Steven Gladney
Forum Replies Created
-
Daniel,
Tom is absolutely correct! Check out the camera for yourself. I, for one, love the XL2, but it’s not the greatest camera for shooting weddings and/or social events (in my opinion) because it doesn’t have a very low lux doesn’t and doesn’t do very well in low light. As far as HDV goes, that’s a whole nother discussion and if you search this forum you will find several opinions as to the pros and cons with HDV. I would advise you to do so.
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
Hi Jeff,
Just wanted to give you a little feedback on the HD tests on the Powerbook. Everything thus far is working great! I’ve only done some very rough cuts (working on a DVCPro 720 HD 24p timeline) with no real motion graphics are anything yet, but it’s working fine. And this is from a small G-Drive Mini (only 5400 rpm). I’m trying not to get into any heavy editing yet because this is a “real” project and I really want to edit on a firewire dive that is at least 7400 rpm. But as far as simple renders for color correcting and dissolves, works great. Definitely not my desktop (G5 2.0 Dual Core with 2.5 gigs of Ram), but at this point better than I expected. Also, this is only with 512 MB’s of RAM (Selling my old laptop to get 2 gigs of RAM next week). So I only expect improvement with more RAM. Hope this helps
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
Just to let you know, Powerbook (I have the 17″ titanium and love it) will definately work for basic editing. I’m acutally trying some HD stuff a little later on today. If interested, I’ll let you know how it works out.
As far as the USB 2.0 drive goes. If you already have it, it will work fine for transfer (P2 through Powerbook to Lacie). But transfer ONLY!!! I would not suggest trying to edit from this drive with it set as your Media Drive (scratch disk). USB 2 is fast, but it has not shown the ability to sustain a fast enough transfer rate for video editing (unlike firewire, which has). I’m not sure how the USB drive would work if you’re just doing offlined work, but if I had the choice, I’d definitely just go with a Firewire 400/800 drive. At least that way you have a multifaceted drive that would be good for transfer and editing.
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
Nope, can’t insert P2 cards into the Macbook Pro (yet). P2 cards won’t fit into the Express Card slot on the Macbook Pro (will on a PC, though). There is an adapter that is supposed to be coming out, but I believe it has supposed to be coming out for about 6+ months now. Only option with the Macbook Pro is to hook HVX directly to laptop via firewire and transfer that way (I’m not a big fan of this method while shooting in the field. Takes my camera out of commision for 5-7 mins for just one P2 card). I was in a similar situation to you and just last week decided to buy an Apple Referbed G4 Powerbook (does have PCI slot for P2 Card) and it’s working fine for me at this point (just finished a shoot right before making this post). May want to consider that route.
Also, yes, you are right. You can install your license of Final Cut Studio on one desktop and one laptop.
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
Have you copied the files from your P2 card to you Hard Drive? If not, you really should do that first. To mount your P2 card onto your desktop through the camera, there’s a button that you click on the back to go from camera to VCR mode (sorry, can’t remember tech names off the top of my head). Push and hold that button down (making sure you already have your firewire cord connected between your camera and your computer) and this will put the camera into PC mode (I do remember that term:). From there the card should mount on your desktop (probably called No_Name) and your should be able to open and see some files and folders from there. Make a folder on your Hard Drive and **COPY EVERYTHING** over. From there, you should be able to do your File/Import/P2 from FCP and bring your files in from there. Hope this helps.
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
Thanks Barry,
Knew there had to be something I was missing. LOVE your DVD by the way. Watched it 3 times already. Me and the wife were thinking of snuggling up on the couch, popping of popcorn and watching it for a 4th time 🙂 Naw, just kidding…. It’l just be me. Wife won’t sit and watch it again 😉
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
If you are currently working with the GL2 and you are NEEDING to upgrade, the A1 would be a definate improvement. You will have a 20x optical zoom and XLR connectors (not to mention the fact it can shoot HDV). If you use it primarily as a DV cam initially, that should be fine. I’ve worked with the JVC GY-HD100 as a DV cam on several occassions and it worked great. But I am not personally a big fan of the HDV format itself. It can be a bear to work with (both editing and shooting). There has been much documentation of how HDV doesn’t deal very well with motion and has some issues in post. My suggestion would be (as always) to rent the camera and shoot with it (DV and HDV). See how you like it. Try editing some HDV footage and see how it works for you.
As far as additional expense in equipment? Hardly. HDV is just like editing DV (as far as the steps are involved). Going to DVD you will experience longer rendering and/or encoding times (depending on what you use), which will tie up your editing station longer. And you know what they say, “Time is money”. So it could be more expensive that way. Now, a couple of factors that could change that is 1) What type of system are you editing off of currently? If it is a much older system and you’re already encountering problems with DV, then you should definitely consider upgrading your editing system (which would obviously be an addtional expense). 2) I’m not sure how (or if) you currently monitor your video externally, but if you are looking to do so with HDV, then you’re probably looking at an investment of at least 2g’s on equipment (again, depending on your current set-up).
All in all, even if you can get the A1 as a DV cam only, it’s considerably a good buy considering it’s cost. And if/when you decide to make the jump to HD, you’ll aready have the equipment. There is little doubt that HD is the way of the future. But there is concern how HDV fits into this equation. Some believe HDV could be a passing format and many are waiting until the smoke clears before they make their purchases. This goes back to my initial statement, “If you are…NEEDING to upgrade”. If your gear is working fine and you’re making money with it, that’s all that counts. If you get clients knocking down your door for HD, go out and rent what you need. Again, I highly suggest renting and playing with it, but if you HAVE to buy, make sure it’s an informed decision.
Sorry for the long post.
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
I’m sorry, Shane, but what was the problem you were having? I’m assuming that you were trying to import 24pN footage and had the “Remove Duplicate Frames” option turned on? Is that it? I haven’t run into any problems but I like to try to be forewarned with situations like this. I know what it’s like to spend 3-days trying to get something to work and then you come to find that the machine just wasn’t plugged in. Please let me know.
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
Using Apple Final Cut Studio 5.1.1 on a Power Mac G5 2.0 Dual Core System and 2.5 Gigs of Ram.
Steven
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.
-
Could just be a simple firmware upgrade. Not sure, but I’d check Panasonics website. Reason I bring it up is because Panasonic recently announced the release of it’s 16 Gig P2 Card for May. Any HVX shipped after then will be able to use the card immediately, while any HVX released before then would have to download a firmware upgrade in order to use the card in their camera. Could be a similar issue with your cam if it was one of the first ones shippped.
Steven Gladney
Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.