Appendix C. Capturing from Tape-based Formats
Although many wish for its demise, the truth is that tape is still a reality. Whether it is television networks that have standardized on a tape format or just an economic reality that the gear is paid for, you’ll still need tape. Of course, you’ll also need the corresponding deck and potentially special hardware to load the tape.
DV and HDV Capture
Without a third-party capture card, you’re limited to FireWire acquisition. FireWire, known also as IEEE 1394 (and as iLink), is a connection that supports the data and device control of cameras and decks. Part of what makes FireWire so resilient is that it doesn’t rely on the host system (like USB) to move data.
If you want to capture footage in a format other than DV/HDV, you’ll need a capture card (see Chapter 2), such as those made by AJA, Blackmagic, Bluefish, and Matrox.
Professional and prosumer tape-based mediums rely on timecode—a feature of professional videotape formats. The tape has an index that is frame specific, meaning you can capture specific frames, and just as important, recapture those same frames.
Capture Methods
Three standard ways exist to capture footage (FIGURE C.1):
• Record. This method records whatever you’re seeing.
• In/Out points. With this method, you mark In and Out points on the tape and then click the Record button (G). The tape will roll backward, cue the In point, and record to the Out point.
• Logging. This method is exactly like marking In and Out points, but instead of recording the footage, you press the Log Clip button, which creates an offline clip meant for later batch capture.
Figure C.1. The Capture panel. You can play the footage by pressing the spacebar or by pressing JKL for playback.
Capturing Footage
The basics of capturing footage, although outlined here for DV and HDV, are generally the same for systems with third-party capture cards.
Name Your Tape
After you insert a tape into your deck or camera, you must first name the tape. This is crucial. The only way Adobe Premiere Pro can identify the tape is based on your tape name identification. So be sure to label that tape!
- Make sure your deck or camera is connected to your computer prior to starting Adobe Premiere Pro.
- Choose File > Capture (FIGURE C.2).
Figure C.2. Whether you record on the fly or between In and Out points, you’ll be able to save the captured clip with additional metadata.
- Choose where you’d like to save your clips (usually you won’t have to do anything, because your captured clips will be saved to what you’ve configured your Scratch Disk settings to be, which are project specific).
- Click the red Record button as the footage plays; press it again to stop recording.
Logging and Batch Capture
The process of logging along with batch capture has been used by editors for nearly two decades. Originally driven by a lack of storage space, editors would log all the moments to capture from the tape, and then have their NLE go back and just capture those parts of the tape, ensuring that the least amount of storage was used.
Critical to this was uninterrupted (or constant) timecode on the tape. Generally, on prosumer tape-based cameras, the timecode would reset back to zero.
Logging
The process of logging shuttles through a tape involves marking In and Out points. But instead of clicking the Record button, you click the Log Tape button. This will create an offline clip with the information about which tape it came from and where to start/stop the recording of the tape.
Log Clip Button
Create a Log Clip button keyboard shortcut, and you can shuttle through a tape, mark In and Out points, and log the clip without taking your hands off the keyboard.
Offline clips are displayed as a document icon with a pair of arrows in the file browser (FIGURE C.3). Note that they contain all the data—tape, length, frame rate—but they’re marked with the word Offline.
Figure C.3. Offline clips from tape can be recaptured.
Batch Capture
After you’ve logged two or more clips, you can select them and then batch capture them. Choose File > Batch Capture. In the Batch Capture dialog, you can add extra handles or choose different capture settings (FIGURE C.4).
Figure C.4. The beauty of Batch Capture is that it can be done unattended.
Then sit back and watch the fireworks as Adobe Premiere Pro shuttles through your tape to capture just what you told it to.
Third-party Capture Cards
Third-party cards use methods similar to DV and HDV. They utilize the Capture panel and have the capability to perform capture, capture to In and Out points, and batch capture clips.
We recommend that you follow the directions provided by the manufacturer of the card on how to properly operate the hardware.
Most likely, you’ll have to install drivers and other software to get Adobe Premiere Pro to work properly.