Transferring HVX 200 to a VariCam Camera.

[Dale West]

Bob,
The good news is it can be done. The bad news is not to the VariCam. The VariCam has no video in. There a couple of options:
The first a probably the easiest is to digitize to FCP or Avid then output back to tape. The down side here is that the original time code is going to be lost. Not a huge deal if this is for archival purposes but a drag none the less. A second option is to get your hands on panasonic’s AJ-HPM100. It is a mobile player recorder. This way you can play out of the 100 to a 1200a or 1400. I fully support getting the stuff onto tape for archiving. How many times have I needed a shot that was on a tape sitting on my library shelf?! I really believe that too much material that won’t “make the show” is going to get dusted and never seen again. There may be folks out there that have other ideas and I’d love to hear them as well.
Good luck

dw

Dale West
Dale West Video
12225 NE 13th Court
North Miami, FL 33161
305-892-1201

[Frank Nolan]

The simple thing to do would be to hook up the HVX directly to a 1200 or 1400 deck via firewire and record the footage to tape. The only draw back is you cant do this with footage shot in 720/24pn mode.

[Jeff Merritt]

tHello all,

When transfering content via IEEE 1394 from one DVCPRO HD devise to another, you will get an EXACT clone of the original material. This is one of the advantages of 1394 with DVCPRO HD. It doesn’t matter what frame rates are used as 1394 doesn’t care. It’s just a clone. Audio, video, time code all transfer as an original. You only need to make sure that settings on the record machine (HD1200/HD1400) are correct, and there are menue items to check to be sure.

However remember that it’s possible to record 24fps native on the HVX200 via P2. (a real advantage for saving memory space). That will not transfer to other DVCPRO HD tape based equipment since the VariCam and the VTRs need to see 24fps over 60fps (thus adding the 2:3 cadence which can later be eliminated in post via an NLE).

Having said all this, many people sucessfully integrate HVX200 footage with VariCam footage with great results as long as they know how to ingest the footage correctly into the timeline. Many post houses know how and do this on a regular basis. If you’re considering this post parth, I’d suggest you talk to your favorite post house prior to shooting.

Happy new year.

Jeff Merritt
Product Line Business Manager
High Definition Products
Panasonic Broadcast
323-436-3676

[Dale West]

All
Thats why I love this forum….My editor and I talked about this for 15 minutes and were so focused on one process we totally missed the most obvious answer. I’m on this page at least two times a day. I’ve had my VariCam for a bit over two years and there is always something to learn.
Happy New Year to all

dw