Help capturing through Intensity Pro to edit in Pro Res 4:2:2

[Konrad Czystowski]

Hi.
I've just got Intensity Pro card and would like to start capturing material (shot in HDV 1080i60 on Canon XH A1) from HV 20 through HDMI and the card to FCP 6.1.
I want to edit in Pro Res 4:2:2 on my mac.

Question: What are proper settings for capturing cause it's quite confusing?
Is Easy Setup enough? If so, what should I select?

I heard I also need Firewire to control and get the timecode.

HOW DO I GET ALL THIS RIGHT?

I also know that you can change the quality of the Pro Res. But where do you do it?

I hope someone knows the answer :)

BTW Does what I want to do make sense? Is that better than just capturing over firewire?

I'm new to it so excuse my maybe stupid questions.
I hope it's right section. If not, please move it where it fits.

Thanks

[David Braund]

as far as I'm aware it wont offer any advantage

you've already shot onto tape, so what u want on your computer will be the info on tape and firewire or HDMi will just do the same thing and transfer the data over

the HDMI way will just be more trouble for the same thing



if you were bypassing HDV encoding and recording straight to laptop (no tapes) , then it would be a different story

[Konrad Czystowski]

But isn't it the fastest way to edit in pro res since you already capturing in that codec (conversion being done by the card) instead of changing it in the NLE?

[David Braund]

im not too sure about pro res because i dont use macs

but, wont firewire just be the same? seeing as i can capture on PC from my camcorder in any format i want (wmv, avi, mov etc)

[Konrad Czystowski]

From what I know HDMI boosts the signal to 4:2:2 in real time so you don't have to render it or convert in NLE to work in Pro Res.
I want to work in Pro Res, because apparently it's faster (render times) and better looking.

But again, I'm a newbie. So maybe I'm wrong.

[Robert Ducon]

Without getting technical, all 4:2:0 is read as 4:2:2 when played back on a standard TV. The TV sees it as 4:2:2, even though it's 4:2:0. And since you recorded to HDV (tape) it'll be 4:2:0 and never actually get better than that, no matter what codec you upconvert to.. you could even up convert that HDV footage to 4:4:4, but there'd only be 4:2:0 worth of data.

I'd recommend importing via FireWire.. it's simplier. If you have time, sure, try and import as ProRes. The Intensity is only the most useful when you bypass recording to tape and record straight from the camera, live.

THEN it'll be an impressive full HD signal at 4:2:2 (full HD in terms of what the HV20 can actually provide).

Like you, when I upconvert my HDV footage to ProRes, even though I own a card that can do HDMI as well, I import via FireWire and then use Compressor to upconvert and move to the better codec. I'd recommend my way, but you may see using the Intensity as easier/better for what you want to do.

[Konrad Czystowski]

Thanks Robert.
If you don't mind I'll ask you few more questions.

If I want to use ProRes, isn't it faster to capture in ProRes right away?
Main reason why I bought the card, except monitoring, was ability to capture in ProRes, so I don't have to use compressor later.
When you say better codec, do you mean something different than ProRes?
If so, which one?
Is there a better way to edit HDV based footage? My goal is to get the best possible quality, output it for now to DVD and to have the possibility to burn blue-ray or hd dvd in the future.
Is ProRes the way?
What's your experience? Is it better to edit than HDV codec?
Can you also see the difference in quality?

And finally, if I want to capture with Intensity, do I have to use FireWire for timecode? And how should I setup FCP for capture and the sequence too? Easy Setup or Audio/Video Settings? What's the right way?

Sorry for so many questions.
I want to start editing new project and need that info.

[Kristian Lam]

Originally Posted by Konrad Czystowski

Hi.
I've just got Intensity Pro card and would like to start capturing material (shot in HDV 1080i60 on Canon XH A1) from HV 20 through HDMI and the card to FCP 6.1.
I want to edit in Pro Res 4:2:2 on my mac.

Question: What are proper settings for capturing cause it's quite confusing?
Is Easy Setup enough? If so, what should I select?

I heard I also need Firewire to control and get the timecode.

HOW DO I GET ALL THIS RIGHT?

I also know that you can change the quality of the Pro Res. But where do you do it?

I hope someone knows the answer :)

BTW Does what I want to do make sense? Is that better than just capturing over firewire?

I'm new to it so excuse my maybe stupid questions.
I hope it's right section. If not, please move it where it fits.

Thanks

Hi,

Use "Blackmagic HDTV 1080i 59.94 - Apple ProRes (HQ)" in the easy setups. This is configured to capture to the ProRes (HQ) codec. If you want to capture to ProRes (SQ), go into the Audio/Video settings in Final Cut Pro and change the capture presets. This may sound confusing but basically, easy setup configures a group of settings for capture, playback, timeline settings etc while Audio/Video settings configures each individual configuration.

If you want to use firewire to control the camera in order to get timecode, you need to go into the "Capture Settings" tab in the Log and Capture window. Use "Firewire NTSC" instead and set you camera to down convert on the firewire output. You need to do this because Final Cut Pro does not allow the user to use HDV control without capturing the video via firewire.

[Konrad Czystowski]

Thank you Kristian for responding.
Hovewer I still can't figure it out.
In Easy Setup I don't see Apple ProRes (HQ).
And if I wanted to do it in Audio/Video Settings what kind of sequence should I choose?

[Robert Ducon]

Originally Posted by Konrad Czystowski

Thanks Robert.
If I want to use ProRes, isn't it faster to capture in ProRes right away?

When you say better codec, do you mean something different than ProRes?
If so, which one?

Is there a better way to edit HDV based footage? My goal is to get the best possible quality, output it for now to DVD and to have the possibility to burn blue-ray or hd dvd in the future.

Is ProRes the way?
What's your experience? Is it better to edit than HDV codec?
Can you also see the difference in quality?

And finally, if I want to capture with Intensity, do I have to use FireWire for timecode? And how should I setup FCP for capture and the sequence too? Easy Setup or Audio/Video Settings? What's the right way?

Yes, capturing directly into ProRes would be the fastest. If you bought your card for that, makes sense .. ignore what I said and just go and use it.

Codec - ProRes is my highend codec of choice too - it's great, you've selected a great codec, great (value + quality) camera, and a great capture card. It's a great combo. ProRes will hold up to later steps in the editing/colour correction process, for sure. It's the right choice.

I didn't use FireWire for timecode while capturing via HDmi.. I don't think you can, but it's never something I've looked into.

I had to download the latest Decklink drivers once I had installed FCP 6. Only then could I import footage.

I don't remember if I made my own capture preset or not - it took some time trying out combinations of settings, that I do remember.

[Kristian Lam]

Originally Posted by Konrad Czystowski

Thank you Kristian for responding.
Hovewer I still can't figure it out.
In Easy Setup I don't see Apple ProRes (HQ).
And if I wanted to do it in Audio/Video Settings what kind of sequence should I choose?

Have you installed the latest driver? You can download it from here:

http://blackmagic-design.com/support/software/

I've attached a screenshot the Audio/Video Settings. Ignore the part in the Video and Audio Playback section where it says "Missing" as I'm doing this on my iMac without any video capture hardware.