xd-cam and FCP

[Alan Lacey]

My XDcamHD plays a treat natively in FCP.

Alan

[Ken Pugh]

Good to know, thanks.

Can you recommend a way to monitor the xdcam output on a TV screen? I deliver for SD broadcast so I’d like to monitor in that format. Can the YRB camera output be used?

Ken.

[Alan Lacey]

Sorry I don’t know the PMW-EW1 XD-CAM camera. My PDF350 outputs comp video (downconverted from HD when required) and SDI.

But the cam’s only used for acquisition.

Alan

[Mark Raudonis]

Do you mean out of the playback deck or out of FCP? If you’re trying to watch NTSC video while you digitize, using the camera as a source, then yes, the YRB camera output will work when connected to a professional monitor with corresponding inputs.

If you mean FCP, then any of the common ways of getting NTSC video out of FCP will work.
You will need either a firewire connection to a deck, then out of the deck to an NTSC monitor, or a digital i/o device like the Kona card or the blackmagic card which has an NTSC connector to feed a monitor.

mark

[Ken Pugh]

I have both a firewire connection to a deck and alternatively a firewire connection to an AJA LA.

Will XDCAM HD mpeg play off a FCP timeline through these outputs?

That would be great – and would convince me to move up from DVCAM to XDCAM HD aquisition.

Thanks,

Ken.

[Mark Raudonis]

Ken,

Help me out here. I did a search on the Sony website and I could NOT find the model XD-CAM you’re referencing (Sony PMW-EW1). Assuming that it exists, you’ve changed the nature of your question. HD monitoring is gonna be different than SD.

Your AJA LA is only a SD box, so you’re NEVER going to get HD through it. You’re going to need to upgrade BOTH your IO AND your NTSC monitor. We have the Kona 3 card which can feed both SD and HD. So, yes, with that kind of card you can monitor HD directly from the FCP timeline.

Do yourself a favour and have a reseller show you the exact components you’re going to need to make this work. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting a new camera only discover that you’re thousands of dollars away from being able to edit its output.

Good luck.

Mark

[Gary Adcock]

[mark raudonis] “I did a search on the Sony website and I could NOT find the model XD-CAM you’re referencing (Sony PMW-EW1). Assuming that it exists, you’ve changed the nature of your question. HD monitoring is gonna be different than SD. “

mark

that model of Xdcam EX is not shipping yet, and was only shown publicly at IBC and a private event in NYC last week.

It records ala P2 in the Xdcam format to express cards in 1080 and 720. – IT Does NOT shoot SD at all, however you can preview monitor via SD with one.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Ken Pugh]

Here is a link to the camera’s brochure:

https://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/pdf/sony_pmw-ex1_brochure.pdf

and a review:

https://www.dvuser.co.uk/content.php?CID=171

and on Sony’s website:

https://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/ShowProduct.action?product=PMW-EX1&site=biz_en_EU&pageType=Overview&imageType=Main&category=XDCAMCamcorders

Yes, it’s a new camera released in a few weeks time, sorry not to make that clear. It only records HD XDCAM. It seems I can edit this in FCP natively without hardware assistance using the 25Mb/s mpeg codec that can be streamed out of the cameras ilink interface (which Sony also refers to as HDV). I was wondering if this could also be used in reverse to monitor in SD as the camera features a component video output. Admitedly for such a new camera there may not be much info available for this – but I assumed if it was possible others may have achieved this with the existing range of xdcam or HDV cameras.

Sony describes the interface as IEEE1394, 4-pin (x 1), HDV stream input/output, S400.

Cheers,

Ken.

[Don Greening]

Hi Ken,

Here’s a few more EX links for you to drool over:

https://digitalcontentproducer.com/cameras/revfeat/first_look_xdcam_ex/index.html

https://ieba.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/sonys-xdcam-ex-hd1000u-more/

https://www.ingenioustv.com/xdcamex.asp

The last link had a couple of frame grabs that look rather impressive.

I think what I’ll be doing as far as HD monitoring is to get a Kona LHe or Kona 3 board, then convert the outgoing component signal to a broadcast signal with the Blackmagic HD Link https://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hdlink/ for colour grading on a computer display. Sort of like the Matrox MXO, but this way I can still use dual monitors for FCP editing and have the third display for colour correction coming from the Kona (hopefully). More research is needed, of course.

Initially, I’ll be mixing HD and SD until I know for sure that the EX will fit our shooting/editing workflow, and that’s where the Kona board will come in, as it converts (among many other things) SD to HD in real time as you capture DV NTSC tape to FCP. If everything works out we’ll eventually be getting a second EX.

– Don