[Peter Ward]

“Digital component”? Component is, analogue. HDSDI is digital and typically uses a single coaxial cable but the HD50U does not have SDI (the HD250 does however)-the only digital output besides FW is HDMI.

-Peter

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

I haven’t used the HMC150 but have edited AVCHD video originated in a Canon HF11. The Canon produces better video than most prosumer HD camera’s I’ve seen and the compression artifacting is discrete compared to HDV artifacting (it looks more like noise than pixleation)*-whether this results in more detailed image is questionable, but it produces an image that is subjectively superior (although HDV material can be treated using a method analogs to chroma smoothing). And it is clearly a much more efficient codec-17Mbps AVCHD compares favorably with 25Mbps HDV, on the other hand increasing the bitrate seems to have little benefit-subjectively HF11 footage looks almost the same whether shot at 7Mbps or 24Mbps.

When you edit AVCHD in FCP you are really editing AIC or ProRes-the relevant question is how well FCP (or iMovie 08) transcodes the video. In the case of 1080i60 it works seamlessly. 1080p24, however, is full of artifacts and I have not found a way to remove the pull down that doesn’t end up making it even worse–ditto the 24p setting on the Canon HV30. I suspect the pull down scene used destroys, irreparably, some of the progressive frames therefore there is no solution making the feature a gimmick, as seems to be true of the HV30 (PAL users will be fortunate in this respect).

One issue to note re: AVCHD editing on Apple is that the file size increases substantially-in the case of 1080i60 to AIC I’ve observed a approximate 10x increase–i.e., you’re 8GB SDHC now needs 80GB of hard drive space. Another issue is that as far as I can tell you need a camera generated disk image in order to import the video. The MTS or M2T TS files alone are insufficient. You can make a disk image with Disk Utility but this takes about as long as just importing the video. (There is a method for recreating a disk image with nothing but MTS files using tsMuxeR and ImgBurn but these require the ability to run Windows apps–in my case, I used Darwine.)

Personally, if buying a professional camera I’d either get XDCAM or HDV but I don’t think there is an overwhelming reason to avoid AVCHD apropos image quality.

*A friend of mine observed a ghost-image artifact shooting on a Canon HG20 and traded the camera in for an HDV model as a result. Personally, I haven’t had anything as salient as this appear but I noticed that AVCHD (at least in Canon and especially Panasonic consumer models) produces a slow shutter-like trailing image effect (BD-DVDs produce this artifact as well).

-Peter

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

But iMovie ’08 does exactly what FCP does–transcodes AVCHD into Apple Intermediate Codec (this takes about 2.5x real time on my Mac Pro) with the added bonus of giving a preview. You can then bring the AIC clips into FCP to edit. If you’re determined to have log and transfer work in FCP you have to update it fully.

It is worth mentioning, for those considering an AVCHD camera, that the codec is designed for consumers who want to burn the footage strait to DVD to play in a BlueRay DVD player using a Windows computer to burn the disk. It is not designed for professional editing. Mac support for this codec is next to nonexistent, no program supports it natively, and it requires an Intel dual core or better processor (it cannot be used at all on a Power PC). Sony Vegas and some other Windows-based consumer editing programs do offer native support, however.

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

Preview of AVCHD is possible in iMovie ’08.

An alternative, marginally faster (real time), is to use a capture card such as a Decklink, to bring the files in as ProRes422 or whatever you want.

Note: you need to have a recent update of FCP6 (not sure exactly which) in order to “log and transfer” AVCHD. Otherwise, iMovie ’08 can be used where available.

Peter

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

But the computer speakers still emit the bootloader sound, implying there is a firmware controlled switch somewhere and that it is still operational. Furthermore, my research suggests optical can be manually disengaged in Windows. I don’t have Windows on mine to test this, though. If this is the case, it would seem to me to be, at least in principle, feasible reroute the audio using the OS (probably a terminal operation).

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

If you could get a complete camera system for under 10k it would be great. But what you get for your 3k is a camera body. There’s the recording system, lenses, monitors…etc (let alone post production). I think we’re still some way off, and I think these technologies need time to mature. And to operate something like this is still going to require a crew. All other production costs haven’t really come down–a dolly grip is still going to cost you the same, e.g.–i.e., at the end of the day, the budget of a typical feature film will hardly be dented, even if the cost of the camera were removed completely.

As for the suggestion that major electronics companies should jump on the band wagon, I think they have a vested interest in not doing so–their strategy is to give as little as they can get away with and still turn a profit. Who’s going to buy a Varicam if a prosumer camera blows it out of the water in performance, e.g. (It’s already a bit silly considering the performance of cameras like the JVC proHD’s and the Sony EX1)?

Peter

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

I’ve just switched to a 35w lamp, which does not blow the fuse. (It seems I can even get away with single battery, but always run dual on shoots to be safe as reseting the protection cuicute involves recharging the disabled battery.) I’m sure the cause was drawing too many amps. Since use of oncamera light is period for me, I can live with this setup and will probably invest in a battery belt for so I can use the full 100w the light can accommodate

I should note, regarding the IDX powerlink–DO NOT use two batteries with asymmetric charge together. Doing so on mine caused the VTR to eat a tape!

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

This is probably too late to help the enquirer but I’ll mention it in case other have the same question in future. There is NO DIFFERENCE when shooting HDV. Just be sure to use the appropriate frame rate (i.e., 25/50p in 50Hz countries).* However the NTSC model will not play or record PAL DV (I own the 110U and have tested this). Based on this, I assume the 110/111 PAL models will not play or record NTSC. In other words, if you will only use the camera for shooting HDV buying an NTSC model to use in Europe will not be a problem.

Incidentally, the Sony EX1 is 100% PAL/NTSC agnostic (again uses of appropriate frame rate is recommended.

*Video shot at 25p on the NTSC model outputs through component as 50p, i.e., as “PAL”, according to my Sony Luma. Therefor monitoring should not be an issue either.

Peter

JVC ProHD HD110U
17″ Sony Luma 720p monitor
Final Cut Studio 2
MacBook Pro Core Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM

[Peter Ward]

I’ve only once had a tape get ruined, and it caused by an expensive Sony DVCPro/MiniDV deck. The deck ate it just like car stereos used to do before the days of CD. In know this is hardly conclusive, but my impression is that even cheap cameras are amazingly reliable considering the complexity and delicacy of the mechanisms. They do start to fail over time, but this doesn’t generally put tapes at risk, it just prevents proper playback or recording (whether mixing brands presents a problem is unclear)*. However, I would remcomend not reusing tapes, and suggest using pro-grade tapes where the tape will spend a lot of time in a camera/deck being during post as they are relatively sensitive compared to, say, Beta SP.

*I have an 8-year-old VX1000 that I’ve used every type of tape know to man in–and was once dropped with on the tapeloading side with the door open–that to this day has never needed a cleaning, let alone experienced any recording or playback problems.

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Peter Ward]

Hi Chuck,

In theory the .TOD files can be rewrapped and edited as HDV w/o transcode, but I can’t remember the process from memory–I’ll look into and get back to you…

Alternatively, use iMovie 08. You can edit without conversion or export (with lengthy transcode) for FCP editing. Your best bet, if you can’t get away with using iMovie exclusively, would be to do a rough edit in iMovie first to reduce the amount of video that has to be converted and then export for polished editing in FCP (I don’t own this camera myself, but I know someone with an HD7 who uses this process with success).

Good luck,

Peter

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4