Beta Deck Basics

HAL is equipped with a Betacam SP deck. The Betacam SP format is an ANALOG STANDARD DEFINITION tape format.

The following is the procedure for capturing BETACAM SP footage from the BETACAM SP DECK onto HAL:

1. Turn Betacam SP deck on. Turn NTSC monitor on and switch to Input B.
2. Insert Betacam SP tape. The deck supports both the large and small tape sizes.
3. Open FCP. Set Capture Scratch and then go to File -> Log & Capture.
4. Click the Capture Settings Tab.
5. For Device Control, select "Blackmagic NTSC 29.97Hz" from the pulldown menu.
6. For Capture Input there are several options. Typically when capturing Betacam SP footage, you want to capture at either 8 Bit or 10 Bit uncompressed, preserving the highest quality and resolution from the tape. Capturing at uncompressed quality will also produce very large file sizes. You can also choose to capture at DV quality, which can then be "up-rezed" later to a higher quality, replacing the DV footage with uncompressed.
7. To capture at 8-bit or 10-bit uncompressed, choose "Blackmagic NTSC - 8 Bit" or "Blackmagic NTSC - 10 Bit". To capture at DV quality, choose "Blackmagic NTSC - DV"
8. Click the Logging Tab.
9. In the Reel box, enter a name for the tape. In the Description box, enter a filename for the footage.
10. On the deck, set the control switch to "Remote". This switch allows you to control the deck from the capture window.
11. Advance the tape to a point a few seconds before the footage you want captured. Press Play on the deck.
12. Click "Capture Now".
13. When you have reached the end of the footage, press ESC.

Matt