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Best codec for MBP edit – without AJA IO/LD?
Hi All
If I need to do a quick job for broadcast on a MBP using a FW800 drive, and nothing else (ie. no AJA boxes), and the footage can be supplied on any format I want (it was originated on Digibeta), what’s the best format/codec to work with? I’m thinking DV50/DVCPro captured via firewire? Any other options I missed? Also, do I need a FW ExpressCard or do the FW400 and FW800 ports reside on seperate buses (a little hopeful, I’ll admit – I assume I need the card).
I know, not an ideal situation, but it’s a little job, and I don’t make a habit of doing broadcast work on a MBP, so I don’t want to spend out on an AJA box – the client will supply the deck, and I can blag a monitor.
Will DV50 or similar look any good? How does it compare to 10-bit apart from banding issues? Will the questions never end?
Many many thanks
Ben
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13 Replies
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DV50 is much better than dv. You will need to get the card for the best performance and separate your firewire devices. If you do end up getting an io, you can use it on another system later. get yourself a cheap 2 drive raid, an io LD, and you will have an SD 10 bit uncompressed mobile editing system. Also, my MBP does a lot of things faster than my G5, so don’t discount it as an editor. It does well.
Jeremy
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Jeremy. Many thanks – not dismissing the LD, I think it’s a great product with the MBP, but I normally travel a full Mac Pro kit with AJA Kona LH or 3. This is a pretty exceptional circumstance that I just can’t see myself repeating enough to spend even $1000 on the LD. Love the idea otherwise.
Am I correct in thinking DVCPro and DV50 are either a) one and the same or b) exactly the same quality? And can I get DV50 from a deck over firewire?
Dumb questions I know – I just don’t work in these ‘intermediate’ formats. If you see what I mean.
Ben
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[Ben Holmes] “If you see what I mean.”
I know exactly what you mean. DvcPro and DV50 are definitely not the same. DVCPro is essentially dv25 (or regular dv) with 4:1:1 (or 4:2:0) color sampling and a heck of a lot of compression. DVCPro 50 is the same frame size as dv (720×480) but has twice the data rate and twice the color sampling (4:2:2). It’s still pretty compressed, but looks pretty good and will allow you to capture and output to an appropriate deck over firewire. Can’t beat that convenience.
So, no DVCPro and DVCPro50 are not the same, no they are not the exact same quality, and yes you can input and output DVCPro 50 over firewire with an appropriate deck.
Do you work with a lot of HD on the road? I travel with a big rig too, but lately, the MBP has been too convenient to pass up, even with HD (working with native DVCPro HD (DV100) of course). It saves my back, stress level and money.
Jeremy
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DVCPro is Panasonic’s version of DVCam. DV and miniDV are sort of the generic. All three, DVCam, DVCPro, and DV are DV25, not DV50.
DVCPro50 is DV50. The 50 formats are similar to digibeta. A little more compresssion, but 4:2:2 instead of 4:1:1
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Many thanks – to both of you. I did know this stuff once, I’m sure. Sounds like DVCPro50 is the way to go then – best SD quality via firewire from what I can gather.
All the best – another speedy COW response.
Ben
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What are you going to output to if you use DVCPro50? Do you have a DVCPro50 deck? This is a fairly forgotten format these days. I’m not sure if it ever supported firewire.
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[Bret Williams] “This is a fairly forgotten format these days. I’m not sure if it ever supported firewire.”
Uhh, you’re kidding, right?
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About the forgotten format or firewire part? Like I said I’m not sure about the firewire, but in Atlanta I’ve only ever seen DVCPro50 used one time, and it was an internal Bellsouth division. They had the cameras and decks. That was back in 1999. The decks certainly didn’t have firewire back then as standard, and there was only one DVCPro deck for the longest time that had firewire. Not many people seem to use either in my world. It’s either beta, digibeta or dvcam. And of course now days it’s all over the place witih the new DVCProHD, HDV, P2, etc. Speaking of new stuff, I saw a demo of XDCam yesterday and was pretty impressed. $30 for a 23Gig disc. How much is a 8gig P2 card? Yikes! Starting to think P2 is a big interim format. But enough OT stuff. 🙂
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[Bret Williams] “About the forgotten format or firewire part?”
Both. Sounds like you live in a Sony town. An SDX900 with an HD lens is a sweet setup and looks awesome. DV50 is most definitely firewire capable. You can even play dv50 out of the firewire of appropriate DVCPro HD decks.
Jeremy
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