Importing, transferring, capturing, and digitizing

5Before you record video on a striped tape, play about 30 seconds of it from the beginning. Verify that the camcorder is reading the timecode you striped before you start shooting. The 30-second empty lead on the tape also helps in batch capturing.

Check your camera’s settings whenever changing tapes, especially when reinserting a tape you had begun shooting previously. Though you may want to use different settings for different tapes, it’s best to use the same settings from beginning to end of each tape. These should match the settings used when first striping that tape.

Replace DV timecode

If your source footage is in DV format and its timecode isn’t continuous, you can replace its timecode by making a DV copy, or dub, of the tape. The DV device making the copy records new timecode that is continuous, so you can then log and capture video, with the new timecode, from the copy.

Note: This technique does not work when dubbing to the DVCAM format or using a Panasonic AG-DV2500 as the record deck.

1Load the DV tape you shot into a DV camcorder or deck for playback, and fully rewind it.

2Load a new tape into a second camcorder or deck, which you will use to record a copy.

3If the recording device includes an option to record video with the timecode from your original tape, be sure that this option is disabled. See the operating instructions for the device for information on this option.

4If the recording device is digital, connect it to the DV source device using a digital cable, such as IEEE 1394 or SDI. This will make a full-quality copy.

5Connect the recording device to a television monitor.

6Set both devices to VTR mode.

7Make sure that the recording device is set to record from the digital port.

8Begin recording the new tape and then start your original tape playing. Let the camcorders or decks run until the entire original tape has been copied.

Note: Scene Detect recognizes the starting and stopping points for each shot by looking for jumps in the timestamps. Because copying a tape this way creates a single clip with a continuous timestamp, you can’t use Scene Detect when you capture the copy in Premiere Pro.

Capturing timecode

The timecode of source video is captured when you use device control. Timecode capture with controllable analog devices depends on the precision of your tape deck. If your tape deck cannot read the timecode accurately, you may have to calibrate your system or manually assign the timecode to your movie by matching frames.

Note: Timecode is visible in the tape counter only on equipment that can recognize timecode, unless the timecode has been burned in or recorded over the picture in a copy of the tape. Most analog home VCRs cannot read or write timecode.

Set timecode manually for a clip

You can change the timecode from that recorded by Premiere Pro. For example, you captured footage from a DV copy of a Hi8 tape originally recorded with RCTC (Rewritable Consumer Time Code). The DV copy, and the video files on your computer copied from it, carry the DV timecode, not the original RCTC. For convenience in referencing shot logs made for the original Hi8 tape, you want to reset the timecode to the original RCTC numbers.

1Select the clip in the Project panel.

2Choose File > Timecode, specify options as needed, and click OK.

Last updated 1/16/2012