Importing?

[csgaraglino]

Today is the first time I have used the PRE Import. Typically, I just added a file form my computer's hard drive into the project and of we go.

Now that I have a miniDV I am using the import module the way it was designed and I have some questions.
I only had 20 minutes that I needed to import, but 3 hours later it is still running?
I did leave everything a the installed defaults.
Capture to Timeline is checked
Split Scenes is checked
Auto Analyse is checked

It seems that the Auto Analyse is what is taking so long?
What is this step, why is it taking so long and do I really need it?

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

As you have a Sony HVR-A1 I'm assuming that the footage is HD, so try capturing with HDVSplit (free, a lot of us here use it) then just import the captured footage into your PRE project.

[Paul LS]

The auto-analysis can take hours and hours. In my opinion it is a complete waste of time. It takes a fraction of the time to manually anaylse the video. What it does is analyze the video for a number of parameters that can be selected... for example: brightness/contrast, motion, auido or not, people in the frame and a bunch of other things. It then uses this information when doing auto-editing, asking you if you want to do certain operations automatically... like brighten a dark video. You can also search for clips in the organizer, searching on certain parameters.

[Steve Grisetti]

I agree with Paul. Turn off the Auto Analyzer in the capture window unless you think you'll have a specific need for it. (And, even if you do, you can manually analyze your clips later.)

[csgaraglino]

...try capturing with HDVSplit...

What are the advantages of this over PRE? Are there any disadvantages?

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

HDV Split will break the HD video into individual scenes on capture; PRE just captures one long scene that you then have to break into scenes manually.

[csgaraglino]

Ok, thanks. I'll give it a try...