks. If this is really important for you it's definitely worth trying.

If capturing from a tape deck does not solve the capture breaks, there is a final solution you can try while you have the deck: copy the problematic tapes from your camera onto absolutely new (2014) tapes in the tape deck. This will create an uninterrupted tc track on the new tapes and even if there were beaks on the original tapes you will be able to capture the new tapes without any breaks.

- Ronny

Get QT 7 Pro...

Collins
Did you "Black Stripe" the miniDV tapes prior to recording on them? Tape transport with stop and starts almost always created TC breaks. I always took new tapes and recorded on them with lens cap on from beginning to end in order to get a clean TC placed on the tape, then import would be much better. Not much you can do about it afterwards. As Ronny said, a pro-deck may help out.
Ouch, I have lots of old tapes and don't miss the import mess. They do store well however, even better than hard drives. Hard drives need to be periodically exercised or they lose their magnetic magical powers. So if you are doing this for archival storage, plan on having to pop these drives in an run them at least once a year or so. After three to five years you will not be able to use a drive if you don't maintain it. You can use a disk checking/repair program to quickly re-energize the platters. As always, also plan on making multiple back ups for WHEN the drive fails. Optical disks can also be used, but they don't last forever either. LTO tape, yuck but long term.
Hope this helps, Greg
p.s. Not really much help, but if you are still recording to tape, black stripe it first.

Hi Ronny
I have 70 tapes that I recorded with a Sony DV camera, which I no longer have. I bought a Sony DCR-HC52 camera to play the tapes to import into FCPX. Some tapes work fine, most don't. FCPX says it imported successfully but only a portion of the tape is imported. Per your post, I see it could be due to Time Coding issues. You provide two solutions, both using a DV tape deck. It sounds like the first solution is hit or miss but more likely to work than a std camcorder playing the tape back. is that true?

As for the second solution where you suggest copying the tape to a new tape, I have a question:
Question: Will pretty much any DV tape deck work or does it need a special feature?

I am looking at the Sony DSR-11. The other option is the DSR-25 but from what I read, they are the same but the DSR-25 has a display.
In the DSR-11 description it says it can "copy timecode through the i.LINK connection from a non-tape source (such as a PC) when recording in the DVCAM mode." Is that relevant or what I need?

Thanks for your help
Paul

Hi Paul,

If you experience capturing issues with DV tapes in Final Cut Pro or using QTX or QT7pro this means there is something wrong with the tapes. The only workaround is to copy the old tapes onto new ones which will result in a new recording with continuous time code. I have had some DSR decks in the old days and a DSR11 will be able to record the footage from your camera. Just connect the camera via FireWire to the deck, put the camera in playback mode and the DSR11 deck in record mode and copy the old tape from the camera onto a new tape in the deck. Then connect the deck to your system and try capturing the footage. This should work.

Tip: if you have a DSR11 you might try to import the old tapes straight from the deck first, without making any copies. Decks have much better playback heads and error correction than consumer cameras. If this works it would save you a lot of time.

- Ronny

Hi Ronny
I received the DSR11 and tried to copy directly to FCP but it stopped at the TCs. I copied the tape from the camera to the DSR11. It was going well until it got to 42 min. At that point, the recording tape was all used up. My originating tape is 60 min. My recording tape is also 60min. I started it at the beginning of the recording tape. It seems to be using 60 min of recording tape in 40 min of recording. When I play it back, it looks fine. Is there a way around this issue other than using two recording tapes for each tape that I want to re-record?

By default the DSR11 records in DVCAM mode, which runs faster than the DV SP mode most cameras use.

If memory serves me well I think you can change the record mode of the DSR11 by using the remote control and setting the deck to DV SP. This should give you one hour of recording time on a 60' tape.

- Ronny