[Peter Corbett]

I’ve asked on a couple of other forums about handheld use, without response. What happens if you take your Varicam or Red off the sticks and want to do some shoulder camera work. Are we back to BVU/umbilical days? Does anyone else see this as a potential issue? The product is fantastic, well-designed and engineered. But who shoots exclusively on a tripod?

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

Looks great. But what about handheld shooting? And how can we use it effectively on large shoulder-mounted 2/3″ HD camcorders? It’s okay if you are just doing tripod-mounted shooting on a dinky camera. Very innovative product but limiting in a way.

Peter

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

Yeah I think it’s 42+ without a VF. I’m told it still has the same lousy down-res slo-mo of the 350/355. I think it confuses the market and upsets 700 owners. The cameras are just too similar in my mind.

Peter

[Steve Wargo] “I guess that the 700 was a temporary thing.

Just like buying a computer that’s out of date the day you take delivery.

Do you have a price point, Peter?

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1 HD .”

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

Yep, I’ve got a full-blown HD NLE with Decklink HD Extreme. A used Varicam/HD1200 combo seems a good option at the moment. Even though it’s good value, I worry about a possible short useful life for this gear in a 1920 x 1080 world.

Peter

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

Hi John,

I’ve got a $35K Canon HD HJ21x7.5B (the big heavy one with the 120mm front element) so I’m okay for glass. I wouldn’t have a deck for a while, so besides giving these tapes to my client, I’d have to play out of the camera into my suite for my own productions. I still like tape!

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

Just considering a second-hand “F” Varicam to support my SDX900. The price is very reasonable, but I’m concerned about the 720P thing. How do HD broadcasters like their material these days? How does the 720 Varicam fit in a 1080i situation?

I’m just quoting for a broadcast doco at the moment. They specified that they want to shoot on DVCPROHD or XDCAM HD. I’m assuming if they go DVCPROHD they will want a HDX900 which shoots 1080i. Can I sell them on my possible Varicam as a viable alternative, or is the up-convert going to look hideous?

Cheers,
Peter

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

[David Roth Weiss] “I wouldn’t go that direction Peter. Rendering HD takes all the beef you care to throw at it, and that second proc will become even more valuable when Snow Leopard arrives. Even if FCP is not fully optimized for full 64-bit operation you will still benefit from working in a multi-threaded environment.”

So maybe the slower 2.26 in an 8-core config would be better than a single 2.66 or single 2.92? The dual 2.92 is over $10,000 Aussie here. I can’t justify it at the moment.

PC

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

Hi Pat,

Yes it is a bit like being on an island. I’ll keep one Vista 64 seat for PPro.

Bummer on not knowing about the new model. The dealer should have known. I’ve been looking at those previous Harpertown Mac Pros. It’s interesting when Apple bring out a new platform, they (and the dealers) don’t reduce the price of the outgoing model. Now I’m leaning more to a dual 2.26 or single 2.66 processor. It’s always a pain upgrading…

PC

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

[David Roth Weiss] “Hey Peter!!! Long time no see…

Since you’re one of my old “homies,” let me suggest to you that you save some dough, and resist the temptation to buy the top of the line procs.”

Hi Dave and everyone else. Yes long time, no see. I’m now thinking a current model 3.2 might be “better” for the moment. A new dual 2.66 i7 Mac Pro with 8gb RAM and beefed up ATI is going to cost me AUD$6500 which is about US$4K+. I have all the other goodies; Decklink HD, dual 24″ Dells, 8Tb RAID, etc.

The integration with the rest of the industry has been becoming a real problem for Premiere users. I think CS4 is great. It’s had a few bugs, not including lack of public Decklink support, but that’s going to change very soon. But I would like to pull my RAID and be able to visit another FCP suite if I had too. High-end dry-hire PPro suites in Melbourne are almost non-existent.

I don’t think you ever fully realize your investment if you buy the very top-end processor. Those times when you need those few extra minutes in rendering time are not as as common as one would think. They just feel like it at the time with a deadline coming down on you.

I’ll do some more investigating…

Cheers,
Peter

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Peter Corbett]

Thanks for that Gary. Much appreciated

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au