Canon XH-A1S and Canon FS-CF Pro into FCP

[Shane Ross]

Well…Quicktime would be the most compatible format for FCP…even FCX. The Quicktime format it records is HDV (the MXF format as well, but that’s for Avid). FCP and FCX support native HDV Quicktime…so that’s your best bet.

Although the quality is no better than if you recorded on HDV tape. Better solutions are the AJA KiPro Mini that can record to ProRes…or the Atmos Ninja that can do the same. HDV is very lossy…4:2:0 and long GOP. ProRes is 4:2:2 and full I-Frame.

But, if “lossless” is what you want…HDV Quicktime is that. Although, as I said, it’s no better than recording onto tape.

Shane
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[Gregory Matthews]

Hi Shane,

Thanks for your input.

Question:

If HDV Quicktime is “lossless”, meaning no degradation of the recorded file through compression (I’m assuming that’s what this means), then why is ProRes so highly recommended?

Thanks again.

Gregory

[Shane Ross]

HDV is a lossy codec. 1440×1080 anamorphic (not full pixel)…4:2:0 color space. GOP format, meaning 3 real frames per second and then a group of pictures that guess at the in between frames. HDV is highly compressed: 1 hour of DV is 13GB…fits on a DV tape. 1 hour of HDV is 13GB…fits on a DV tape. DV is 720×480…HDV is 1440×1080. That’s a LOT of compression!

ProRes is far superior. Full raster 1920×1080…4:2:2 color space. Full I-Frame. 1 hour is 76GB. Yes, that’s a larger file, but it contains a LOT more video data.

Recorders that record ProRes directly from the camera make a much better image than those that do HDV. Because they are taking the feed right from the sensor and recording it as ProRes…not taking an HDV signal and converting it (say if you shot to HDV tape and captured as ProRes).

A signal recorded from that camera as ProRes is far superior to one recorded as HDV. I said that HDV would be lossless as that camera, when it records to tape…records HDV. SO if you have a device that records HDV…it’s the same format. But if you mean which of those recording formats is “lossless,” well…none, really. That recorder is not all that great compared to the other options. Records HDV as MXF for Avid…HDV as Quicktime for FCP. RawDV…is DV. AVI…who knows what that is…but something another NLE would use, not FCX.

The only benefit of recording to that device as HDV QT vs tape…is that your ingest time is faster. That’s it.

Shane
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[Gregory Matthews]

… well said buddy. Thanks for the explanation. It makes perfect sense now.

Have a good one.

G.