Re: 720 24p

Rune and others,

I spoke just today with Jeff Merrit at Panasonic asking about the Firewire output of the upcoming AJ-HD1200A deck, and now he is "under embargo until NAB" to discuss anything about it, pending "maor announcements" about this topic that he says will be made there. He recommended waiting until after those announcements to make a purchase decision.

It clearly rings of Apple wall of secrecy, as he would not comment on anything when I asked about whether it involved Apple. Jeff was much more open to discussing the topic in January, when he indicated that the firewire port WOULD output DV100/HD, not just down-converted SD (DV25).

Also, I've heard rumblings of "DV100" fixes in an upcoming QuickTime maintenance release, so it would seem VERY likely that we'll be seeing DV100 support over Firewire from this deck with Final Cut Pro, all announced at NAB. While I know not whether FCP will actually support extracting the 24fps (or other off-speed footage shot 4-60fps on Varicam) from the 60fps actually recorded to DVCProHD-format tapes, it would seem only natural that FCP would support at least the native 24fps mode, just like it does with DVCPro/DVCPro50 footage shot with "Advanced Pull-Down" on either the AJ-DVX100 or AJ-SD900 camera.

I suspect Apple and Panasonic will spin the announcement as a major advance for independent film makers and folks producing prime time TV shows and commercials who want to work in 24p HD, and whose alternative would be a $130,000 Avid Nitris or DS. For after NAB, it appears that 720p/24fps native online editing (with capture of DV100 over firewire alone) will be a reality with a stock $3,000 PowerMac or PowerBook with a relatively inexpesive ($26,000 list) AJ-HD1200A deck.

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Nate Caplin
Manager of Webcasting and Streaming Media, American Electric Power, Columbus, Ohio

Also available for private consulting on issues of web video compression, digital edit systems & HD acquisition