So what's the Family Truckster worth?

Originally Posted by Patrick Jenkins

Convert the m2t file into another format first. It's more of raw camera format then an editing format.

http://www.alfanet.it/squared5/mpegstreamclip.html

Patrick,

Thank you very much for taking the time to post that. That's very kind and I appreciate your effort in trying to help me out. At this point in time though, I would not be interested enough to see a m2t clip to download additional software to my Mac.

That's just me though. I'm sure that your information will be a big help to others.

The interesting thing to see in the very near future (for me at least) -

XL2 & XL H1 footage compared.

I'd like to see the test I mentioned above to see if the extra money, extra efforts, extra hardware requirements, and extra bandwidth required to view HDV material on-line make it worth switching from a XL2 to a XL H1 IF and only IF you are going to be putting your final edited footage on-line.

How much clearer will it be?

How will XL2 24p compare to XL H1 24F?

[Michael Maier]

Originally Posted by Derek West

You could be right about that Michael. If they would have priced it close to the XL2 it would be bitter-sweet. Sweet because you could have two cameras, a Xl2 and XL H1 for the price of one currently priced XL H1. Bitter because anyone that just spent $4,000 for a XL2 would feel, well, not so great.

However, it would have been great news all around for anyone who had not bought a camera over the past 6 months or so.

I don't think it will be a big seller either. Not near the level of sales for the FX1, Z1 or HD100.

Yeah, if they had priced it lower, many XL2 owners would complain.
I think that people who do studio work will be the ones buying this camera. I don't see many independent filmmakers getting one. Not for that price.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Derek West

XL2 & XL H1 footage compared.

What, you mean SD to SD, right? Otherwise it's applaes and oranges, because the XL2 is 25mbps DV, and the XL H1 is 1.485Gbps HD.

Chris,

Thanks, but I do mean HDV to SD. I would like to see the BIG differences with how good on-line footage from the Canon XL H1 would be and how it would compare to footage from the XL2. I'd like to see why I would want to switch?

Or is Mike right with this -

Originally Posted by Mike Marriage

By doing this, the HDV camera would loose its advantage completely. It is only worth shooting HD if the film is going to be viewed in HD, either now or in the future.

When he anwered my question of -

I'd like to see a comparison of two 30 second clips - one shot with an XL2 or DVX and compressed to say 5 or 10 megs, the other shot with a Z1 or HD100 and compressed to the same 5 or 10 megs - and then be able to see what looks the best. They don't have to be identical shots, just close, with similar lighting and optimal settings for each camera - not the factory defaults.

Only this time you could replace the Z1 or HD100 with XL H1, and you could compress the HDV footage to any size you want (as opposed to limiting it to the size of the SD footage as mentioned above, since the addition of Kevin's point above with it needing to be 3 times the size).

If so, seems to me (and I could be way off base here) that HDV would be a complete waste of time, effort and money for anyone shooting DV that would be outputting their edited footage primarily to the web.

To everyone reading this thread -

Please know that I'm not trying to come down on HDV. I'm all for progress and great equipment. I just need to know why I'm for it, and whether or not it will be good for the way I use it.

[Michael Maier]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

What, you mean SD to SD, right? Otherwise it's applaes and oranges, because the XL2 is 25mbps DV, and the XL H1 is 1.485Gbps HD.

Isn't the H1 HDV? HDV is 25mbps like DV, right?
I know JVC's ProHD runs a 19mbps. But since Canon is doing 1080i, I would think it's 25mbps, like the Z1.

[Eric Brown]

I'll use my existing 23" Cinema Display and Samsung 22" HD LCD panel via digital cinema desktop for now


Boyd, don't want to start a shift in the thread topic but I was curious. I bought 2 0f the Apple 20" diplays because it seems that Apple is having a huge problem with the 23" cinemas and this pinkish cast to the screen.
I heard about it on the Apple discussion boards then decide to quit reading about it and go out into the real world and see for myself.
At the MacMall storeand at another video electonics outlet I clearly saw the pinkish cast everyone was talking about.
Although the Apple sales guy assured me Apple had taken care of this year old problem.
So in short, do you have this problem with your 23"? And if so how does it effect your color correcting during post?
The reason I didn't go for it was because of this and that I am also a professional artist and accurate colors are paramount.

[Mike Marriage]

Originally Posted by Michael Maier

Isn't the H1 HDV? HDV is 25mbps like DV, right?
I know JVC's ProHD runs a 19mbps. But since Canon is doing 1080i, I would think it's 25mbps, like the Z1.

The XLH1 records a 1080i60 25Mb/s HDV stream (and 1080i50 depending on model). Within this stream, it can record 60i, 30F or 24F footage.

[Boyd Ostroff]

I got my 23" Cinema display from my local Apple Store about a month ago, when my 21" Trinitron CRT Apple Studio display died (after 7 years of faithful use :-). No problems whatsoever with the color. But if there had been I would have driven right back to the store for an exchange.

Yeah, MacWorld did a review of 23" LCD's and mentioned that the first model they were shipped had the problem but the second didn't. But that review is nearly a year old now....

[Nick Hiltgen]

I have a 23" and haven't experienced a pink tint at all, however... I did have something similar when running two monitors and on the second monitor (the apple 21" CRT) there was a pink shift. turns out upgrading the video card to a 9800 solved all my problems.

But more to the point, Do a lot of people color correct off of the LCD displays? I was under the impression that it might be better to color correct off of a CRT.

Also, I think that this HD- Uncompressed price problem is kind of a rediculous debate.

It sounds like you want an uncompressed editing suite and scoff at paying 23,000 for it. Um, check out some prices for an avid nitris or an HDW-500F or a D5 deck etc. If you look at it as just setting up an uncompressed set-up then you're still getting a good deal at anything less then 100k. The 23,000 system would allow you to do HDCAM on-line editing. (we've done it with the same set up only a dual 2ghz processor) If you're just editing HDV your current setup is fine, you don't need to purchase anything. Heck I've edited HDV on my dual 800 g4, it was slow but it could be done and only cost me the price of imovie. (this was pre final cut pro 5)

I think the strong advantage of HDV is only there is you don't go out and spend the extra cash on new gear. If you're going to feel obligated to buy all the newest toys then I think the advantage of HDV is lost.

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by Patrick Jenkins

Just my $.02, but not willing to take the work-around approach in a lot of instances is going to force you to spend significant $$ (that you're already saying you can't afford) on negligible needs that could be avoided by just taking the work around?

It's your call, but if I was facing that dilemma I would change my style.

Thanks for the advice, Patrick, but I don't compromise.

Jay

[Mike Marriage]

Originally Posted by Jay Gladwell

Thanks for the advice, Patrick, but I don't compromise.

Jay

Filmmaking is the art of compromise... :)

[Jay Gladwell]

Originally Posted by Mike Marriage

Filmmaking is the art of compromise... :)

Maybe for you, not for me.

Jay

[Mike Marriage]

Originally Posted by Jay Gladwell

Maybe for you, not for me.

Jay

You must be a cameraman... That's sounds like a 1st AC talking...?

Can't be a director or producer... :)