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Shooting Varicam or HDCAM- best for Final Cut Pro without addl video card?
I was hoping someone might be able to give me some advice about a 30 min HD film I’m shooting next month.
I am trying to decide between using a Panasonic Varicam or a Sony F900 HDCAM and have the following questions:Is it possible to cut with either of these formats on a G5 dual 2.0ghz with external firewire 800/400 Lacie drives (not sata)?
Is it possible to cut with either of these formats on a Powerbook G4 1.5ghz (1gig ram) with external firewire 400 Lacie drives?
If yes, how painful will it be in terms of speed? (not a heavy FX project)In terms of capturing the footage, I’ve read about renting the Panasonic HD deck to capture via firewire without generation loss (true?) but what about the HDCAM? Should I contact a post house and supply them with a firewire drive? Is there potential generation loss with the process they may use?
Thank you for your time.
Daniel. -
3 Replies
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[Daniel Italy] “Is it possible to cut with either of these formats on a G5 dual 2.0ghz with external firewire 800/400 Lacie drives (not sata)?”
DVCPRO HD from the Varicam? Heck yeah. Have been since FCP 4.5…that is why it got the moniker “FCP HD,” for it’s ability to capture DVCPRO HD over firewire. No additional hardware needed. Just a FW800 drive, minimum, which you said you have. I am editing that format right now usig 2 G-Raids.
To capture HDCAM you will need a capture card and SATA Raids.
[Daniel Italy] “Is it possible to cut with either of these formats on a Powerbook G4 1.5ghz (1gig ram) with external firewire 400 Lacie drives?”
DVCPRO HD…yes. The minimum requirements are 1Ghz G4 or faster. And really you need a FW800 drive, as FW 400 tends to drop frames. DVCPRO HD is a 100mbps format that needs a faster throughput than FW400 offers. HDCAM? At full resolution? No. You will need a G4 or G5 tower and high speed SATA drives (internal) or SATA Raids (external).
[Daniel Italy] “In terms of capturing the footage, I’ve read about renting the Panasonic HD deck to capture via firewire without generation loss (true”
True. HDCAM you will have to capture with a capture card at one of the cards codecs. Yes, you will lose quality, but nothing that anyone would be able to tell. You can also capture it at a lower resolution (on a tower…you need that capture card) and then offline edit it with the laptop on FW400 drives, but then when you go back to full res, you will need the tower.
Shane
Alokut Productions
http://www.lfhd.net -
Thank you very much Shane, much appreciated.
Looks like offlining in low res will be the best option shooting HDCAM….
From my research, it seems that for an output to 35mm of a film shot mostly at night, it is better to shoot with the Sony F900 HDCAM as its actual resolution is bigger, true??? -
[Shane Ross] “True. HDCAM you will have to capture with a capture card at one of the cards codecs. Yes, you will lose quality, but nothing that anyone would be able to tell.”
My kona boards capture DVCPROHD via HDSDI without loss when compared to the FW signal from the same tape.
That makes capturing 1080 DVCPROHD my choice when working in FCP from HDCam.gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Chicago, IL
gary@studio37.com
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