Which Mac for editing a Panasonic P2 Feature in FCP? plus HDlink?

[Shane Ross]

[jason banker] “My question is would it be worth the extra money to get the top of the line Mac Pro or would a iMac, Macbook, or Mac mini handle the HD P2 footage just fine?”

While they might deal with DVCPRO HD “ok,” they wouldn’t be the choice I’d make. At all. Get a Mac Pro, or MacBook Pro. Get a Mac with a firewire 800 connection, and get yourself a couple G-Raids to store the media. HD is not a cheap format, don’t treat it as such.

[jason banker] “Would a Mac pro give me glitch free viewing of 720/24pn footage? “

Yes. As will any older G5. I am editing DVCPRO HD with a Dual 2Ghz machine. Doing just fine.

[jason banker] “Should I get a HD video card?”

Plan on monitoring your footage properly for TRUE color correction? Outputting to an HD format that isn’t DVCPRO HD? Then yes, get an HD card.

[jason banker] “Also I am thinking about getting an HDlink adapter to use a 23inch Apple display for full resolution HD monitoring. Would I need a faster machine for this purpose?”

For this ONLY a tower would work. For they have the graphics cards with two DVI outputs. BUT, this is not the choice for color critical viewing. Computer monitors do not give you a true representation of your footage. For this you’d need an HD CRT monitor, or pro HD LCD (not something you get at Best Buy) for color correction. And you will need an HD card for this.

What do you plan on finishing this film on? What format?

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Jason Banker]

Well right now I am mainly hoping to finish for a BlueRay HD DVD for straight to video distribution.

Also I hope to get this into film festivals so I think Digibeta is a common festival format? (but I am not sure)

What is an ideal format to finish to for a indie HD film?

Also I have been noticing that the BlueRay spec is 1080p. With the Panasonic being 720p, how would I convert to 1080p?

(I think I read somewhere that you can do it thru a Flame suite?)

[Jim Carswell]

Hey jason,
Just a heads up. Don’t assume that all festivals will accept DigiBeta. Some still take beta SP, VHS and DVD. Some are even accepting HDCAM. Because of that I would suggest finishing in the highest format possible based on your budget. Also, if the BluRay specs indicate 1080p go ahead and shoot and edit in 1080p. That way you acquire the highest possible image you can with your camera. You can always go back and down convert later if needed. Personally, I would rather down convert than up convert any day.

By the way, I’m editing P2 video on a MacBook Pro with a G-Sata external drive. I’m using the ESata/Expresscard34 adapter from SeriTek. Everything works great. It is probably a little bit faster than going the Firewire 800 route.
Jim

Jim Carswell
Spyhop Productions, Inc.
Savannah, GA
http://www.spyhopproductions.com

[Robert Depalma]

Hi guys,
Just doing some last minute research before jumping into the necessary hardware for my Mac Book Pro. Do you still suggest you’re current configuration with the external drives if I plan on shooting on the Panasonic P2 onto a Firestore FS-100 (which I’m still not sure is my best option) and record with 1080_60i? With all of the SATA talk and incompatible cards, it’s hard to figure out what to do.
Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot!

Robert