Convert HDV without a card to DVCpro HD?

[Uli Plank]

Sure you can, but it will take time. Just set your timeline to DVCProHD, drop your HDV in there and render. That’s all, and there’s no more change in quality than via a hardware card.

But if you want to work in realtime, you’ll need to save all your stuff to QT once and ingest it again as DVCProHD. As long as you make hard cuts only, there’ll be no further quality hit, but if you add any FX or transitions, you’ll add one generation of DVCProHD compression, since FCP can’t use the original footage any more.

So, either your workflow will suffer or the quality

[Arnie Schlissel]

You can also use the batch export from FCP to do this, or simply send the clips into Compressor. If you want matching TC on the clips, though, I think you need to use the Batch export.

Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog