I just purchased a Sony SR12 and am trying to test getting the footage into FCP 6.0.2 and not having luck. What is the trick?

Do I have to have a HDMI mini and use my Black Magic card?

Looking for some direction.

Figured it out using the USB and Log and Transfer. Now I need to try the HDMI mini to my BM Card anyone doing this? I have to buy a HDMI to HDMI mini is it worth the extra to use the BM card.

Seem like a nice little camera. I have set the exposure to the dial.

Hey Paul,
I'm considering purchasing the Sony SR12, and editing on a MacBook Pro (Final Cut 6.0.3, intel chip, 2.8ghz, 4gb RAM). What's your experience been like with the camera and workflow -- pluses and minuses?

Rodney sorry for the delay I have been on the road for three days. I am finding the SR12 and FCP 6.0.2 work great together. You have to use Prores is the only down side so far and that is not bad.

This coming week I might use it on a job. Last week I was only testing and using my EX1 on both jobs.

Thanks, Paul. Just to be clear, it sounds like you're using a capture card to ingest... if so, what model of card and are you doing it by HDMI? Sorry for all the pesky questions. I'm a newbie still trying to get up to speed. Thanks again for your help.

Rodney no worry I am happy to help that is what DVinfo.net is all about.

I have a Black Magic Intensity Pro card but have not used it with the SR12. All I am doing is using the USB cable that came with the camera and then transfer the clips. I think the BM card is only interlaced and since the camera is progressive I am keeping the clips progressive. I could be wrong here and the BM card could be better quality. Once I finally get around to ordering a mini HDMI cable I will give it a go.

Just to expand a bit, in Final Cut 6.02 or higher, you use "log and transfer", which is a different interface than "log and capture".

You need to keep your avchd clips in the card's file structure. The thumbnails pop up instantanly and you can scrub through the clips to preview them.

Then when you've picked your clips, it ingests them as ProRes and they show up in the Final Cut bin... it takes a little longer than real time if you've got a fast computer. Must be an intel computer, a G4 or G5 won't work at all.

It's a pretty slick interface, with the only big drawback is that the ProRes files are HUGE. It doesn't archive your raw compressed footage, so you'll need to do that separately.

Chuck or Paul, could you give us an idea of how large your ProRes transcoded files are? I realize the actual sizes will likely vary due to VBR, but if you had to put a "rule of thumb" number on it what would you say? 10x, 20x?

Thanks for more detail Chuck. But I do not use the card files structure I use the HD which works fine and every thing else is the same.

My ProRes files are about 900MB per minute. I do not have any long files on the computer yet only 1 min and smaller. But this should give you a idea at 1920x1080 HQ prores 422.

I was playing with a Canon HF10 using SD cards; I forgot the Sony is a hard drive camera -- but the log and transfer operation is the same.

The one file I compared was 15mb on the camera and 250mb once converted to ProRes. This was in the max quality setting of the Canon. Sorry, I've forgotten how long the clip was, but maybe less than 15 seconds?