Still No Luck with final cut and the HV20

[stuntagency]

I am using Final Cut Pro 5.1.4
I have tried everything everyone has said on both computers.
I am running a Intel quad zeon and a intel 2.1 duel core laptop both have the identical set up.
I can capture DV footage from a panasonic 3ccd camera.
I have gone into the store and even the so called experts can not get the HV20 working with Final Cut. Everyone says yeah it works but I hate to say it doesn't and on both computers not even the ones in the store it works on.
So if anyone has an actual solution for me I would appreciate it as I am about to give up.
The sad thing is the panasonic I don't want works straight away.
Pleeeeeaaaase someone have the almighty answer that will solve the enigma and destress me.

I just want the HV 20 to work

[Rico]

Well first of all I can tell you for a fact the HV20 does work with FCP, I have done loads of work on it, I don't know whats happening on your system but I would need more info from you, does FCP recognise the HV? how are you trying to capture? which codec? HDV, Apple intermediate? are you running the latest version of Quicktime? have you tried another firewire cable?, you say they couldn't get it to work with FCP in the store, if this is the case maybe there is a fault with it, I doubt it tho, there is usually a simple explanation, just need to find it, but if the HV is not being seen on several computers with different cables then I think you may have a problem, but one the warranty will have to fix.

[stuntagency]

Firstly I movie does recognise it.
FCP doesn't
My settings are for Capture:

Sequence Preset: HDV1080i50
Capture preset: HDV and have tried HDV Intermediate apple codec
Device Control: HDV 1080I firewire basic and tried HDV Firewire
Video Playbackigital Cinema desktop preview
Audio Playback: Default

Trying to capture through FCP - File - log and capture - then says Unable to initialize video deck. you may still log offline clips or use Capture now. I then press OK then below Test bars it read on the panel (no communication)

I have tried different cables but as it works with Imovie I elimated themas the cause.

Quicktime version is: 7.1.6

I hope this helps

[tiloprobst]

As far as I remember it was stated in the final-cut-pro.de boards, that FCP5 does not work directly with the HV20, at least not with "log and capture". Hence, try a different capture mode.

The solution is to capture the HV20 material with iMovie and then edit it with FCP5. FCP6 works fine with the HV20.

I am not 100% sure about the information I've just given, try to find confirmation.

[Rico]

Ok look I'm telling you for a fact FCP5 works fine with the HV20, I have just capured nearly an hour of footage just today, so lets go through this with you and see if we can't figure it out,

first make sure the firewire cable is plugged in correctly and the battery is charged or it's pluged into the mains, then switch the HV to play, (Sorry if this sounds obvious but I just want to make SURE everything is right)

Ok then start finalcut, once open go to the Audio/Visual Settings and click on the summery tab, then put the setting like this

sequence Preset = hdv-1080i50

Capture preset = HDV

Device control prest = HDV 1080i50 Firewire Basic

Video playback set to None
and Audio Playback to Default

Click Ok to close the window

Now under the file menu click Log and Capture
and the capture window should open, now at the bottom of the preview window (just under the transport controls) it should say VTR OK

let me know if it does or doesn't, and we'll take it from there, if it does say it then all os OK if it doesn't then you may have a broken HV20, we'll see.

[revlution08]

This is so wierd. A week ago i was able to capture footage into final cut with my hv20. now this week i tried to capture some footage today and im having the same problem as stuntagency. I dont understand whats going on. I tried doing what you said rico but i didnt work

[Rico]

Thats weird, are you using a pal version? if not then the settings I gave would need to be 1080i60 in each case, do you get the VTR OK, there has to be a simple explanation, have you installed anything since last using it, have you updated Quicktime or anything else, have you tried another firewire cable, have you verified that the firewire port on your comp is working ok by plugging in a Hard drive, you definetly set the hv20 to play not camera?, I am struggling to think of anything else.

[Appleidiot]

Wow, that is a trip and not a fun one. I concur with Rico as I've captured footage with my HV20 in FCP 5.1 using that exact same setup. What about trying to capture via an uncontrollable device? Also, you might and I say might want to try to trash your Plist in FCP and see if that cures the problem.

[Appleidiot]

Also found this article that may be of some help.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302407

Sorry, don't know how to post a hyperlink nor does FAQ, it's all good!!

My bad, does it automatically.

[revlution08]

appleidio,
Thank you so much. that link helped. i got it working now. i just turned it to play mode and changed my "play out setup" from "auto" to "hdv" i think thats what did the trick!

stuntagency,
you should try that yourself maybe that would work.

[Appleidiot]

revlution08,

Cool, I'm glad I could help.

[Rico]

Err excuse me I said "you definetly set the hv20 to play not camera?"


Appleidiot comes in and gets all the credit

I don't know why I bother

Glad you got it working.

[revlution08]

rico,

lol i understood what you where saying to but i still had to change something in play mode. Thank you for your advice to though.

[nolook84]

Hope someone is still looking at this thread ... i'm trying to capture my footage from my HV20 (duh!) onto my macbook. When i set the In & Out points and run Capture Clip, the screen shows the first take and it just hangs there. I figured if its working, then it should at least move a bit ... but it seems frozen (although i can abort it by pressing Esc). Sorry if this is vague, but any help would be appreciated.

I should also mention that i can only seem to capture clips by using the "Now" function.

[jbannister]

i tried the audio/video settings listed in this thread after not getting any communication from fcp and my new hv30. it helped in that the vtr turned ok and i could see my footage, but when i tried to log and capture it didnt. i am so close i can taste it. i talked to apple support and i guess hv30 is not supported by fcp. but that doesnt explain why i can get this far? i am trying to tape in hdv24p cinemode to get the best 'film-like' footage possible. the apple tech said worst case i can dump to imovie or log/cap with another deck. can anyone help so i dont have to go through those hoops?

great site btw

[Canonman21]

Ok look I'm telling you for a fact FCP5 works fine with the HV20, I have just capured nearly an hour of footage just today, so lets go through this with you and see if we can't figure it out,

first make sure the firewire cable is plugged in correctly and the battery is charged or it's pluged into the mains, then switch the HV to play, (Sorry if this sounds obvious but I just want to make SURE everything is right)

Ok then start finalcut, once open go to the Audio/Visual Settings and click on the summery tab, then put the setting like this

sequence Preset = hdv-1080i50

Capture preset = HDV

Device control prest = HDV 1080i50 Firewire Basic

Video playback set to None
and Audio Playback to Default

Click Ok to close the window

Now under the file menu click Log and Capture
and the capture window should open, now at the bottom of the preview window (just under the transport controls) it should say VTR OK

let me know if it does or doesn't, and we'll take it from there, if it does say it then all os OK if it doesn't then you may have a broken HV20, we'll see.

I tried doing what you have and everything matched up good but when I went ot device control preset the only options I could choose from are DVCPRO HD 1080i50 Firewire, DVCPRO HD Firewire, Firewire NTSC, FireWire PAL, HDV FireWire, Non Controllable Device, Sony HDV 1080i50 FireWire, and Sony HDV Firewire, which one am I supposed to choose now?...... I tried to do the HDV FireWire instead but when I click log and capture it exits out of the program............

Any help? Please?
Oh yeah, before this I used a Panasonic PV-GS80 and i could import things perfect on final cut, so I changed the setting to what you posted above, and alas this is my situation

[poopmonkey]

I tried doing what you have and everything matched up good but when I went ot device control preset the only options I could choose from are DVCPRO HD 1080i50 Firewire, DVCPRO HD Firewire, Firewire NTSC, FireWire PAL, HDV FireWire, Non Controllable Device, Sony HDV 1080i50 FireWire, and Sony HDV Firewire, which one am I supposed to choose now?...... I tried to do the HDV FireWire instead but when I click log and capture it exits out of the program............

Any help? Please?
Oh yeah, before this I used a Panasonic PV-GS80 and i could import things perfect on final cut, so I changed the setting to what you posted above, and alas this is my situation

If it just exits or crashes the program then there must be something wrong with the program itself so I would definitely try a reinstall.

[Canonman21]

If it just exits or crashes the program then there must be something wrong with the program itself so I would definitely try a reinstall.

I fixed it, I think it was because I was filming on a normal DV tape set in HD mode perhaps, plus I never installed those 2 OS discs I got with my imac so I thinkkkk that was the problem, I just set the settings on it to normal DV and refilmed over what was originally in HD(I think), and it imported fine now! Here's hoping it stays grea & !

[fantomaz]

I fixed it, I think it was because I was filming on a normal DV tape set in HD mode perhaps, plus I never installed those 2 OS discs I got with my imac so I thinkkkk that was the problem, I just set the settings on it to normal DV and refilmed over what was originally in HD(I think), and it imported fine now! Here's hoping it stays grea & !

hdv can be record on 'normal' dv tapes, i only use (good quality) dv tape...
imo you didn't fix anything because you are now filming in dv again and i think you baught ya hv for filming in hdv!?

however some time ago i had troubles with my hv30 and fcp as well. fcp 5.1.4 recognized my hv in DV mode just normal but in HD my hv didnt get recognized or better said it just got recognized as an DV device. (you can control that on hv30s lcd it should say 'HDV-out' not 'DV-out' when its connected via firewire in hdv mode. i tried out every setting and much more for hours. what i did then and i dont know why this didnt came into my mind before i just made a system-reset on my hv30, since then it works fine.
btw get sure you plug in your hv via firewire before you open fcp!
hope it helps for you as well.
regards

[Dutchwolves]

Ok.. let me get this straight... you can't log and capture HD footage from an HV20 using log and capture... just using capture "now"? I could do that simply with my old trusty digital 8 but not the HV20. I just want to be clear on this.. FCP 6.02, G5 dual 2.0 8 gigs ram.
thanks

[mattias]

it works fine in version 6 though there were issues with 5.1.

[SloYerRoll]

First off, this thread has proven to be the most informative regarding helpful solutions. I appreciate all the help you've given.

So I followed Rico's advise here. And FCP no longer gives me the Firewire message anymore when I launch FCP . But now when I go to "log and capture", it tells me, "Device is not connected or the capture preset is not setup correctly. You may still log offline clips. This also might happen if you play DV footage in an HDV device."

So I'll try to give a full run down of all my HV30/FCP settings to see if someone can help out.

HV30:
D. EFFECT - OFF
S. FINE/1920x1080
DV RECORD MODE SP
DV AUDIO 12bit
AVtoDV OFF
PLAYBACK STD A
TV TYPE 16:9COMP. OUT 1080i
DV OUTPUT HDV/DV

FCP SETTINGS:
Version 6.0 (going to upgrade soon)
Sequence preset HDV-1080i50
Capture Preset HDV
Device Control Preset HDV 1080i50 FireWire basic
Video Playback None
Audio Playback default.

Just to be clear. I have rebooted and I do have my camcorder turned on to PLAY. I've also updated all Quicktime and other apps per other Google search returns. And my MacPro recognizes the HV30 connected to the Mac via FireWire.

I'm pretty savvy regarding technology, but am a bit of a n00b on this though :/

Cheers,
-Jon

[SloYerRoll]

Bump.
Any ideas?

TIA,
-Jon

[Dutchwolves]

Finally, after agonizing forever over this... someone posted the tip to switch playback output from "Auto" to HDV. It solved the problem. My investigation went from disconnecting all my firewire drives, suspecting my FW800, buying a new firewire cable for my camera output, disconnecting my M-Audio firewire 410, maxing ram and performing a midnight voodoo ritual.
It was the camera setting that kept interrupting the firewire/timecode to the computer screwing up batch capture.
I can't remember who posted that solution but many thanks. I contacted one of the other posters and he said he got fed up and bought another camera...
At times I felt like going back to the old trusty Digital 8. Thanks everyone for sorting out this puzzle... It's still a great camera.

[skinnyboy]

I wish I'd see this thread when it started.

Yes - you have to have the PLAYBACK mode in the camera set to HDV.

Here's a kicker - you can't adjust (or even see that setting) if you have the camera connected to the computer via Firewire. You'll need to disconnect, then turn the camera off/on in order to change that setting.