4HDV users, post your thoughts!

[Steve Mullen]

<<<-- Originally posted by Heath McKnight : I wonder if we really ARE a year or two ahead of the curve with this camera, as far as Apple is concerned. heath -->>>

It took Apple about a year to support 24p.

BUT, DVFILM introduced a utility within a few months. It supported 24p with FCP.

It simply takes a big company about a year to introduce new technogy. (Think MPEG-4 in QT.)

And, remember we are a tiny minority compared to those who want, for example, HDCAM or DVCPRO HD support native in FCP. These products are already several years old.

Also, for Apple the goal is to sell MORE NEW hardware. So new software features tend to be synchronized with hardware releases. HDV is seen by JVC as a consumer/prosumer video format. This kind of person is likely to buy an iMac. So, ask yourself when a G5 iMac will appear.

Also, Microsoft is pushing WM9. And it looks like it is great for HD. Apple may want to release a version of iDVD that supports some kind of HDV on DVD. Pixlet?

So Apple must get hardware and multiple software engineering groups together.

Interesting note: about 75% of HDV buyers are LA "film makers" using the HD10. (Which goes against JVC intention that HDV is for consumers!!! But does match what we know about shooting with the HD10.) These are NOT personal productions. These folks can't wait for Apple. They have looming edit deadlines.

But, for those who don't have an HDV project that must be edited now, it may make sense to wait for Apple. Think NAB 2004. This is 1 year from the HD1/HD10 introduction.

[David Newman]

<<<-- Originally posted by Steve Mullen : <<<-- Darron's right the 4HDV process has multiple steps. If you want simple, and if you have the money, buy a fast PC and buy Aspect HD. I've been using it for a couple of weeks and love it! There's fundamental advanced technology at work here. I don't expect anything like it for a Mac until FCP V5 or later. -->>>

I missed this quote earlier. Thanks Steve.

---

Regarding Pixlet (the current thread), the approach could be similar to that used by Aspect HD, which also incorporates a interim high quality (online) codec into HD production workflow. Pixlet however has only been demonstrated at half resolution (Jobs calls it HD/2). So we will have to wait and see what its performance is like with full resolution source material and the encoding speed.

Note: the half resolution demonstrated for Pixlet was 960x540 at 24p (i.e. half 1080p.) This is a great preview resolution and it looks awesome. However, lets look at the numbers to predict the performance for the JVC camera. The 960x540 pixels at 24p in 4:2:0 is 18.6MBytes/s (960x540x24x1.5[12bits per pixel]). JVC's 1280x720x30 in 4:2:0 is 41.4MBytes/s. So JVC's data would be about twice the load as the current Pixlet demos. This might mean full res. Pixlet is only a G5 experience. We'll have to wait and see.

[Steve Mullen]

<<<-- Originally posted by David Newman : This might mean full res. Pixlet is only a G5 experience. We'll have to wait and see. -->>>

As part of my Aspect HD review I'm looking at Mac alternatives that use PCI cards. One inexpensive card requires a dual G5 because they need the high-speed PCI bus! So it's not just clock-speed or CPU type.

Those of us who had PowerBooks when Apple released FCP with real-time learned to read the "fine print" about what was really needed for RT. So when I hear about Pixlet, etc. -- I too tend to be a bit sceptical.

That's why I questioned you so closely about system requirements. And, I can say 4 streams works perfectly on a 2.8GHz with a RAID. Exactly what you guys claimed. Later today I'm going to move clips to the system drive and see if performance falls to 2 streams.

[Heath McKnight]

Panther comes out at 8 PM (EST?) on October 24th.

heath