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Getting data into the computer
I’m a producer/editor, not a DP/videographer. On the verge now of buying an Octocore and everything that I need for a high def edit system, I am wondering what my capture needs will be. Will the crews I hire be recording my high def material to tape? To P2 cards? To something else? Will a new workflow have me transferring data at the end of a shoot from the crew’s media into a laptop/hard drive that I bring along, which I can then just transfer to the edit system? Or will I be digitizing from tapes and rented (at least for now) decks?
Well, no one can answer these questions in the abstract, I know, but I’m just wondering whether I’m going to need that $3,000 Kona card. Or if I’m going to need it enough. I probably will end up buying it to complete the system but here is my question: Looking at the landscape of field production equipment right now, is it developing in a direction that will make that Kona card indispensable or in a direction that will make me wonder why I bought it?
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4 Replies
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The current landscape of cameras that are prevalent are DV/HDV and DVCPRO. Not counting the RED camera or any other exotic camera, it’s MPEG-2 and IFrame. The bigger issues are besides which format, how are those formats captured?
Today we have DV/HDV tape, MXF wrappers for DVCPRO onto P2 cards and a host of other choices for using various Sony H Def cameras. Except for DV/HDV, none of the other formats are tape bound. Today we have optical discs in camera and P2 cards in camera. It’s a mind blowing arrangement of who’s on first.
Do you need a capture card? Probably not for uncompression duties. Maybe as a way to display full rez images on a production monitor. Most everything is coming across Firewire these days. Unless you are going to be doing Digibeta or some other uncompressed format, then no.
Then there’s storage requirements; Is on board SATA good enough for your needs?
Please visit http://www.thefinalcutstore.com for all your Final Cut needs.
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The answer to “getting it into the computer” is , “it depends”. Only you can decide if it’s worthwhile since you’re the one choosing a recording format.
A better question would be “how am I getting OUT of the computer?” For that, without a card of some kind, you’re limited to firewire only… not a good choice for most high end outputs.
So, when you consider the “in and the out”, I would DEFINITELY want to have the card.
Mark
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Point well-taken regarding monitoring on a high-def monitor; absolutely essential. But I can do that less expensively with something other than a full featured card, I would think.
As for needing a card to master the final product, that also would be a point well-taken for many people on this forum. But in my case, I can’t remember the last time a client wanted a tape. I don’t do broadcast anymore; purely corporate. My clients always want something that they can show on a computer, project from a computer, or post on the web. I can deliver those products to them on a disk. So, If I’m not mastering to tape, how much need would I have for that card?
I’m not trying to be argumentative, at all, and I really do appreciate the expert knowledge that I see hear. I just want to make sure I spend my dollars wisely in the building of this system.
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>>”Then there’s storage requirements; Is on board SATA good enough for your needs?”<< Good question...and, in fact, the question I was about to take up next in my planning. I would appreciate advice in this area? How do I decide if SATA is good enough for my needs? >>”Please visit http://www.thefinalcutstore.com for all your Final Cut needs.”<< I'll take a look. Thanks.
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