Capture Uncompressed DigiBeta to Mac at DVinfo.net

John Lofton IV · July 23rd, 2007, 09:54 AM

Hi All,

Sorry if this question has already been answered, I did search with no luck.

First, a little background.

I'm working off a Non-Intel, Dual 1.8Ghz PowerPC G5 with Final Cut Studio 2 and 3.5GB RAM.

My goal: Capture uncompressed footage from Digibeta / DVCam / HDV tapes.

Main question: What connection would successfully capture uncompressed Digibeta / DVcam / HDV footage?

Secondary Question: What video card do you suggest I purchase for said purpose?

I've been looking into these:

http://www.aja.com/html/products_macintosh_kona.html

Third Question: Does anybody know how much Hard Drive Space 1 minute of uncompressed Digibeta footage takes up?

Thanks a million, guys! Any feedback is much appreciated!

John Lofton IV · July 23rd, 2007, 12:05 PM

Ok well just to update my own questions here is what I have found:

Using the Sony DVW-A500 and the AJA Kona 3 LH I can transfer 4:2:2 into the computer. I plan on renting the Sony deck and buying the Kona. (Anybody know any local deck rental facilities in the Maryland/Virginia/D.C. area?)

Now, my ultimate questions are;

Does FCP 6 capture uncompressed via SDI (BNC connector) ?

What settings should I use? Is the ProRess422 codec involved in this somehow?

At this point I might be confusing myself. Any help is much appreciated!

P.S. I'll have a workflow diagram up here soon

John Lofton IV · July 23rd, 2007, 01:13 PM

Does this make sense to you guys?

Let me know if I'm taking the right steps here.

Thanks!

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1...orkflowxh7.jpg

Glenn Chan · July 24th, 2007, 12:50 PM

If you want to capture uncompressed, you will need hard drives that are fast enough. Usually you capture to a RAID array of 2 or more drives.

Alternatives would be...
A- Capture into the ProRes codec. I'm not sure if you need the new AJA IO box to do that. This captures with compression so that you can use a single hard drive.
B- Use Sheervideo's codec for lossless video compression. I haven't worked with this... I don't think you get real-time effects with this codec.
C- Capture with FCP transcoding the video into some sort of compressed format. The Aja cards for example can transcode to DV (and I think DV50) as you capture.
D- Dub the tapes to DVCAM or DV.

If you are looking for online quality, your best option is likely to get a RAID array and to get a Kona capture card. Various vendors sell RAID enclosures.

Glenn Chan · July 24th, 2007, 12:57 PM

To hook up the dbeta deck to your system, use a single BNC cable from SDI out to the SDI in on your capture card.

Use a serial cable for deck/VTR control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_cable
You'll need deck control if you want to log & capture. Log & capture is a PITA but it saves drive space (as opposed to capturing entire tapes, laying markers at the cut points, and making subclips).

Heiko Saele · July 26th, 2007, 04:09 PM

For Digibeta and DVCAM the uncompressed stream is the same size (it's both SD, only with different compression ratios on tape)

R,G,B with 4:4:4 is 324 Mbit/s (=40,5 MB/s)
Y, CR, CB with 4:2:2 @ 10 bit is 270 Mbit/s (=33,75 MB/s)
Y, CR, CB with 4:2:2 @ 8 bit is 216 Mbit/s (=27 MB/s)
(For PAL, I'm not sure if it's exactly the same for ntsc)

This is video only, you'll additionally get 2 or 4 uncompressed audio channels @ 48kHz, 16 bit.

For HDV the data rates will be a lot higher uncompressed, but I can't tell you how much because my books are too old to feature HD resolutions and I'm not much of a mathematician ;)

July 23rd, 2007, 09:54 AM	#1
John Lofton IV Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Silver Spring, Maryland Posts: 79	Capture Uncompressed DigiBeta to Mac Hi All, Sorry if this question has already been answered, I did search with no luck. First, a little background. I'm working off a Non-Intel, Dual 1.8Ghz PowerPC G5 with Final Cut Studio 2 and 3.5GB RAM. My goal: Capture uncompressed footage from Digibeta / DVCam / HDV tapes. Main question: What connection would successfully capture uncompressed Digibeta / DVcam / HDV footage? Secondary Question: What video card do you suggest I purchase for said purpose? I've been looking into these: http://www.aja.com/html/products_macintosh_kona.html Third Question: Does anybody know how much Hard Drive Space 1 minute of uncompressed Digibeta footage takes up? Thanks a million, guys! Any feedback is much appreciated!

July 23rd, 2007, 12:05 PM	#2
John Lofton IV Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Silver Spring, Maryland Posts: 79	Update Ok well just to update my own questions here is what I have found: Using the Sony DVW-A500 and the AJA Kona 3 LH I can transfer 4:2:2 into the computer. I plan on renting the Sony deck and buying the Kona. (Anybody know any local deck rental facilities in the Maryland/Virginia/D.C. area?) Now, my ultimate questions are; Does FCP 6 capture uncompressed via SDI (BNC connector) ? What settings should I use? Is the ProRess422 codec involved in this somehow? At this point I might be confusing myself. Any help is much appreciated! P.S. I'll have a workflow diagram up here soon

July 23rd, 2007, 01:13 PM	#3
John Lofton IV Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Silver Spring, Maryland Posts: 79	Diagram Does this make sense to you guys? Let me know if I'm taking the right steps here. Thanks! http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1...orkflowxh7.jpg

July 24th, 2007, 12:50 PM	#4
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	If you want to capture uncompressed, you will need hard drives that are fast enough. Usually you capture to a RAID array of 2 or more drives. Alternatives would be... A- Capture into the ProRes codec. I'm not sure if you need the new AJA IO box to do that. This captures with compression so that you can use a single hard drive. B- Use Sheervideo's codec for lossless video compression. I haven't worked with this... I don't think you get real-time effects with this codec. C- Capture with FCP transcoding the video into some sort of compressed format. The Aja cards for example can transcode to DV (and I think DV50) as you capture. D- Dub the tapes to DVCAM or DV. If you are looking for online quality, your best option is likely to get a RAID array and to get a Kona capture card. Various vendors sell RAID enclosures.

July 24th, 2007, 12:57 PM	#5
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	To hook up the dbeta deck to your system, use a single BNC cable from SDI out to the SDI in on your capture card. Use a serial cable for deck/VTR control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_cable You'll need deck control if you want to log & capture. Log & capture is a PITA but it saves drive space (as opposed to capturing entire tapes, laying markers at the cut points, and making subclips).

July 26th, 2007, 04:09 PM	#6
Heiko Saele Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wurzburg, Germany Posts: 316	For Digibeta and DVCAM the uncompressed stream is the same size (it's both SD, only with different compression ratios on tape) R,G,B with 4:4:4 is 324 Mbit/s (=40,5 MB/s) Y, CR, CB with 4:2:2 @ 10 bit is 270 Mbit/s (=33,75 MB/s) Y, CR, CB with 4:2:2 @ 8 bit is 216 Mbit/s (=27 MB/s) (For PAL, I'm not sure if it's exactly the same for ntsc) This is video only, you'll additionally get 2 or 4 uncompressed audio channels @ 48kHz, 16 bit. For HDV the data rates will be a lot higher uncompressed, but I can't tell you how much because my books are too old to feature HD resolutions and I'm not much of a mathematician ;)