Price & Longevity

[Vincent Rozenberg]

Yep, that's (beside the headphone option, which isn't one) the only option. ;-)

[John Benton]

So,
Forgive me, I am trying to talk myself into the Canon:

--In the field I could use a firewire capture to my Apple laptop while backing it up on tape ?

--How would you recommend getting 1080/24f into a PB?
capturing 1080/60i and using Cinema tools
or Lumiere
or Natress....?

--I LOVE the fact that in the studio with a Kono card in a G5 I could get uncompressed while still recording to tape.
(It certainly would be a trip if I could be digitizing the sound at the same time)
is it really as simple as this?

--What about the Firstore? will capturing from Tape to G5 through Kona yeild better result than the Firstore??

Thanks,
John

[Barlow Elton]

Originally Posted by John Benton

So,
Forgive me, I am trying to talk myself into the Canon:

--In the field I could use a firewire capture to my Apple laptop while backing it up on tape ?

Yes, but it wouldn't be FCP friendly. As of right now, 24F doesn't capture at all to FCP in an HDV preset. It's because it's a true 24p recording to tape, and Apple has been slow to adapt to it. You could capture to HDVxDV simultaneousy, but it would be in m2t's that have to be demuxed for FCP.

Best to just wait for the Firestore to work properly while recording tape simultaneously (maybe CitiDisk HDV can do this) but, again, you will not like editing HDV, especially on a Powerbook. Newer Intel powerbooks may change this perception though.

--How would you recommend getting 1080/24f into a PB?
capturing 1080/60i and using Cinema tools
or Lumiere
or Natress....?

There isn't a good solution for a powerbook with 24F material. Probably have to wait for FCP to have an update, or go back to a studio w/G5/Kona and go with DVCPROHD.

--I LOVE the fact that in the studio with a Kono card in a G5 I could get uncompressed while still recording to tape.
(It certainly would be a trip if I could be digitizing the sound at the same time)
is it really as simple as this?

It really is that simple...the only hitch is that you need to get a timecode BNC to RS422 adapter in order to have matching timecode from tape and SDI acquisition. Not really a big deal though. You could always go the dinosaur route and shoot a slate with a clapper. There is also dual system to consider. The Tascam HD-P2 can record H1 timecode and record uncompressed audio too. You can sync it up easily in a timeline.

--What about the Firstore? will capturing from Tape to G5 through Kona yeild better result than the Firstore??

You can just play the firestore out through SDI and save the tape wear and tear. To me, it's all about getting out of MPEG2 for post. It's possible to conform DV100 material back to the original HDV footage and then print to video back out to HDV, or maybe compress h.264 for a future high-def DVD.

Bottom line: The Kona (or even Decklink HD) opens up an entire new world of possibilities that you wouldn't otherwise consider if only going with firewire/hdv.

[Kevin Wild]

Hey, Barlow. Have you tested using the TC out to RS422? I didn't realize that would actually give you Timecode from the tape...are you sure this works?

Also, I just picked up a Tascam HD-P2. Very cool unit. I'll be testing it out this week and let everyone know how it works with chasing TC from the H1. So far, I love the unit. My goals is to use it as a mixer, as well, and send the redundant feed to the H1 for backup. More to come...

Kevin

[Barlow Elton]

Originally Posted by Kevin Wild

Hey, Barlow. Have you tested using the TC out to RS422? I didn't realize that would actually give you Timecode from the tape...are you sure this works?

Also, I just picked up a Tascam HD-P2. Very cool unit. I'll be testing it out this week and let everyone know how it works with chasing TC from the H1. So far, I love the unit. My goals is to use it as a mixer, as well, and send the redundant feed to the H1 for backup. More to come...

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I'm currently searching for the appropriate adapter. I think it's possible, but I also think this will all be superceded by an FCP or Kona software update. All we really need is for the device control to work from firewire, but capture SDI video. I think the Convergent Designs box is also a solution, but an expensive one at that! ($2K!!)

Man, I have been eyeing that Tascam unit--big time!! Can't wait to hear your impressions of it. If I'm not mistaken, can't it also just work as a volume you can mount on the Mac via firewire, and just play the audio files directly to the timeline? That would be cool if possible, but I'm sure I would just copy my files over to a hard drive and work from that.

[Kevin Wild]

As far as the HD P2, yes, it has a firewire port on the side. I tried that already and it works flawlessly. You can immediately drag the files onto your media drive. I'm sure you could just play back from the recorder, but not sure why you'd want to do that. Audio is so small that it's a very fast copy.

I'm not sure Apple will allow firewire only for timecode. Let me know if you find the right cable for getting TC from H1 through RS422.

More updates on working with the HD P2 and H1 TC soon.

Kevin

[Vincent Rozenberg]

Originally Posted by Kevin Wild

I'm not sure Apple will allow firewire only for timecode.

Im' almost sure that that's gonna work. Because it's a different selection option then the video/audio settings. You can capture Audio/Video via Firewire and do timecode via RS422, so I don't see why not the other way around.