No P2? No Cineporter? Here's an Alternative...

Hans Damkoehler · March 3rd, 2006, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonard Levy

Robert,
When you switched to the 7200 RPM internal drive , specifically what did you notice as a performance increase?
Do you think this a mandantory change to guarantee reliable "capture now " performance.

Lenny,

Just as a note, I've been running Robert's set up EXACTLY without the system disk upgrade and have had ZERO problems in over 10 hours of capture time. I'm even running at about 80% capacity on the disk ... for what it's worth.

Robert Lane · March 4th, 2006, 06:59 PM

Leonard,

There's nothing about my post that is copyrighted - it's free-domain usage for the whole world to use as they see fit. If your PB blows up after using my setups, I never heard of you. (big laughs)

It isn't required to upgrade the drive to 7200rpm. It does or would come in handy if you plan to run multiple applications like PS, Peak, Deck or other processor intensive apps while FCP is online, but if you're running apps like those one at a time there'll be plenty of headroom for any processor bursting.

The *only* time a faster drive might help prevent dropouts is if you capture the full DVCPRO 1080 24p over 60i. We did just a few minutes of studio testing, just as a "what if?" scenario. Although it worked we did notice a few buggy dropouts. When we switched to the 7200rpm drive there were none. Don't quote me on that performance - there may have been other factors that caused those 1080 24p dropouts, but since we don't plan on using that format we didn't fully test it.

Jaser Stockert · March 5th, 2006, 10:50 AM

i have a p2 card, no camera yet. i've updated my powerbook g4 w/ the p2 driver over at the panny site. i pop in the card into the pcmcia slot and nothing shows on my desktop. could it be because there is no footage on my p2 card? should the p2 card show up on my desktop(w a p2 card icon) whether there is footage in it or not? will finally be getting my camera this week...

Robert Lane · April 4th, 2006, 05:10 PM

I brought this back to life at the request of several people asking about Powerbook setups.

Vince Keala Lucero · April 13th, 2006, 04:19 PM

Excellent info. After searching I finally found what I was looking for. I have a MBP and contemplating the HD upgrade. Now it has a 80gb 5400rpm. Reinstalled OSX w/o lang., extras and brought the use space from 16GB down to 6GB.

It does suck that there's no pcmcia port but I trust Apple knows what they're doing. Seems like a lot faster posibilities for the future.

In any case, I'm lazy and don't want to risk getting the wrong drive. Can you suggest the model, price and store you got it from? I wonder if it'll work being you have a PB and I have a MBP. If I find more I'll post.

Robert Lane · April 13th, 2006, 07:41 PM

Vince,

I've migrated all the laptop duties to just the MBP. I'll be posting my HVX-to-MBP setup guide next week. Look for that and all your questions will be answered.

Vince Keala Lucero · April 17th, 2006, 08:35 PM

You da man Robert. Could you also include any use of external USB drives as an option to bypass the need for a expresscard/34?

Mahalo,

vince

David Saraceno · April 18th, 2006, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince Keala Lucero

You da man Robert. Could you also include any use of external USB drives as an option to bypass the need for a expresscard/34?

I don't recommend this. USB is barely able to keep up with DV25.

Robert Lane · April 20th, 2006, 12:03 AM

Vince,

What David said.

No USB drives will be tested since USB is not a stable or reliable video-data transport method, only FW devices will be used and rated.

Narayan Van Maele · June 16th, 2006, 10:14 AM

Hi, I'm quite new to this forum and am enjoying to read new threads and replies every day! I own a hvx-200E (pal) and am editing on fcp 5.0. Now, since I don't have any P2 cards yet I tried to capture dvcpro hd 1080i through my MBP 17". 1080i50i is the only format fcp 5.0 will let me capture through 'capture now', this is probably because my camera is a pal version and my fcp is not universal, right?
ok so anyways, the first time i tried this it worked perfectly, the only thing was that i had to render everything in the timeline. Then on the following day i tried it again, this time the clips did not have to be renderd but there were consatnt drop outs when i tried to play them in the timeline. I did overcome this by setting the video quality to low in the timeline under 'RT'

What am i doing wrong? I did set fcp to 1080i50i in easy set up and put in to non controlable device, and of course set the camera to 1080i50i.
Am i having problems because I'm not using fcp 5.1? or am i doing something else wrong?

and by the way this forum rocks!

Robert Lane · June 16th, 2006, 11:28 AM

If you are trying to do everything from just the interal HDD in the MacBook Pro then you're overtaxing the resources, which is why you're getting "drop outs" during playback.

If you follow this guide on how to optimize your system for direct capture then you need to get an external drive to actually capture to.

If you're going to actually edit from the MBP especially in 1080i then ideally you'd need 3 external FW drives to keep things running smoothly: One drive to put all your capture files on, a small second drive for things like thumbnail/waveform cache and render files, and the third to keep the project and backup files on. Be sure you create 2 distinctly separate FireWire busses on the laptop by using the Express Card 34/FW adapter.

Read the guide for details on setup strategies.

Narayan Van Maele · June 16th, 2006, 01:27 PM

thank you robert!
I do have an external HDD but it's an fw 400, which i believe, from reading your thread 'no P2 cards?...' is not ideal. The thing is that the clips are captured perfectly, without drop outs (when i look at the quicktime files) but its only in fcp 5 where the drop outs occur. Sorry if i just didn't understand your reply fully. I would shoot in 720P but fcp won't let me select it because my camera is pal and only the options for ntsc are to be found in fcp 5's easy set up. but fcp 5.1 shoul resolve that problem right?

Thank you very much for your reply

Robert Lane · June 16th, 2006, 02:04 PM

I've never had to consider any PAL configurations so I won't be any help there. Barry, David S. or others would be better suited to ask that.

Barry Green · June 16th, 2006, 05:29 PM

FCP5.1 doesn't support 720/25p or 720/50p either.

You can get support by getting Imagine Software's HD Log software; it lets you export a 720/25p or 720/50p clip in a format that FCP can understand.

Narayan Van Maele · June 17th, 2006, 03:37 AM

thanks barry, that's pretty bad that fcp5.1 doesn't support 720p25 and 50, i though it was only the PN format it didn't support. So that means even if i get a P2 card i won't be able to capture 720p directly through final cut but have to use HD log first. Do you have any idea when fcp will support us pal users too? Untill then I might just have to use the camera in the DV mode:(

April 4th, 2006, 05:10 PM	#34
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	Back to Life I brought this back to life at the request of several people asking about Powerbook setups.

June 16th, 2006, 10:14 AM	#40
Narayan Van Maele New Boot Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 14	little problem capturing straight to MBP Hi, I'm quite new to this forum and am enjoying to read new threads and replies every day! I own a hvx-200E (pal) and am editing on fcp 5.0. Now, since I don't have any P2 cards yet I tried to capture dvcpro hd 1080i through my MBP 17". 1080i50i is the only format fcp 5.0 will let me capture through 'capture now', this is probably because my camera is a pal version and my fcp is not universal, right? ok so anyways, the first time i tried this it worked perfectly, the only thing was that i had to render everything in the timeline. Then on the following day i tried it again, this time the clips did not have to be renderd but there were consatnt drop outs when i tried to play them in the timeline. I did overcome this by setting the video quality to low in the timeline under 'RT' What am i doing wrong? I did set fcp to 1080i50i in easy set up and put in to non controlable device, and of course set the camera to 1080i50i. Am i having problems because I'm not using fcp 5.1? or am i doing something else wrong? and by the way this forum rocks!

June 16th, 2006, 01:27 PM	#42
Narayan Van Maele New Boot Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 14	thanks thank you robert! I do have an external HDD but it's an fw 400, which i believe, from reading your thread 'no P2 cards?...' is not ideal. The thing is that the clips are captured perfectly, without drop outs (when i look at the quicktime files) but its only in fcp 5 where the drop outs occur. Sorry if i just didn't understand your reply fully. I would shoot in 720P but fcp won't let me select it because my camera is pal and only the options for ntsc are to be found in fcp 5's easy set up. but fcp 5.1 shoul resolve that problem right? Thank you very much for your reply

June 17th, 2006, 03:37 AM	#45
Narayan Van Maele New Boot Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 14	pretty bad thanks barry, that's pretty bad that fcp5.1 doesn't support 720p25 and 50, i though it was only the PN format it didn't support. So that means even if i get a P2 card i won't be able to capture 720p directly through final cut but have to use HD log first. Do you have any idea when fcp will support us pal users too? Untill then I might just have to use the camera in the DV mode:(

March 4th, 2006, 06:59 PM	#32
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	Leonard, There's nothing about my post that is copyrighted - it's free-domain usage for the whole world to use as they see fit. If your PB blows up after using my setups, I never heard of you. (big laughs) It isn't required to upgrade the drive to 7200rpm. It does or would come in handy if you plan to run multiple applications like PS, Peak, Deck or other processor intensive apps while FCP is online, but if you're running apps like those one at a time there'll be plenty of headroom for any processor bursting. The only time a faster drive might help prevent dropouts is if you capture the full DVCPRO 1080 24p over 60i. We did just a few minutes of studio testing, just as a "what if?" scenario. Although it worked we did notice a few buggy dropouts. When we switched to the 7200rpm drive there were none. Don't quote me on that performance - there may have been other factors that caused those 1080 24p dropouts, but since we don't plan on using that format we didn't fully test it.

March 5th, 2006, 10:50 AM	#33
Jaser Stockert Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: California Posts: 147	i have a p2 card, no camera yet. i've updated my powerbook g4 w/ the p2 driver over at the panny site. i pop in the card into the pcmcia slot and nothing shows on my desktop. could it be because there is no footage on my p2 card? should the p2 card show up on my desktop(w a p2 card icon) whether there is footage in it or not? will finally be getting my camera this week...

April 13th, 2006, 04:19 PM	#35
Vince Keala Lucero New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 11	Excellent info. After searching I finally found what I was looking for. I have a MBP and contemplating the HD upgrade. Now it has a 80gb 5400rpm. Reinstalled OSX w/o lang., extras and brought the use space from 16GB down to 6GB. It does suck that there's no pcmcia port but I trust Apple knows what they're doing. Seems like a lot faster posibilities for the future. In any case, I'm lazy and don't want to risk getting the wrong drive. Can you suggest the model, price and store you got it from? I wonder if it'll work being you have a PB and I have a MBP. If I find more I'll post.

April 13th, 2006, 07:41 PM	#36
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	Vince, I've migrated all the laptop duties to just the MBP. I'll be posting my HVX-to-MBP setup guide next week. Look for that and all your questions will be answered.

April 17th, 2006, 08:35 PM	#37
Vince Keala Lucero New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 11	You da man Robert. Could you also include any use of external USB drives as an option to bypass the need for a expresscard/34? Mahalo, vince

April 20th, 2006, 12:03 AM	#39
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	Vince, What David said. No USB drives will be tested since USB is not a stable or reliable video-data transport method, only FW devices will be used and rated.

June 16th, 2006, 11:28 AM	#41
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	If you are trying to do everything from just the interal HDD in the MacBook Pro then you're overtaxing the resources, which is why you're getting "drop outs" during playback. If you follow this guide on how to optimize your system for direct capture then you need to get an external drive to actually capture to. If you're going to actually edit from the MBP especially in 1080i then ideally you'd need 3 external FW drives to keep things running smoothly: One drive to put all your capture files on, a small second drive for things like thumbnail/waveform cache and render files, and the third to keep the project and backup files on. Be sure you create 2 distinctly separate FireWire busses on the laptop by using the Express Card 34/FW adapter. Read the guide for details on setup strategies.

June 16th, 2006, 02:04 PM	#43
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	I've never had to consider any PAL configurations so I won't be any help there. Barry, David S. or others would be better suited to ask that.

June 16th, 2006, 05:29 PM	#44
Barry Green Barry Wan Kenobi Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,863	FCP5.1 doesn't support 720/25p or 720/50p either. You can get support by getting Imagine Software's HD Log software; it lets you export a 720/25p or 720/50p clip in a format that FCP can understand.