HDCAM Capture questions at DVinfo.net

Mitch Buss · February 16th, 2008, 12:51 AM

Hello everyone. I have been looking at renting a CineAlta for a potential future project and have some questions about the HDCAM format. First off, can you capture to your computer from this camera or will I need a seperate HDCAM deck to capture from? Second, what is a good estimate on file size from and HDCAM capture? I can't think of anything else right now, if there is any other info you can offer about HDCAM and the CineAlta, I'd love to hear it. Thanks everyone.

Mitch

Glenn Chan · February 16th, 2008, 12:18 PM

You *might* be able to use the camera as a VTR (assuming it's like the Varicam, which it may not be like). It will spit out a HD-SDI signal. You'll need a SDI capture card (kona, blackmagic, etc. etc.) and lots of hard drive space or you'll need something like the Aja IO (the new one that lets you capture to Prores).

If you do things that way, every night you could potentially get an assistant to digitize all the shot tapes. You'd probably want to back all that up.

This is a ghetto way of doing things and the rental house probably wouldn't like this. But it might work for you.

You can look up the uncompressed HD and Prores bitrates online.

2- Another way would be to rent a deck/VTR and use that to capture.

3- Yet another way would be to dub tapes to miniDV or DVCAM, probably with TC burn (especially if you shot 24p; do a dual TC burn, 24p timecode and 60i timecode).

Then go through an offline/online process.

February 16th, 2008, 12:51 AM	#1
Mitch Buss Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 184	HDCAM Capture questions Hello everyone. I have been looking at renting a CineAlta for a potential future project and have some questions about the HDCAM format. First off, can you capture to your computer from this camera or will I need a seperate HDCAM deck to capture from? Second, what is a good estimate on file size from and HDCAM capture? I can't think of anything else right now, if there is any other info you can offer about HDCAM and the CineAlta, I'd love to hear it. Thanks everyone. Mitch

February 16th, 2008, 12:18 PM	#2
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	You might be able to use the camera as a VTR (assuming it's like the Varicam, which it may not be like). It will spit out a HD-SDI signal. You'll need a SDI capture card (kona, blackmagic, etc. etc.) and lots of hard drive space or you'll need something like the Aja IO (the new one that lets you capture to Prores). If you do things that way, every night you could potentially get an assistant to digitize all the shot tapes. You'd probably want to back all that up. This is a ghetto way of doing things and the rental house probably wouldn't like this. But it might work for you. You can look up the uncompressed HD and Prores bitrates online. 2- Another way would be to rent a deck/VTR and use that to capture. 3- Yet another way would be to dub tapes to miniDV or DVCAM, probably with TC burn (especially if you shot 24p; do a dual TC burn, 24p timecode and 60i timecode). Then go through an offline/online process.