Problems with m2t files

LeslieD wrote on 6/15/2010, 8:17 AM
A while back, I rented a Canon XH-A1 to record a family event. I decided to try capturing the event in 24f. I'll admit, I didn't and still don't really understand what this meant/s, but according to the manual it was going to give the video the feel of film. (I'm a self taught videographer and am still learning the technical part of things...obviously.) So I tried it. Also, at this time, I was still rendering video in Vegas 6. Ok, here's my problem. The captured m2t files are cut into milisecond files. I did have lots of problems capturing the video into Vegas 6. The HDV tapes stopped themselves many times. What could have caused this? Vegas 8 is having a hard time handling these files even after changing them over to cineform avi files. Also, the video feels like it is in super fast forward, so I found that I can expand them some, but even after doing that, these clips are very choppy when put together. Any thought about what I can do?

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 6/15/2010, 8:37 AM
Your capture must be done exactly as your tape was recorded. Don't try to change anything in the capture stage. What capture application did you use?
LeslieD wrote on 6/15/2010, 8:50 AM
I just captured it directly into vegas straight off the hdv tape.
musicvid10 wrote on 6/15/2010, 9:25 AM
Your first post sounded like you tried to capture at a different frame rate than you recorded.

Can you upload a short clip of the capture somewhere? Were there dropped frames?
LeslieD wrote on 6/15/2010, 10:20 AM
I'll get some clips together and upload them probably on vimeo. I'll post a link when I get it up. I should also mention that only two of the four hdv tapes captured like this. I know one for sure didn't cut the clips down into this milisecond clips.
musicvid10 wrote on 6/15/2010, 11:03 AM
No, upload some original captured clips, not to Vimeo. Converted clips do absolutely no good when trying to troubleshoot a problem.

If Vegas is splitting (scene detecting) many different files, yet others are OK, then you have bad tape. Very little question about it. You may want to try HDV Split.
LeslieD wrote on 6/16/2010, 6:47 AM
How do you do an hdv split?
UlfLaursen wrote on 6/16/2010, 7:06 AM
HDV Split is a small free utility to capture HVD. It also allows you to split automatic into several scenes. You can get it here:

http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm

/Ulf
LJA wrote on 6/16/2010, 7:15 AM
This problem is familiar. It occurred to me on a number of occasions. Solution? Either recapture (capture often works the second time) or use a different version of Vegas, i.e., 7d instead of 7c. The problem, in my case, is not the tape but Vegas or some combination of Vegas and firewire. For a long time I captured with 7d and edited in V8. I never had this problem with V7, although LeslieD obviously has. I do not have the problem with V9.
LeslieD wrote on 6/17/2010, 12:42 PM
Thanks for the HDV split link. Looks like it is something you use when capturing off the camera...right? Well, unfortunately I rented the Canon XH-A1 camera when I did this project to play with it and see if I wanted to buy it. I didn't buy it and actually don't own a camera that works with HDV tapes. I have thought about sending these tapes into a company that transfers the data from hdv to a hard drive or dvd...as that is much cheaper than renting the camera a second time. But I'm pretty unfamiliar with that. Do I still need to upload some of the original m2t files? If so, anyone know where I can upload them so you guys can take a look at them?

Thanks again everybody!
Leslie