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motu v3hd
ok, there are posts on what to get, why get it…well here’s a bit of a different one looking for a bit of help
As some of you know I work for a film school, we mainly work in panasonic cameras, dvcpro-proHD
we have currently, two suites capable of editing pro hd both with decks. One of the faculty pushed through, against a lot of advice from myself and others, an order for 7 motu boxes, that got here the other day.
so now I’m rigging up some of our dv suites to work with the motu box. The problem comes when people DONT wan’t to use a motu codec, or what if they capture dvcprohd, straight out via FW, and bring it into a motu room, Do they have to convert codecs, change sequences etc?
What about SD editing, I can’t seem to get any of the sd presets to display on either our panasonic 28″ broadcast, or our tiny 19″ SD sony monitor via sdi. Any one working with them willing to help. Id love to get some advice here, i’m pretty sure I can get a bunch of the returned (seven is about four too many btw)
let me know what you’ve got on the box
btw wroking fcp 6.0.2 on a g5 currently, but may be strapping it to a macpro shortly.
Thanks
-Zander
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5 Replies
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I don’t know of anyone using these boxes. A lot of talk about possibly using them, but no one I know bought one. I wanted one to test, but they never sent one.
I hope someone out there has one and can advise.
Shane
Littlefrog PostGETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
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Sorry, I know of two people who ordered one. One returned it and got the IoHD and the other I honestly have not discussed it at all.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
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If this thread is still alive, I have one of these units. It works pretty good. So far my biggest complaint is the lack of information available and the lack of information in their spec requirements. I originally got it to extend the capabilities of a Dual 2Ghz G5. The manual says “Mac G5 or better with firewire”. I wasn’t able to get 8-bit SD out the pipe to an external monitor. After exhausting back and forth with their techs, I just happen to get a good deal on a Quad G5. I strapped it to that and “wow” it works. So much for the thought of trying to extend the life of a box. If I had known I would need to get another box anyway, we all know there are plenty of options.
Depending on the model of your G5s, you may be experiencing the same things. I have yet to make any cross conversions with it in HD as a stand alone unit (720P to HDCAM) but my understanding is that it does not apply compression in this scenerio. Only when it is ingested into the box.
Anyone out there using one of these besides me? I think I have serial number 262 so there has to be at least another 261 being used by someone 🙂
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Zander,
Hello! I’m Dave Roberts from MOTU and I will do my best to answer your questions. Please also feel free to contact me directly at magicd@motu.com or 617 576 2760.-As some of you know I work for a film school, we mainly work in panasonic cameras, dvcpro-proHD
-so now I’m rigging up some of our dv suites to work with the motu box. The problem comes when people DONT wan’t to use a motu codec,
DVCPro HD is not a “motu” codec. It’s an industry standard. The V3HD does use DVCPro for HD transmission in and out of the computer. For SD, you have the choice of DVCPro or 8 or 10 bit uncompressed.
HD video captured into FCP from the V3HD will be DVCPro HD codec. If you need to work with some other codec, you can then convert it in FCP.FCP will transcode on playback. In other words, you can play back a non-DVC codec in FCP and send that out through the V3HD because FCP is converting to DVC on the fly on output. To do this however, you do need a very powerful computer. Therefore, if you are using the V3HD for output, you are better off working with DVCPro in FCP.
-or what if they capture dvcprohd, straight out via FW, and bring it into a motu room, Do they have to convert codecs, change sequences etc?
DVCProHD is DVCProHD. If you DVCProHD files from some other source, they will play back through the V3HD. However, if you are capturing video via a Firewire connection directly from a deck or a camera, that is probably not DVCProHD. That is probably HDV, which is not the same thing.
Yes, you can convert from one codec to another within FCP (or Quicktime Pro)-What about SD editing, I can’t seem to get any of the sd presets to display on either our panasonic 28″ broadcast, or our tiny 19″ SD sony monitor via sdi.
All video outputs on the V3HD are live at the same time. If signal is coming out one output, it is coming out all the outputs. The V3HD either patches through signal from one of it’s inputs, or it passes through playback signal from FCP.
If the source signal is SD, you get SD signal on the SD outputs and a converted signal on the HD outputs. If the source signal is HD, you get HD signal on the HD outputs and converted signal on the SD outputs. The V3HD gives you the standard options for SD/HD and HD/SD conversion.If you’re having trouble or if you have any questions at all, drop me an email or give me a call. I also plan to spend more time on this board monitoring for V3HD questions (this is my first post here!)
Cheers,
Dave Roberts – MOTU -
I’m also using the V3HD with great results.
Right now I’m editing an 8-camera worship concert shot in Latin America using Betacam SP. I have captured all footage in DVCPro50 and the image quality is excellent.
My setup is simple: MacBookPro-Intel 2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, FCP Studio2, MOTU V3HD, G-Tech 1TB G-RAID2 (FW800), Sony PVM-14M4U video monitor and a pair of Yamaha HS-50M speakers.
I’m very happy with this setup as FCP and the V3HD have been rock solid.
I have not captured any HD material as of yet, therefore cannot comment on quality/stability.
Cheers,
Marcos Sebastian
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