Guys,

This is sort of an offshoot of a problem I had last week....has anyone used this deck to ingest/capture video....???

My Xpress Pro is recognizing the deck....and it's able to capture the video, but it's SQUISHING it badly...I HAVE TO HAVE 4:3 video....no 16:9....

What's so bizarre is that for 8 months, I was using my camera (Sony HVR-Z1U) to capture FLAWLESSLY...

So after I plugged my deck in for the first time, and I saw that it was SQUISHING the video...I thought..."well, I'll just go back to the camera for now"...

But now....THAT'S DOING THE SAME THING!!

Anyways....does anyone have ANY experience with the Sony GV-HD700...I REALLY want this to work properly....On the deck, there's a setting called "TV-Type"...it has 2 options...and I have it set on 4:3 rather than 16:9....but still it's to no avail...

THANKS IN ADVANCE...

It sounds as though you may just have a problem with the display window. If that is the case, just right click on the "Record" monitor, and make sure 16x9 is not checked. It should revert back to a 4x3 window.

Hope this helps!

-Jeff

 this may be an obvious question but are all your tapes HDV? Also, the "tv type" switch generally refers to external monitoring and has nothing to do with FW. I suspect that player cannot change the normal state of the tape via firewire. So if you are digitizing with firewire, you dont need to worry about the deck. Therefore any squishing is almost definitely an avid setting. I agree with the person above.

Are the only settings I can change IN AVID the 4:3 vs. 16:9...?

Like I said...the video HAS TO BE 4:3...16:9 is not an option...where else in Xpress Pro can I look to change a capture setting...and also, it's a 30i NTSC project.

 I guess you shot 16:9 HDV video......My guess is that a setting was changed on the camera and the deck. I believe there is a setting for the firewire output, downconvert to SD. You have to go into the deck menu and set the setting for firewire, downconvert to SD(4:3). I believe it gives you an option for center punch or crop? 

Hello

I've got the GV-HD700E (E for Europe) and it has worked fine in all 4:3, 16:9, DV & HDV. (Although I haven't tried HDV in Avid it works in Premiere). However, when capturing HDV the deck cannot be set to Auto for some settings and so a trip through the menus to turn on all HDV settings are required. But the TV Type is for an external monitor connection as someone has already clarified and not for the firewire connection.

1. What is the original format of the tapes? HDV or DV?

2. What aspect? 16:9 or 4:3 (I think my cameras only allow 16:9 when I record HDV).

3. Your project setting is 30i NTSC, that a DV resolution project, correct? Have you checked the settings tab in the project window to see that it matches your editing needs?

4. Have you tried turning off the Auto settings on the deck and set them manually to your desired 4:3 aspect and format?

5. Usually if you change a setting on the deck you need to disconnect and reconnect the firewire cable for the computer to register the changes. I normally set up the deck before connecting it to the computer. Have you done this when playing with the settings?

If 4 & 5 don't solve it, please can you give more information in answer to 1, 2 & 3 and anything else that could possibly help to find a solution.

Good luck.

 Puddy,

THANKS so much for the response...I'll try to answer your questions here.

1) Tapes are Sony MiniDV...not specialezed HDV tapes...

2) Aspect ratio I'm almost sure is 16:9....as it's shot in HDV

3) 30i NTSC is a DV Resolution....the settings tab is set to accept 4:3 video...I can set it to take 16:9 video, and of course it looks fine...but like I said, I HAVE TO EXPORT in 4:3...

4) I feel dumb for asking, but I don't know how to turn off the AUTO Settings on the Deck...my settings are as follows:

a) HDV/DV SEL = HDV

b) DV REC MODE = SP

c) COMPONENT = 1080i/480i

d) i. LINK CONV = ON

e) TV TYPE = 4:3

f) A/V->DV OUT = OFF

Are those the settings you're talking about??? Help me there

5) I've done the whole unplug, re-plug in, reset thing....no dice....

Again, I REALLY appreciate any help you guys can give me....in essence...I JUST NEED TO EXPORT VIDEO IN 4:3 from this deck...surely that's do-able...???

Right?

Okay, I've just tried this but in PAL.

Tape = HDV 16:9 aspect.

1. Avid Xpress Pro 5.7 test

Deck settings in "IN/OUT REC" menu are:

a) HDV/DV Sel = HDV

b) i.LINK CONV = ON

That's all.

Avid Project settings = 25i PAL (which I am considering as a 30i NTSC equivalent for this test)

Results: Video captures at DV with 4:3 aspect but taken as the centre of the frame with no options to tweak framing.

2. Adobe Premiere CS2 test

Same settings on Deck as for Avid test.

Project template = DV PAL, 4:3, 48Khz audio

Results: Video captures at DV with 4:3 aspect with the default view taken as the centre of the frame but the rest of the widescreen DV frame is preserved and very useful as the frame can be adjusted left or right.

3. Conclusion

Bottom line is that it appears to work, so I would think it's to do with a setting either on the deck or a setting that has been accidentally tripped in the Avid project settings. Try the settings I used and hopefully that will solve your problem.

HTH.

Hello again

The menu button near the cross pad like buttons on the deck will take you to the menu, which you've already listed, and that's where you can turn off Auto settings. I see you've already done that though. In my PAL deck when I manually switch to HDV, the "DV REC MODE" becomes greyed out, which to me means that's disabled and doesn't matter anymore whilst in the HDV mode, but that's an assumption which to date has proved correct.

Yes, AV->DV should be off.

And don't ever be afraid to ask a  what seems like a "dumb" question as usually the dumb question is not dumb at all and ends up solving the problem.

Maybe you've managed to try my settings from my last post by now. Has it worked?

As a side note, I'm impressed Premiere can do the pan and scan.

 Puddy,

Going along with you here....have the correct settings...

I do have a question for you though....you said...

"Results: Video captures at DV with 4:3 aspect but taken as the centre of the frame with no options to tweak framing"

In lamen's terms...what does that mean? Cause when I try all of these settings, I still get video being captured that looks SQUISED...

Thanks again...

 Another follow-up...In my AVID "Capture Box"....for the Deck option, there is no "GV-HD700" option....it's not one of the decks/cameras that are listed...

The one I have chosen for the export is the "Sony HVR-Z1U"...which is my camera...

Any ideas on changing it there?

 your video is anamorphic (16:9 squised) Capture in 16:9 edit at will. After that have a look at the effect category reformat:  4:3 sidebar makes your video 4:3. Or use pan and scan to pich that part of the video you want in 4:3.

Puddy meant that when he captures DV with 4:3 aspect only the center (4:3) portion of the 16:9 frame is used, left and right side of a frame is discarded. (like 4:3 sidebar)

Thanks jknikman, that's exactly what I meant.

My test was done using a 4:3 aspect project and Avid gracefully does what it says on the "tin" and makes it 4:3 straight up. For the Premiere pan and scan, it's still DV at 4:3, but widescreen DV (not HDV) so really it's just panning that can be done for tweaking. Still useful though. The preview monitors only show the video in 4:3 and hides the sides of the frame.

I am wondering if the problem could be because you've got your deck configured with your camera, even if it is output. My Avid has it as a Generic DV device.

Open the capture window and for the deck options in the drop down box around the bottom, choose "Auto Detect" or something along those lines (haven't got it open in front of me right now) and just let it find the deck itself.

With any luck that might solve it.

I think you most probably would want to crack this problem, but the idea that jknickman suggests about doing the project as HDV for 4:3 DV output gives you a lot more flexibility over adjusting the framing.

If the footage was shot with a 4:3 frame in mind and with it was framed up for the centre of the widescreen then it is easier. But if it wasn't then you may have framing issues, which following the project settings I used in the test for Avid means you'll be stuck with the centre of the widescreen frame only. That can be annoying.

Let me know how you get on and if I can think of anything else that might help, I'll post it.

Update: I tried to recreate your problem and when I went to the "Format" tab in the project window (not to be confused with the reformat effect) and I turned my project video from 25i to 1080i/HDV, the timeline switched and it all went widescreen. When I returned the setting to 25i now the 4:3 aspect has suddenly become 16:9 and if I view my monitors as 4:3, the video, as you described it, is "squished". (Or technical speak it's a 16:9 frame compressed in a 4:3 window).

All attempts to go back to the way Avid originally interpreted the footage have proved unfruitful, including two reinstalls of the software. I suspect if I really want it to go back I may I have to reinstall Windows because I can't find what's caused this. It looks like Avid has tripped its settings and it remembers from somewhere on the computer.

But, thinking about it I actually have come to feel that Avid is doing what it should. The 25i project setting does not specify whether it's a 16:9 or a 4:3 project and I've never had to do that and at present cannot see a way to do that, as I would in Premiere.

And the video deck and my test camera (I grabbed my HC7E close to hand), when both using the iLink conversion, quite rightly turn the 16:9 HDV to 16:9 DV and there are no options to crop it to 4:3. So the video being ingested into Avid and Premiere in my tests are actually natively 16:9.

That's why Premiere's project setting when chosen as 4:3 gives me the video as 16:9 but not squeezed up, thus allowing me to pan the frame to adjust it. Avid though, interprets the footage natively, i.e. it looked at the signal and said to itself, "this is 16:9 DV not 4:3".

So, how did I get from a successful capture of 4:3 aspect cropped from 16:9 to a native 16:9 frame. Well, I think that at first Avid was playing dumb in that it hadn't figured out that the video coming in was 16:9. But when I messed with the format tab it's as if it woke up and kicked itself saying, "Hey, this is not 4:3, what have I been thinking?" Following that the entire project, including previously captured footage reverts to the 16:9 frame and that's the end of easy 4:3 cutting as DirtonDirt was used to.

In summary, at present I've exhausted all efforts to revert Avid back to its convenient "dumb" state. Secondly, I think Avid is actually in the right and not the wrong to interpret the footage as 16:9. Which concludes that an alternative workflow needs to be considered. Or shoot 4:3 DV next time.

At present I'm not sure what's the best approach to taking your HDV footage and making a 4:3 final project, and I'm not sure when I can get time on the machine this week as it's got a heavy workload running. But if I do get some time I'll post back. In the meantime, I'm sure there are some clever people out there who might be able to give you some advice on this faster than me.

That's my essay done.

Good luck.

J.