I have spent all my time learning to shoot with the EX 1 that I have not even tried the connections under the little door! I had lunch with a friend and another EX-1 owner yesterday and the idea of monitoring a shoot with my MacBook Pro came up. Have any of you tried this and if so how did you do it and what do you need to make it work?

Thanks,

Phil

Maybe if you shoot in SP/HDV mode you could monitor through firewire, but even then there would likely be a delay. In HQ mode I am not sure that would be possible as there is no monitor in on the MBP and the firewire is disabled.

B

Just a thought. On my GL2 I had a video out jack and could plug it into a monitor. This is how I used it on a Jib.

Phil

Given that the V1U has HDMI output, it would have been nice for Sony to include a way.

Has anyone found a compact component to VGA, DVI or HDMI connector ? It would be really nice to use any LCD as a larger display.

Here is a candidate :
http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/dcp261.asp

You could connect the EX1 via firewire in SP mode and use the capture window of FCP, but it's not full frame rate, or a decent image size, and has a terrible delay. You could also use an AJA IO box with the SDI, but you still have the same problems. The EX1 has a full range of outputs, from composite to SDI. Most flat panels that you would want to connect to (even some tubes) have component. Any decent HD broadcast monitor will have SDI. If you want DVI/HDMI, get a black magic HDLink box. Just keep in mind that just because a display is 1080p doesn't mean it is going to show an accurate image.

-Sean

I use my PowerBook G4 all the time via firewire with iMovie as a monitor while shooting. Works like a champ!

I use my PowerBook G4 all the time via firewire with iMovie as a monitor while shooting. Works like a champ!

HQ? No delay? Please, How?
That would be awesome!

camera > firewire > G4 laptop > iMovie

no more complicated than that :)

And in a few months: EX via HD SDI -> MXO2 -> MBP -> LCD

And connect a FW800 drive to your MBP and capture HQ in ProRes422 HD.

George.

I use my PowerBook G4 all the time via firewire with iMovie as a monitor while shooting. Works like a champ!

I hooked up the EX1 to the MacBook Pro via supplied cable and turned on iMovie. The camera tried to locate the computer and then iMovie crashed. Do I have to set things up in a special way? What steps do you use?

Thanks,

Phil

I guess I'm out of luck, I'm a PC guy,
:-(

I just checked that out with iMovie. When you fire it up with the camera connected it is automatically in capture mode. However, its capture mode looks quite good, unlike the FCP capture mode.

There is the same lag, though. Still, it's an easy way to use the Macbook Pro as a monitor. If somebody wants to watch a monitor while you're shooting, they can live with the delay.

camera > firewire > G4 laptop > iMovie

no more complicated than that :)

OK, I think in my case the missing part was FireWire 800, though I have the latest VAIO it does not offer FireWire 800, so I'm getting Express card FireWire 800 adapter; I hope that will fix the delay part, but will I be able to capture straight to the laptop in QH using any software?
I keep learning from all of you guys,
many thanks!

I guess I'm out of luck, I'm a PC guy,
:-(

Try DVRack HD.

OK, I think in my case the missing part was FireWire 800

Nope, I'm using FW400. I think it depends on what software you're using. Not sure how well the video stuff on windows supports FW (apple tech), I would think they'd be pushing USB (Intel tech).

I don't know about other cameras, but I've done this with both my $800 JVC and my XL1s and it works for me over FW800. the Firewire cable I use is a 6-pin to 4-pin which came with the JVC.

PC Solution:
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/onlocation/

OnLocation (which used to be DVRack) talks through the firewire port, but the EX1 outputs through that only in SP mode. Or is there another way?

A quick (and free!) Firewire software solution (SP mode only) is to use VLC Media Player (on Mac/PC or even Linux!), just download and install it...

www.videolan.org/vlc

Plug in the firewire cable (FW400/800 isn't important as the signal will always be 25mbps HDV), then go to "open capture device" in VLC. There are even some 'extended gui' controls to tweak hue/sat/gamma/etc... and even audio eq. Only downside is the delay will always be there (I think some of this is introduced at the camera anyway, as it transcodes the signal).

A second monitoring method via Component using a VGA converter box like this;
http://www.js-technology.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=57&osCsid=c6be4a34b66e94d7eaeb7556a1c43e9d
Then just use the LCD monitor/size of your choice, ideally find one with 1:1 pixel mapping for your preferred output (720/1080).

Clearly the best of all options is to use a HD-SDI monitor/video village, but I dont think that is the type of solution ($!) in-keeping with the spirit of this thread - am I right? ;0)

Cheers,
Dave.

capture is not available on the Mac version, which sucks a bit, cause that would have been exceedingly happy.

I don't think it's ever going to be an ideal monitoring system. Get a Dell 2405 and use the component cables, or better yet a 23"cinema display with the Black Magic HDLink box. Chances are you don't need the pro version, and the standard is about $419. Then you get full raster monitoring with audio via SDI and you can generate and apply LUT's, and the HDLink box adds a blue only mode for more precise monitor cailbration.

-Sean

A very good monitoring option could be this:
http://izzotek.com/achat/index.php?catid=74
Just 15 inches but true 1080 resolution with component inputs. Its just a kit so you would have to build a case to hold the display, the board and a 12 volt battery. Would take some work but is much cheaper and has a much higher resolution than a marshall! Haven't tested it though so this is all just theoretical.

The not-yet-released matrox mxo2 (which George mentioned) will allow a macbook pro to capture uncompressed (or ProRes-compressed) 10bit 4:2:2 through the sdi. Its small and will work with field batteries. Now THAT sounds great! Don't know though how well it will work as a monitor.

Cheers,
Atilio.

Hmm... Thanks for that link Atilio.

The MXO2 does (supposed to) do real time output for monitoring to HDMI and can be "calibrated".

I was thinking of maybe hooking a DELL ULTRASHARP 2408WFP display up to an MXO2. Maybe modifying it to take battery power or use an inverter.

Another option is to use the MXO2 and a MBP with Veescope Live (http://www.dvdxdv.com/NewFolderLookSite/VeeScope/Products/VeescopeLive.try.htm). That's only $100 and you can do live chromakey as well as having a vectorscope/waveform monitor. It should work with the MXO2 as it take any Quicktime video source. There's another software package that does something similar, but my mind isn't giving it up (and I'm out of Sodium Pentothal). It may come to me again...

Oh well, still have a few months to figure that out.

George/

EDIT: Victory: Scopebox (http://www.scopebox.com), a bit more expensive then Veescope Live, but looks nicer too...

Nice... Im glad to see this is being discussed as Im also very interested. I just dont see why such an exceptional display like the MBP is unable to be used?? Thats really weird dont you guys think?... Theres gotta be a way

Try DVRack HD.

DVRack now Adobe On Location has a nasty delay...
but it saved my ass when my EVF and LCD were fried

Haven't tried it yet, but I'm about to...just found this on Version tracker:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/30462

Sounds like you'd need this software, their matching hardware, and a VGA-component breakout. If it's sending video over USB it's also likely to be of lower quality and have a significant delay. I've used wireless SDI transmitters before wihich have a 500ms delay, and it is maddening. I'd still recommend an SDI-DVI converter box (I personally like the Black Magic HDLink) and a good quality DVI monitor.

-Sean

Edit --

I just emailed Divergent Media, the makers of ScopeBox, and this is the very useful and encouraging response I got from Mike Woodworth, CEO and Lead Developer:

... "We demoed ScopeBox 2 with the EX1 at NAB. We were using it both 25mbit over HDV and HQ mode over HD-SDI --- if you have the cash, the HD +ioHD is by far the way to go, HDV is a nasty codec and ScopeBox has a much higher preview latency with HDV compared to HD-SDI...."

Did anyone on this board get a chance to see their booth at NAB?