[Craig Seeman]

I know this answer therefore I must be Steve Wargo.

Hit the Status button on the top of the camera. It’s one of the “soft” membrane buttons.

[Craig Seeman]

Sony has said that you can use their hard drive recorder DR-60 to firewire but ONLY FOR HDV data rate. I suspect this would work with Firestore too.

There is nothing (yet) that would record XDCAM data rate. That doesn’t come out of either firewire/iLink or USB while recording. I believe there may be a device that will take the HD-SDI out to a flash card (forget the name) but I understand it would cost nearly as much as the camera.

[Craig Seeman]

[Marco Solorio] ” Does 10 seconds of 720p60 have a smaller file size than 10 seconds of 720p24 S+Q 60?”

Keep in mind that what one is actually measuring is 10 seconds of 720p60 vs what becomes 25 seconds playback of a 10 second recording of 720p24 recorded at p60. I’d strongly suspect that the 720p24/p60 file would be larger.

In other words what one is comparing is 10 seconds of recording time. 10 seconds of 24/60 is 25 seconds of playback @ 35mbps. 10 seconds of 60 at 60fps is 35mbps so that slowed down in timeline is 13.6mbps. That data rate during recording of 24/60 is probably 87.5mbps . . .

For the math challenged what I’m saying is that 24/60 is probably recorded at 87.5mbps and slowed to 24fps which is 35mbps.

Whereas “straight” 720p60 recording is already recorded at 35mpbs so that slowing that down to 24 would be 13.6mbps.

which is probably one of the reasons the SxS cards by Sony (and Sandisk when they happen) are different than other Express cards. The sustained data rate plus headroom to perform overcrank is fairly high.

[Craig Seeman]

[ken hon] ” a way to shoot 720 60P as slo mo in camera. Select your 720 frame rate that you want to edit in either 24 or 30P. Then in S+Q motion choose 60 frames.”

And that method should yield better quality then simply shooting 720p60 time base. It’s what I do to shoot slo-mo. The actual data rate during record may well be over 70mbps. The reason is that the resultant file is probably targeted to playback at 35mbps. Whereas if you shot at 720p60 at 35mbps and slowed it down 50% you’ll also have less original data per second.

[Craig Seeman]

[Adrian Allen] “Shutter: 1000 ( I was told making the shutter higher would accomplish smoother motion) “

Opposite.
That’s why what you’re seeing is stuttery. You probably could have shot 1/120 and maybe even 1/60 to really smooth it at 60fps.

High shutter speed gives you that “Saving Private Ryan” stuttering effect.

[Craig Seeman]

I might be able to trouble shoot the Flip4Mac activation issue for you but I need a lot more info. BTW have you tried posting in their support forum?

I use Flip4Mac with Squeeze and don’t have any problems.

[Craig Seeman]

deleted double post.

[Craig Seeman]

[Glenn Hodgins] “timecode letterboxed DVD copies are a necessary part of my workflow as editing is done in various locations with different editors who like dvd’s portability”

An easy way to make timcode window dubs? That makes sense.

[Glenn Hodgins] “I’m going to a remote Asian country for a month soon with both cameras & would much prefer SxS cards files copied on xdcam discs, even if they don’t play from the camera. “

Alas this is up to Sony. Until then there’s no way xdcam disc can use the files. I don’t think the xdcam discs work as data discs either. Let’s see if Sony changes that at NAB.

[Glenn Hodgins] “For me files are files & should be possible to be copied to my xdcam disks.”

Unfortunately for the time being it’s DL DVD or Blu-ray discs. Just put them in secure cases. Not as rugged as XDCAM but that’s what’s available at the moment.

You might try putting the files into an XDCAM HD timeline but you’re going to have to render. Then you’d have XDCAM HD that you might be able to output that to XDCAM disc.

[Craig Seeman]

I’m not sure how you’re storing/treating your DL-DVDs but going way back to CDs (I ran a multimedia dept for a time in the mid ’90s), I can’t recall more that one or two data disc failures and that was from the early days. I can still read data CDs from 1995. Buy TOP quality media (not too difficult to research) and store the discs protectively.

Hard drives are certainly OK in the short term and mirrored is good of course. I’ve certainly had more hard drive failures than optical disc failures over the years. I’ve also run into interface issues. I can read that data CD on almost any modern computer. I can’t say that with SCSI Hard drives though. Both methods have their merits (and risks).

As it stands now, there’s no way to back up 1920×1080 to 1440×1080 XDCAM discs though. That may change if Sony is willing.

I don’t see the point of downconverting to HDV (the only way to use firewire/iLink on EX1) or making ntsc DVDs from SD out especially if you feel DVD is not reliable in the first place.

I should also mention there’s a difference between backing up the BPAV folders and the files rewrapped as MOV (Final Cut Pro). Although the quality is the same, the latter is far less portable (reliant on FCP EX codec to read).

I really think you’re making something that is very simple into something very complex. Back up your SxS to DL DVD or hard drive if you like. Your F330 is recorded to XDCAM disc. If you want everything in one place move them both to hard drive.

If/when Sony decides to make XDCAM disc compatible with 1920×1080 you’ll have another option.

[Craig Seeman]

How about these Warm Cards
They also have this EX Training DVD