Hi. To cut a long story short I'm going to be using a Z1P for the first time for a paid GIG, I'm used to a PDX10. I use a G4 and FCP 4.5 / QT 6.5.2. The final product will be 4:3 SD

I'd be interested in peoples opinions on how to film the rushes. Should I just switch the Cam to SD and keep the whole workflow all in SD or shoot in HD and down convert when I'm capturing to FCP to SD.

1) If I shoot in HD can I play around with the rushes at a later date ie. recapture the rushes and convert to 16:9 when my wife allows me to spend lots of money on a new Mac etc

2) Rushes shot in HD and down converted during caprure to SD, Does that look any better, say, on a LCD widescreen tv, than keeping the workflow all in SD.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, Many Thanks

Michael

Well you can't capture HDV using FCP 4.5, which you probably already know. I would shoot HDV and use i.LINK CONV with EDGE CROP turned on when you capture. That will preserve your higher quality master, and I think it will probably also look slightly better than shooting 4:3 standard DV on the Z1.

Only other thing you might consider is whether there's some advantage to shooting in DVCAM mode instead of HDV. For example, you're less likely to have any dropouts. But in that case your master tape would be standard definition 4:3.

I have just filmed an advert with the Z1 (see my earlier post) and edited in Final Cut. If you are on a G4 Dont attempt editing in HD unless you have atleast 3GIGs of ram. But i would film in DVCAM MODE if you can

Why do you advocate shooting DVCAM vs HDV and downconverting in the camera?