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What is up with no Panasonic DV50 codec on Windows?
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Good question about the Sony black-box HDCam codec. I’ve wondered about it being locked away inside the deck hardware too. One might theorize that they wanted to boost sales of Xpri (which incidentally is maintained by my former colleagues from Discreet Edit) by making it the only native editing solution, but I’m pretty sure the strategy predates Xpri. Maybe Sony thinks the codec’s so great that they don’t want it reverse-engineered. Harumph.
Sure, next time I talk to someone from JVC I’ll ask what the story is on their 24P format. Free codecs for all, dammit!
Regards,
Gavin -
“Is there anyway to transfer DVCPRO footage from a mac to a PC without recompressing it or uncompressing it ?”
Right now, as far as I know, the answer is no. The Avid codecs won’t work, because QuickTime won’t recognize them as compatible with your files captured by FCP.
The good news is that QuickTime 7 for Windows should include the DVCPro50 and HD codecs, and it’s in testing right now. The bad news is that the beta (which is downloadable from the Apple site) doesn’t read these files properly yet. I just tested a DV50 file a couple days ago and it displayed a blank white frame the whole time.
Hopefully they’ll get this fixed soon.
Regards,
Gavin -
Hi Tony.
I was aware of the cooperation between Apple and Panasonic on several products; a Panasonic rep appeared at some Apple NAB-related functions to ballyhoo their “inexpensive” DVCPro HD deck in conjunction with FCP. I suspected (as I mentioned in another post) that Panasonic had a hand in the codec development.
Unless Panasonic is only courting Apple users and ignoring the large Windows market, however, they should wrap that codec for Windows Media.
In regard to Sony, I said the same thing you’re saying: Sony is not about to release a DV50 codec when it has nothing to do with their product line, and in fact serves the competitor.
I looked through the E-mails I exchanged with Panasonic, and from the address it looks like it was their pro or broadcast division support. I sent the entire series to the Panasonic rep who responded to my initial post, so we’ll see if there are any insights to come.
I also had a decent experience with Aja support. I’m somewhat baffled by some design omissions in the Io, but the company at least was responsive. That’s to be commended in this era of “what can we get away with” and “let’s hide from our customers.”
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What items or features were you hoping to see in the IO?
Tony Salgado
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Well, the Io is (or should be) a perfectly good converter that can go between S-video, component, and SDI. Yet this functionality is unusable unless this $2000 device is tethered to a computer, because it lacks a simple set of buttons on the front to select a video and audio input.
My first task for the Io had nothing to do with a computer. I wanted to convert S-video to SDI or component for archiving on DigiBeta (since the DVW-A500 ridiculously has only composite, not S-video input). But I couldn’t get the Io to select the right inputs without hooking it up to a Mac via FireWire, booting the computer, installing the Io setups for FCP, launching FCP, and then launching the capture utility to pretend was I was going to capture through the Io. All to flip the inputs. That’s ridiculous. This box shouldn’t be rendered useless as a stand-alone interface by the lack of a $3 strip of buttons.
Later on, when I was doing some capture through the Io, I found there was no way to control the proc amps or the analog audio input level. Isn’t that just a little disappointing on a $2000 device?
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[stokestack] “Well, the Io is (or should be) a perfectly good converter that can go between S-video, component, and SDI. Yet this functionality is unusable unless this $2000 device is tethered to a computer, because it lacks a simple set of buttons on the front to select a video and audio input.”
Gavin, it’s a control panel and the Io has not required you to use FCP since NAB for pass thru functions.
It does allow you to change input options, use TBC for VHS capture and Proc Amp functionality
https://aja.com/ajashare/ProIO_ControlPanel_v1.0.0.zip
From IBC
Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL -
Thanks Gary. I did get a beta of this before NAB. I didn’t see anything about it there, so I wasn’t sure if they had ever finished it.
It’s a welcome step, but unfortunately it doesn’t solve the main problem: Having to use a computer just to select the inputs.
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I just noticed that you mentioned they got the proc-amp functions working. That’s a major addition. Good info.
Damn, if they just had switches on the front I’d have no complaints. Except, of course, no Windows drivers…
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QT 7 for Windows will NOT include the DV50 codec.
Meaning that unless Panasonic does something about it, there’s essentially no way for most computer users to ingest the higher-quality material from their cameras. There is a codec out there from MainConcept, but it’s a pay-extra situation and most users are not going to know how to track it down. I haven’t tried that one either, and it doesn’t solve your problem because it isn’t QuickTime.
After several years now, this situation is ridiculous.
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