Error Cueing DV Machine

[InnoForm Media]

Hi!
I am using my DV machine to cue. Sometimes, upon chosing a place to start my recording on my Pro Tools, the machine will cue. But upon reaching the point of recording, sometimes it just stop and i have to chose another location and record again.

Please advice..
I m using Mac OS x, Pro tools ( latest ver , just updated ) , Mac G5 .
The DV machine which i am cueing is DSR-85P from SONY.

I cant find this machine listed in the Machine Control so i used Generic 2 NTSC though the DV player is in PAL.

I am using this method because my video master is in DV and i need to record in PRO TOOLS. After which , i can sync back to DV to be my master for production.

Please advice.
Cheers!

[DigiTechSupt]

Hi,

Is the 9-pin cable connected to the SYNC I/O's 9-pin ports or are you using a Keyspan USB to serial adapter? What are you using for positional reference (LTC or serial timecode)? Are Pro Tools and the deck locked to PAL blackburst?

You can try increasing the Preroll in Peripherals>MachineControl and the Minimum Sync Delay in Peripherals>Syncronization.

-Jordan

[InnoForm Media]

Hi!
I am currently using the SYNC I/o cable to connect to my DV cam.
I set the pre-roll from 150 to 50..
I think 50 works best. Though the number of cueing error is shorten.
But it is still not completely solved.
For positional reference... i m using Time code reference from the DV machine.
As for the PAL blackburst... heheh.. something new, i try to figure it out.

Thanks...
But i still do not know why sometimes it can cue the machine with no problems.
But sometimes, i have to cue it like 10 times, this can be fustrating for the vocalist who is doing the voice over.
My initial thought was that changing it to a G5 could solved the problem, but it seems like its not what i expected.

A friend of mine told me that this error COULD NOT be resolved as under machine control, the NODE selection does not include my DV model number : DSR-85P. Is there anyway i can get a node like that?

Please advice!

Cheers!

[DigiTechSupt]

How about the Minimum Sync Delay? Try increasing this (along with preroll) until you find the shortest 100% reliable lockup.

<For positional reference... i m using Time code reference from the DV machine>
Hopefully you mean that you're feeding LTC from the deck back to the SYNC I/O? This is required if you don't have video reference.

Ultimately you'll want to get a Keyspan USA-28x USB to Serial adapter. For non-linear decks such as your DV cam, we've seen the best results with the Keyspan rather than SYNC I/O's ports.

-Jordan

[Chief Technician]

For non-linear decks such as your DV cam, we've seen the best results with the Keyspan rather than SYNC I/O's ports.

-Jordan

I'm glad to see that DigiTechSupt finally recognizes that the ports on the SYNC I/O, while functional, don't compare to using the Keyspan. I've been saying this in the post forum for months. Now the only question is when will the printed documentation get changed to reflect this fact?

But since when is DVcam non-linear? If he's using tape, it's linear, isn't it? I thought the only decks that were non-linear were hard disk based models such as Doremi's V1m?

[DigiTechSupt]

You're right, my mistake. A DV-Cam is linear, of course.

Check out pages 8 - 9 in the latest MachineControl guide: http://www.digidesign.com/support/do..._Guide_6.4.pdf

-Jordan

[Chief Technician]

So I read those pages as you suggested, and the documentation doesn't seem to have changed. Digidesign is still recommending using the 9pin ports on the SYNC I/O for non-linear decks. Without turning this into a finger-pointing contest, I can say that on several systems I've tried the SYNC I/O ports with a Doremi V1m (non-linear) and get unacceptable performance. I have to use the Keyspan with a Doremi V1m to get worthy performance.

We're getting off of the original subject of this thread, but I still disagree with the documentation.