what is your workstation of choice? Mac or PC? What are the pros and cons of each? for editing 24f?

Macs can run Premiere Avid and FCP...and you can use Bootcamp
to run Vegas, etc. so if you want something to do everything then
a MacPro, MacBook Pro, or the nice new iMac should work pretty
well.

Personally I really enjoy FCP and the new ProRes codec. It of course
works seamlessly with 24f.

The only con is the price of the hardware. However a stocked MacPro
is not much different than a similar Dell.

I'm seriously considering getting a mac, though i've invested quite a bit into PC already....but i think because i'm going to need to upgrade both computer and Editor, i'm thinking about doing the switch..... i think it might be a good time...mainly because of Bootcamp allowing me to use alot of software that i have, and of course the new Final Cut Studio.....i've heard good things about it. My alternative is getting a new souped up Dell PC and upgrading Premiere to CS3 and getting Aspect HD, but i think the Mac might serve me well.....

oh yeah, and i don't much care for the new Vista OS, too many compatibility issues right now.

Will, what are you doing to monitor with FCP? what is the best way to do realtime monitoring? MXO? Second Display?

Check out this company.

http://polywell.com/us/index.asp

I have a PowerMac G5 and love it. I can't wait until my new Mac Pro comes in, it should be much more performant then the G5 in HDV.

Running a dual core PC with Prospect 2K.

Prospect and 24F - ... I'm in PAL valley 25F ..... Simply the best investment
i have made in many years.

Do you want to run SDI out of the H1? Are you capturing HDV to tape?

Do you want to run SDI out of the H1? Are you capturing HDV to tape?

not really, just HDV to tape and a Firestore. But the option to do it is good!

Will, what are you doing to monitor with FCP? what is the best way to do realtime monitoring? MXO? Second Display?

Mac Pro -> Decklink HD -> HDLink -> Apple 23" LCD

Awesome.

Even when we are on location we lug the HDLink/Apple
Monitor combination around because it makes things real
easy. It fits snuggly in a rolling Pelican case.

No focus problems here. :)

Do you want to run SDI out of the H1? Are you capturing HDV to tape?

We do both. Effects shots are almost always captured HDSDI to
ProRes or similar. Makes keying things VERY easy.

The H1's HDV works well if shot and lit correctly.

We just ordered a Convergent Design's HDV to HDSDI converter.
We'll see how that helps us edit everything in something better
than HDV.

Since you're only looking at HDV for now, you might think about a Dell 690 Workstation with a Matrox RT.X2. I've been looking at getting this for work.

If you think you might eventually want to capture HD-SDI straight from the camera or a deck, I would take a look at the Matrox AxioHD. I've seen both and they look good using Adobe Premiere, but I'm sure there are others out there. I haven't really done a very good job of comparing them. Especially value/dollar.

Mac Pro -> Decklink HD -> HDLink -> Apple 23" LCD

Awesome.

Even when we are on location we lug the HDLink/Apple
Monitor combination around because it makes things real
easy. It fits snuggly in a rolling Pelican case.

No focus problems here. :)

I like this setup....i'm leaning more and more towards the macs, and I'd likely in the future use the HD SDI.

...capture HD-SDI straight from the camera or a deck...

What deck are people using to capture -- be it SDI or otherwise?

What deck for HDV / FireWire capture is Frequently Asked (answer: use a consumer Canon HDV camcorder).

What deck for SDI capture: you must use the XL H1 in VCR mode (as a deck) in order to capture from SDI. Alternatively, if you recorded to an external deck via SDI in the first place, then you use that deck for capture from SDI.

For HDV capture, can one use a Sony HDV deck? Or...if the footage was shot in SD mode, can't any DV deck work? Is there something about the signal that requires the use of a Canon camera?

Once again... frequently asked... please search first before posting.

The answer is that a Sony HDV deck will suffice for 60i video.

However, anything shot in Frame mode (30F or 24F) requires a Canon HDV camcorder as a VCR.

For standard definition video in all frame rates, any DV camcorder or deck will suffice for playback.