Importing data from a tape-based camera
Today, it's hard to find a video camera in a store that still records to tape. The camera world has virtually completed its slow and painful transition from tape-based to tapeless media. However, for those of us who are clinging onto our old, yet trusted equipment, or who work in a professional environment that is forced to use their technology till the day it dies, we still need FCPX to be able to import from these cameras.
Luckily, FCPX can still import from most tape-based camera formats, including HDV, DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, and DVCPRO HD. However, support for the process has been severely deprecated. It's still an easy task, but there aren't nearly as many bells and whistles to import from tape as there used to be in FCP7.
How to do it...
1. Turn on your camera and set it to playback mode (this differs from camera to camera). Attach it via FireWire to your Mac or capture device.
2. If FCPX is open, it should automatically open the Import from Camera window. If not, click on the Import From Camera icon in the left of the toolbar:
3. Queue your tape to the point you want to import from either by using the camera's controls, or by using the J, K, and L keys on your keyboard to rewind, pause, or play, respectively. Click on Import:
4. In the next window, pick your settings such as what event you want the video saved to and if you want any analysis or transcoding done. When you're done, click on Import again.
5. FCPX begins importing right away. It will continue to do so until it either reaches the end of the tape, your disk fills up (don't let this happen!), or you click on Stop Import. Remember that tape-based capture happens in real time. If you have 57 minutes of footage, it will take 57 minutes to capture!
There's more...
If you're lucky...
Depending on your camera, FCPX may be able to detect starts and stops (when you click on Record and Pause) on your tape automatically. If it can, FCPX will split up your imported footage into individual clips!
If you run into problems, try a camera archive
Reports of tape capture problems in FCPX have been widely reported (such as dropped frames, missing video, and so on). As Apple pushes technology farther and faster, they tend to leave behind what they believe to be dying technologies (in this case, tape). Users who have run into various issues capturing from tape have also found better success by creating a camera archive of their footage first, then importing from that, rather than doing an immediate and direct import. Read the Creating a camera archive section for more info. When all else fails, try importing your footage into iMovie first, then import that project into FCPX!
