Prestige locks up when adding film

[E200100041]

My Prestige with Opsys version 4.1.d locks up when trying to add film. The lockup renders the keyboard unresponsive but the mouse still responds to movement but not execution. We have added film before.
I have read as much knowledgebase information as I can find but have not found anything relating to the problem.
The Renomee is taking the same video information and works fine.

[jimmeeker]

Hello,

Generally when a Casablanca locks up when adding a film in Arabesk, it is due to a corrupted frame or two in the video somewhere or an audio segment that is over recorded and in the "red". 4.1 d did this alot. I'll bet that your Renommee has a different OS than 4.1 d. Also you may have a different version of Arabesk in the Prestige than the Renommee has.

The cure is to locate the glitch or corrupted video frame and fix it. Usually it's a bad transition which can be fixed generally by merely removing it and then placing it back in and if needed rendering it again. However if you are adding video that has been taken from an analog source, like VHS, 8mm, Hi-8 or S-VHS...there tends to be a problem with the control track being intermitant or missing in places. If the camcorder was stopped and then recording started again.....there might be a spot in the tape where there is no control track or time code at all. These dead spots will kill the process every time when trying to "add film" in Arabesk.

In this case you need to inspect the video by rolling through it and seeing if you find any missing video and just static on the screen....then cut these portions out.

Another step up the ladder to solve these analog time code problems would be to feed your analog signal into a digital camcorder and then from the camcorder into your Cassie via firewire. The camcorder acts as a time code generator and sends a usable signal to your cassie. No need to record in the camcorder during this time....it just does this as the signal passes through it to the Casablanca Recorder/editor.

The audio problem is easy to fix as well by just locating any section of audio that is too "HOT" and lowering the volume at that point so the red line turns to blue after being rendered again.

If none of this cures the situation, then your operating system may be staring to get corrupted and will need to be re-installed. An update only, may help, but generally a full destructive install is needed to fix a corrupted OS.

I hope that this helps and solves your problem.

By the way, It is our hope to make new friends on this forum and we like to have everyone use their real names. Please help us continue to make this the friendliest place on the web by going into the user control panel ( Top left hand corner) and fill in your information such as: name, town, State and what casablanca equipment you are using, especially what operating system you use, and what software add ons you have. This way when you ask a question, we can respond better by knowing what you are working with. Without knowing this we may give you information for another operating system and this wouldn't help you solve your problems.

Welcome to the forum, we hope you'll come back and visit us often and join in the fun here......and we'd love to get to know you by name.

Check the taglines on everybody's postings to see how it helps. Also if you fill in the information there, you won't have to re-type it for every post that you send to the forum.

[TimKennelly]

You can also use a process I call NOP with Audio that once used on the problem footage regardless of whether it is a real corrupt frame or only a false, perceived corrupt frame (more often) it will "fix" the problem and Add Film will work with the footage.

The following is a step by step that looks intimidating in length/complexity, but really is not if you just follow along doing it step by step with your footage.

NOP with Audio

Find your longest original, single scene in the Scene bin and highlight it.

This is normally an original raw input scene, but not a section that includes the direct problem footage Scene.
You want to use a segment of source video that did NOT give you any problems.
IE: A segment you know does NOT have corrupted frames in it.

Go to Special, use Scene->Sample, Ok.

Switch to the Audio Mix menu, highlight (left click on) an empty audio channel, Add, Scroll to the newly created longest audio sample, Ok.

Slide the large Volume slider all the way to the left to Mute this track.

If this audio sample is not as large as your entire Storyboard use Add again, Mute that segment as well.

Do this until you have filled this track the entire length of your Storyboard with all these segments Muted.

Switch back to the main Edit Menu, Go to the beginning of the Storyboard.

Got to IP Effects menu, scroll to NOP, Add.
Left click on the duration window, Range, Ok, Make sure the Band button is in Trim, not Position mode, then choose OUT, scroll the bar all the way to the right(this should now be the duration of the entire Storyboard), left click to come out of the duration bar, Ok.

Left click the Scene button, Range, OUT, scroll the bar all the way to the right(this should now be the duration of the entire Storyboard), left click to come out of the duration bar, Ok.

It will now render the entire Storyboard and create a Scene of it.

This will take some time,but consideraby less than the out to tape and back in method and has been found to be more effective.

When the Scene in created switch to an empty Project.

Go into the Edit menu, Special, Clipboard, Scene from project->Clipboard, select the Project that the newly created Scene is in.

This should bring up that Project's Scene bin at the newly created Scene, select Ok, Clipboard->Project, scroll to the newly created Scene (if you have other stuff in Clipboard), Ok, Ok.

Now you should have the newly created Scene in the Project.

If you want Chapters go into Split and split the Scene at the desired Chapter points, selecting Use for all.

Then put all those Chapter Scenes onto the Storyboard in order.

Switch to Arabesk, Film and remove the problem Project.

Then Add Film selecting the Project where you have the newly created and Split Scene/Storyboard and proceed as normal.

This is far harder to describe than do.

Let me know how it goes.
PS - I believe Control Image could be successfully substituted for NOP if you had a Storyboard that you wanted to tweak in it's entirety, aka: change the brightness, contrast and/or saturation of the entire project.
This alternative does not take any longer (or less) than using NOP, but just remember it will effect the entire Storyboard and not just a few Scenes if done in this procedure to fix a failing Storyboard.
You could alternatively use this procedure on a specific Scene if you know which Scene is causing your problems