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digitizing HDCAM library to ProRes422HQ process
Hi folks:
I am hoping that I can get some suggestions from folks here. Thanks in advance.
I have a library of about 250 HDCAM tapes that I hope to digitize to the ProRes422HQ format. Here is my plan, and I wonder if anyone sees any glaring errors in it or has suggestions to go this more efficiently or cheaply. Am I missing anything?
1. I will buy a used Sony J-H3 HDCAM deck to play back the tapes. This will give me an SDI output. I plan to sell the J-H3 deck after digitizing my tapes. I could also buy a J-H1 deck which outputs component HD, but I’ve heard that SDI will give a cleaner signal. It does seem that J-H3 decks sell more quickly and there is more demand for them than the J-H1 decks.
2. I’ll take the SDI output from the J-H3 deck and feed it into a Matrox MXO2 LE box.
3. My Mac tower will do most of the computing work. I will take the output from the Matrox box and convert it using Final Cut Pro version 6 (the latest I have), I will convert the footage to ProRes422HQ. My Mac is a 2 x 2.66 Ghz Dual-Core Intel Xeon with 3Gb RAM.
4. I have a MacGurus Burly Firewire 800 enclosure. My Mac will feed the ProRes422HQ footage into a Hitachi 2Tb hard drive using Firewire 800. I have heard that I should use RAID to avoid dropped frames, but I am not sure what flavor of RAID to use. Instead, I plan to capture footage to a drive, then clone the drive as backup. I’ve heard that Firewire 800 will be just fine to capture my footage.
I’ve heard this statement: “You can capture ProRes to a single drive, but it may be safer to capture to a RAID to ensure there are no dropped frames.” Can anyone tell me what flavor of RAID I should use and how that would avoid dropped frames? My enclosure will allow me to set various RAID settings (software and hardware based, but I am told that the software based RAID is superior: Performace is superior using software RAID with OSX Disk Utility … and not the firmware RAID configured using the bridge RAID configurations).
5. Most of my tapes were shot in 1080i, but about 25 tapes were shot in 23.98. I shoot with an older F900 camera and after digitizing all existing tapes, I hope to sell the deck, and to use the camera to digitize any new tapes. Since the Matrox box has component HD as an input, I believe that I can simply feed my footage using the F900 camera to the Matrox box and use the procedure outlined above. Am I correct?
6. I’ve heard this statement:
The only other issue needing research is monitoring the video levels for capture. I don’t know if the signal can get messed up during capture.If anyone can explain the above and how I can solve any possible problem thereby, I’d greatly appreciate it.
Many thanks in advance for any suggestions on the above. I am looking for a used J-H3 deck and a Matrox box to buy if anyone has one.
Norbert Wu
Norb
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Norbert Wu Productions
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
USA -
15 Replies
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HQ is overkill. HDCAM is an 8-bit 3:1:1 format. IF it was HDCAM SR, you might choose HQ. But all that does for HDCAM is take up more space.
That is a LOT of footage. 75GB per hour, so I hope those tapes aren’t 1 hour tapes. Even if they are 30 min tapes, that is about 9.6TB of space. 14.1 TB at HQ.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
First, Pro Res HQ is not necessary for any formats smaller than 2K resolution, so normal Pro Res will do just fine.
Also, you can use a single firewire 800 to capture Pro Res, but at 62Gb per hour you’re going to fill up a lot more than a single 2TB drive fast. Each 2Tb drive will hold only about 30 – 32 hours if you max them out, and you should always leave 10 to 15% free space on each drive. So figure 28 hours per drive.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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[Shane Ross] “75GB per hour”
Interesting, my Digital Heaven VideoSpace widget said 62.04 per hour.
Must be because it defaults to 2-channels of audio, when HDCAM actually has 4-channels.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Thanks for the speedy replies regarding hard drive space. Hitachi 2Tb drives are $150 or so — so I am not concerned about buying up to ten hard drives, and I believe my library of about 170 hours should only fill up 6 to 8 Tb, or 3 to 4 drives. That is a tiny amount of money compared to the cost of buying or renting a deck.
Anyone see any glaring errors in this process otherwise?
Thanks.
Norb
Norb
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Norbert Wu Productions
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
USA -
[Norbert Wu] “Anyone see any glaring errors in this process otherwise? “
Norbert, two of the forum leaders have already given you the same answer. What additional info could you really need?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Well, I did have some other, perhaps more difficult questions in my post other than the hard drive space required. I do appreciate any answers to those questions, and I thank the two experts for their answers about hard drive space.
Norb
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Norbert Wu Productions
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
USA -
According to my AJA iPhone App, it is 75.3GB, with 2 CH of audio.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Shane Ross] “According to my AJA iPhone App, it is 75.3GB, with 2 CH of audio. “
Interesting!
I guess one of us could do the math and figure it all out to see who’s right, AJA or Digital Heaven, but weren’t these tools created so we wouldn’t have to do that?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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[Shane Ross] “According to my AJA iPhone App, it is 75.3GB, with 2 CH of audio.”
Yes, but what does your iPad say?
BTW, did you see Stephen Colbert chop salad with his?
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/ -
SDI is superior to component so go with the JH3. If you use the camera instead of a deck you will have to capture the footage as uncontrolled device so sourcing back to your original timecode will be lost so capture off a deck is preferable.
Do some homework and search this forum for advice on capture cards. With AJA Kona, Matrox and Decklink to choose from, you should compare features and make a decision based on primary usage and future needs. Basic requirements for your capture are SDI in and 9 pin machine control.
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