Tips in capturing video in FCP

[bowbow88]

Hi everyone,

The past few days, i was able to read a lot of good pointers here. Thanks for those who contribute to this forum. It definitely helps newbies like me.

I am new to mac and new to FCP. Just ordered an i7 and FCP using a G-Raid 2tb as scratch disk. Very excited! Can't wait to see it...While waiting, I am just going to do more research so that when I get the machine, I am ready to go.

The last time I capture video (7 years ago...yeah, very out of touch!!), harddrive wasn't as cheap compared to now so I had take time to get to the timecodes and batch capture them. With more than enough scratch disk now, I am wandering how the pros or the norm of capturing footage these days. Given space isn't an issue, my questions are:

Q: Should I capture the whole tape and then get my clips later or is batch capture still the way to go?

Q: If I decide to capture the whole tape and then edit out the clips, what's the best way of doing so?

Q: Say if my g-raid gets corrupted and I lose my scratch disk(but did have my projects file backed up), what's the best way of getting the original captured footage if I capture the "whole tape" method? (I understand if I batch capture and have the logs backed up, I can just go and re-capture).

Thanks for you help in advance and any additional tips in capturing are appreciated.

Aaron

 

[spinnerlys]

If you capture DV, the whole tape is enough, as you can do a DV Start/Stop Detection via the menu Mark.

That will make sub-clips out of every take you shot. (The beginning of the sub-clip is the start of the take (where you pressed record), the end is where you stopped the take (where you pressed stop).)

You can later recapture either the whole tape, or only the sub-clips you used or only the sequence.

Is that sufficient information?

 

[LethalWolfe]

Unless it's a single interview I still log my tapes and batch capture for organization purposes and so if the capture fails for some reason I don't have to go back to square one to recapture the whole tape.

If you want to capture the whole tape then make 'selects' you can either use the subclip feature or you can just make a new sequence and drop your selects in there You can then add markers to the timeline at the head of each clip describing what it is (if you want). I'm not a big fan of FCP's subclipping feature because you can't match back to the master clip and the subclips have no handles.

If you have to recapture all you have to do is select the offline media in the Browser and batch capture. Just make sure all your tapes have unique reel numbers.


Lethal

 

[bowbow88]

If you capture DV, the whole tape is enough, as you can do a DV Start/Stop Detection via the menu Mark.

That will make sub-clips out of every take you shot. (The beginning of the sub-clip is the start of the take (where you pressed record), the end is where you stopped the take (where you pressed stop).)

You can later recapture either the whole tape, or only the sub-clips you used or only the sequence.

Is that sufficient information?

It is good to know that every start/stop will be seen capture as a sub-clip. I thought it would capture the whole tape as 1 big file!

Given that, say, if there are 10 sub-clips within a tape (10 start/stop), and when I am done with capturing, can I break down those sub-clips into smaller clips (without editing and exporting it)?

What happens if my tape have interrupted time code? Will it still capture my whole tape?

 

[LethalWolfe]

It is good to know that every start/stop will be seen capture as a sub-clip. I thought it would capture the whole tape as 1 big file!

It will still be on big file on the HDD but in your FCP Browser the 1 big file will be broken down into sub-clips.

Given that, say, if there are 10 sub-clips within a tape (10 start/stop), and when I am done with capturing, can I break down those sub-clips into smaller clips (without editing and exporting it)?

Everything you do is no destructive so even though you make sub-clips in FCP those sub-clips still just point back to the master clip(s) sitting on your HDD.

What happens if my tape have interrupted time code? Will it still capture my whole tape?

It will create a new master clip at the timecode break.


Lethal