Barry Green
Forum Replies Created
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Per, I don’t know where the fault is in what you’re doing, but I can assure you there are many professionals producing excellent keys from the HVX200.
As an example, when I did training in New Zealand I had the opportunity to speak to the guys from WETA Digital; they conducted chroma key tests between the HVX200 and XDCAM 350. They bought the HVX200.
There’s something happening in the Ultimatte, that’s obvious. It’s not the core image the HVX is generating. And you shouldn’t have to take your detail level down to -7, that’s way too far; Jim Arthurs sets the “sweet spot” for edge enhancement at -3 for bluescreen/greenscreen.
https://www.imageshoppe.com/HVX_bluescreen2.html
How are you getting the footage to key — are you taking the component output? Perhaps the fault is in the d-to-a-to-d process? All the keying I’ve done, and most everyone I know has done, has been from the recorded footage.
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[Mitch Ives] “You really should care, since it’s probably at the heart of your eventual enlightenment…”
I’d love to be enlightened as to how these problems can go away, so the dozens of reports I’ve seen on this issue can be solved to the point where nobody will ever run into this issue again.
Any advice?
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[Trip Gould] “The HVX has always had 720 60p, eight? Or am I missing something?”
The HVX has always had 720/60p, yes. The reason JVC is making such a big deal out of it is because their first-generation HD100/HD110 cannot record 60P, they were limited to a fastest frame rate of 30P. So 60P is new *to them*, but the HVX has been doing it for a couple of years now.
[Trip Gould] “Is there any difference between the HD200 and HVX shooting 720 60p (aside from the higher resolution and better lens, etc., of the JVC)?”
Yes, there are a number of differences:
1) the JVC uses MPEG-based HDV, the HVX uses frame-based DVCPRO-HD. So you’ll never encounter any motion artifacting or GOP-based issues on the HVX.2) the JVC uses MPEG2’s 4:2:0 color sampling, the HVX uses 4:2:2.
3) better lens? AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. The stock 14x lens on the JVC “ProHD” lineup is a hideous piece of doo doo, easily the worst lens ever offered on a “professional” camcorder. It has more purple and green fringing than the Mardi Gras parade, and it breathes like a fat guy running up a hill. Yes it’s interchangeable (thank heavens, so you can chuck it in the trash and put something better on there) but better lenses start at about $10,000 (last time I checked).
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Sure, just turn on the character output, plug the composite output into the DVD burner, hit play on the 500 and “record” on the burner…
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I get almost 2GB/minute going to my laptop’s internal hard disk. 1GB/minute is pretty slow for modern hardware unless you’re doing a verified file copy.
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[Cutter_Jones] “4. Copy the CONTENTS folder in the drive to some folder on the MAC.”
No! Do not do this. The possibility of glitching files on a Mac makes a direct Finder copy a non-recommended way of doing it. Panasonic recommends you use P2CMS to do the copy instead.
I’ve dealt with too many threads where people with Macs end up with glitched/ruined footage, so I do not care how many people chime in and say “it works for me, I’ve never had a problem” because that DOESN’T help the people who end up screwed over because of glitched footage.
Executing a direct copy via the Finder is not guaranteed to work, and Panasonic recommends not doing it. Heck, Apple recommends not doing it. Apple recommends you make a “disk image” of the P2 card, rather than copying the files.
P2CMS can do a verified copy. That’s why it’s far and away the best choice for this process.
Step 0 is WRITE-PROTECT THE P2 CARD before ever exposing it to a Mac, to prevent the Spotlight journaling that goes on and that may be at the root of the glitching issue.
Step 4 is to run P2CMS (free download from Panasonic) and execute your copy step from within there. Select all the clips that show up in the window and export them to a directory on your hard disk, and tell it to do a verified copy.
Step 5 is okay if you’re using less than FCP6 or you’re not using Raylight. If you’re using Raylight you’re already done, you don’t have to import anything. If you’re using FCP5.something, yes you’d use file->import->Panasonic P2. If you’re using FCP6 or later that menu item is gone and you instead use “log & transfer”.
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Did you run the “organize P2” step on the FireStore before copying the files off? If not, you have an invalid file structure and it needs to be fixed.
This article explains the procedure: https://www.dvxuser.com/jason/Firestore
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I definitely have a favorite, but it’s not on a Mac. Adobe OnLocation is the greatest disk-capture tool ever created, IMHO.
You can get the HVX Book at Amazon, or on Ebay, or through http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/hvxbook, or at video dealers such as B&H, Abel Cine Tech, Spec-Comm, CineQuipt, etc.
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Everything you’re talking about will work fine.
Yes you should have two separate firewire busses, don’t try to chain through. No you don’t need a RAID or an FW800 drive, FW400 is fine. Yes it’ll work with 1080.
There is no Panasonic-provided capture software, on a Mac you’d use FCP 5.1’s “Log & Capture” settings or you could get a program like HD Monitor Pro or ScopeBox.
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[tpigott] “I just bought an HVX200 in the middle of November, and didn’t hearing anything about a free 16GB P2 card. Any ideas how I might get one of those even after I bought the camera?”
The card comes in the box, as of December. I don’t know if there’s any manner of price protection for anyone who bought recently; perhaps if you ask your dealer maybe they have some program in place? I don’t know.