Log and capture keeps creating multiple clips during capture... why?

jbonante · Jun 12, 2012

I hardly ever have this problem but now i can't seem to import a full lengths tape. I'm not sure why this is happening. When i shoot with my camera and log and capture it works fine.. very often i will have a tape split into two or maybe 3 clips throughout the 60 min of tape. This time it seems to make a new clip every time the camera was paused or stopped. This means by the end of the 60 min tape i could have xxxx amount of video clips to organize and manage. Not good.

Here's the catch, i didn't record this tape off my camera. It's from my friends camera. Would it have something to do with his camera settings? i plugged his camera in to test log and capture and his imports it all in one video file. Why is it when i try to import his tape in my camera do i get a new clip every time the video paused?

2LMedia · Jun 12, 2012

Timecode breaks will cause FCP to split a capture into multiple clips. This has to do with starting and stopping during recording, the quality of the camera, or the quality of the tape or all of the above. And in many cases, editors prefer to have a separate clip for each time the camera was started.

LethalWolfe · Jun 12, 2012

jbonante said:
Here's the catch, i didn't record this tape off my camera. It's from my friends camera. Would it have something to do with his camera settings? i plugged his camera in to test log and capture and his imports it all in one video file. Why is it when i try to import his tape in my camera do i get a new clip every time the video paused?

Not all manufacturers adhere to the DV spec religiously so it could be that when you camera hits a point on the tape where it was stopped/paused your camera kinda stumbles over it and that causes the break while capturing. Not a very technical answer I know, but sometimes strange things just happen.

For example, years ago I used a Canon GL1 a lot for capturing tapes from a DVX100 and sometimes the Canon just refused to read the timecode track. The DVX100 would read it. The Sony deck at work would read it but the Canon wouldn't. 90/100 it would work just fine but occasionally, for whatever reason, it wouldn't.

Tech... what can you do?

Lethal

jshbckr · Jun 16, 2012

I'm pretty sure it's a preference setting to detect camera start/stops and to make them into separate clips. It's like how with newer solid-state cameras, you get one video clip for each time you start and stop the camera. Makes it easier to sort and organize. Glad I don't have huge blocks of DV footage anymore

LethalWolfe · Jun 16, 2012

jshbckr said:
I'm pretty sure it's a preference setting to detect camera start/stops and to make them into separate clips.

That was my initial thought but the OP said when he borrowed his friend's camera it worked fine. Worth double checking that setting though.

WRP · Jun 18, 2012

The setting you need to check is this one.

For DV, the way to limit TC breaks is to roll back into the last shot a second and start recording. If there is so much as a frame of nothing it will probably break TC. The Sony FX1 was notorious for this and it was an expensive camera. Cheap ones are even more wonky.

Besides, learn to log your tapes properly. It will really help with the editing process have smaller properly logged clips in the long run. it is time consuming but invaluable in a big project.

HMI · Jun 26, 2012

bad cable/port?

I realize this conversation was from a while ago, but I could add that sometimes a bad cable or port can cause tc breaks as well. Did you use the same cable on both cameras? Did you try a new cable with the camera that you are experiencing problems with? This may help you find the problem as well.

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Log and capture keeps creating multiple clips during capture... why?

jbonante

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2LMedia

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LethalWolfe

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jshbckr

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LethalWolfe

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WRP

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