Final Cut Express 4 HD MiniDV Capture Problems

[Freewayjim]

I just got a new camcorder (Sony HDR-HC9) and shot some video with it today.

I imported the video to FCE4 and it has black bars on the top and bottom and the footage does not look HD quality at all.

I did some research and changed the settings in Easy Setup to
Format: Apple Intermediate Codec
Use HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60

I can capture the video just fine, in fact the video looks awesome while it's being captured, a far cry from my old camera. After the capture is done I drag the clip from the browser to the timeline and it's black bars and the quality is not very good.

I recorded the video from the camera in HDV1080i so I'm perplexed at what the problem could be.

I'd appreciate any help/advice.

Thank You!

 

[DoFoT9]

the black bars are because its in widescreen (i think).

the bad quality is because its just a "preview" when you watch it. try to export the movie into a .mov file or something and see how you go

 

[Freewayjim]

I think I solved the problem:

If I capture the footage in a new project it's great, fills up the canvas and looks like it should. I was importing it in to a template I use that has a graphic opening that was in DV format (had been using with my old camera/DV video for months). Even if I copy the new footage over it looks fine so all is good.

To DoFoT9; Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[DoFoT9]

I think I solved the problem:

If I capture the footage in a new project it's great, fills up the canvas and looks like it should. I was importing it in to a template I use that has a graphic opening that was in DV format (had been using with my old camera/DV video for months). Even if I copy the new footage over it looks fine so all is good.

To DoFoT9; Thanks for the quick reply.

aahhh well that makes sense, i was heaps far off haha!

 

[senseless]

The timeline settings are a mystery to me. I don't know why FCE doesn't have an autodetect function so I don't have to waste so much time trying to match various audio modes. It's especially a problem when dubbing older tapes that may have been recorded in 12 bit mode.