Inexpensive HVX200 Workflow

[Gary Adcock]

[hopperHD] ” Is it possible to maintain a high quality workflow with the HVX200 without a Kona or Decklink and just import and export via fire wire? “

the DVCPROHD workflow is proven, but other than FW out to Panasonic’s 1200a deck there is not any other option for Firewire out in HD.

[hopperHD] “Any recommendations on an external hard drive to directly capture from the HVX200? “
G-Tech Drives are being used by the panasonic consultants, and I have had nothing but excellent experience with them

[hopperHD] “how about when exporting HD with the P2, is it ok to use the camera for that instead of using some sort of P2 deck to export?”

since it is a file transfer that is not an issue. however there is no NLE control of the P2 capture or record functions with the camera when connected via FW.

Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA

[Shane Ross]

[hopperHD] “1) Is it possible to maintain a high quality workflow with the HVX200 without a Kona or Decklink and just import and export via fire wire? “

Since the footage is captured to P2 cards, there is no need for the Kona or Decklink with this camera. Or are you talking using this camera in a Studio setting? Direct HD capture from the camera to computer?

[hopperHD] “2) Any recommendations on an external hard drive to directly capture from the HVX200?”

I too use G-Raids for DVCPRO HD. I highly recommend them.

[hopperHD] “how about when exporting HD with the P2, is it ok to use the camera for that instead of using some sort of P2 deck to export?”

What Gary said. And since there are no moving parts, there is nothing to worry about in terms of wear and tear. The only issue is, can you afford to stop using the camera so that you can offload the footage? It is best to get a few cards so that while you offload one card, you can continue shooting with another.

Shane

Alokut Productions
http://www.lfhd.net

[Hopperhd]

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

Gary, I’m not really sure what you mean?

Gary: “since it is a file transfer that is not an issue. however there is no NLE control of the P2 capture or record functions with the camera when connected via FW.”

I would be directly transfering it into a 500GB external hard drive from the P2 card(s) out of the camera, and then bring it into FCP5 via fire wire. Is this the wrong workflow?

Jason

[Gary Adcock]

[hopperHD] “Gary: “since it is a file transfer that is not an issue. however there is no NLE control of the P2 capture or record functions with the camera when connected via FW.””

Hopper

it is not an issue as you are doing an import of the HVX’s footage.

The camera does not really support “deck control” for capture like people are use to with DV cameras- it also means that while you can record back to the camera via FW it is rather rough because it is only a crash record.

Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA

[John Mcclary]

>> [hopperHD] “how about when exporting HD with the P2, is it ok to
>> use the camera for that instead of using some sort of P2 deck to
>> export?”

> What Gary said. And since there are no moving parts, there is
> nothing to worry about in terms of wear and tear. The only issue
> is, can you afford to stop using the camera so that you can
> offload the footage? It is best to get a few cards so that while
> you offload one card, you can continue shooting with another.

Is there a way to verify that the whole transfer from P2 was accurate if you are using a laptop? I thought the camera or P2 Store was the only way to do that.

John McClary

[Shane Ross]

Verify the names and number of clips you imported with the files in the VIDEO folder in the CONTENTS folder on the card.

Shane

Alokut Productions
http://www.lfhd.net

[Stan Timek]

Gary,

You said “The camera does not really support “deck control” for capture like people are use to with DV cameras- it also means that while you can record back to the camera via FW it is rather rough because it is only a crash record.”

I’m a bit confused, initially I thought that FCP could do as you mention, send HD back down Firewire to the 200 for recording (not recommended as you mention) or to monitor the image out the component outs. Then I read that FCP doesn’t send out HD over Firewire nor can the camera record a stream from the Firewire port.

Which way does FCP/HVX 200 work?

Thanks,

Stan Timek

Pollywog Theater

[Barry Green]

[hopperHD] “1) Is it possible to maintain a high quality workflow with the HVX200 without a Kona or Decklink and just import and export via fire wire?

Yes you can import and export through firewire in all the modes the camera records in. However, that’s not really how you use it. Normally you’d record footage on the cards, and then you would import the data off the cards (via firewire on a Mac, or via USB2 on a PC). You don’t really import or export footage per se; this is a tapeless workflow, so what you do is transfer files. You can transfer files off the card in a number of ways, including plugging the card into a laptop’s PCMCIA slot, or plugging the card into a dedicated card reader, or using the camera as a card reader. For the most part the old workflow of Kona/Decklink/Firewire capture is made obsolete by this camera.

2) Any recommendations on an external hard drive to directly capture from the HVX200?

Get something small and fast. The faster the better, and you don’t need a lot of size because the camera only supports up to 15 partitions on the drive (and each partition is the size of your P2 cards, so if you’re using 4GB cards, the most hard drive you can use is 60gb; if you’re using 8GB cards the most hard drive you can use is 120GB). Anything above 60GB (if using 4GB cards) or above 120GB (if using 8GB cards) is superfluous and unused.

Now, that’s for if you’re using the camera itself to control the drive. If you’re talking about offloading footage through a laptop, get whatever size you want of course.

3) I’ve heard that obviously when exporting miniDV from the HVX200 you never want to use the camera as the export deck to your hard drive, how about when exporting HD with the P2, is it ok to use the camera for that instead of using some sort of P2 deck to export?”

Yes you can do that just fine with no wear & tear; the thing is, you wouldn’t normally export HD like you’re used to. Think about it like copying files from one hard disk to another, because that’s what it really is. When the camera records footage on the P2 card, it records it as a file on a disk, not as “video footage”. You can copy that file from the card to another hard disk by just using your computer’s file-management tools (like Finder or Windows Explorer). You don’t export “footage” (although you can; but normally you don’t).

—————–
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[Barry Green]

[hopperHD] “I would be directly transfering it into a 500GB external hard drive from the P2 card(s) out of the camera, and then bring it into FCP5 via fire wire. Is this the wrong workflow?”

I wouldn’t do it that way; you can only use a max of 60 or 120gb, so a 500GB hard disk is not the right tool for that job. Use small hard disks in the field; when you get back to your editing station (where you have the big 500GB hard disk set up) then just transfer the footage from your small hard disks.

—————–
Get the most from your DVX camera. The DVX Book and DVX DVD are now available on ebay and at Amazon (https://www.fiftv.com/db)

[Barry Green]

[Stan Timek] “I’m a bit confused, initially I thought that FCP could do as you mention, send HD back down Firewire to the 200 for recording (not recommended as you mention) or to monitor the image out the component outs. Then I read that FCP doesn’t send out HD over Firewire nor can the camera record a stream from the Firewire port.

Which way does FCP/HVX 200 work?”

FCP *does* send HD over the firewire, and the camera *can* record it.

But that’s not how you normally work with the camera. First, the component outputs don’t work during firewire input; the s-video and composite ports do, but the components don’t, so you wouldn’t really do that anyway.

Second, while you can “crash record” the footage onto the cards; why? Would it be for purposes of using the HVX as a portable field playback device? If so, you could do that, but it seems like a fairly expensive field playback unit. I would probably suggest authoring a WMV9 high-def DVD and playing that back on a laptop or desktop computer or in something like an Avel Linkplayer.

—————–
Get the most from your DVX camera. The DVX Book and DVX DVD are now available on ebay and at Amazon (https://www.fiftv.com/db)