Need help capturing Panasonic HDX900 footage.
by Reuben Fink (rubefink)
on
May 31, 2008 at 3:10:05 pm
I don't have access to a deck so I'm about to capture using a HDX900 which is what we shot the footage with. I'll be using FCP 6.0.3. I want to do all my uncompressed capturing with HD-SDI through a Kona card but I don't have access to a Raid Array. Can it still be done? If not then can I still capture all my clips as DVCPRO HD through the HD-SDI connection? Then just convert them to uncompressed from FCP?
Any suggestions about workflow? This is my first time working with this camera.
Re: Need help capturing Panasonic HDX900 footage. by Mads Nybo Jørgensen on May 31, 2008 at 3:21:01 pm
Hey Reuben.
No, no, no - my head is about to explode - why did the rental company allow you to get away with that camera?
Do yourself a favour, take the camera to a friend (or better; rent a VTR with TC too) with a fcp, with a raid and get them to capture the material for you. From there, you can then copy the material using a Fire-wire drive, memory stick, floppy or what-ever takes your fancy back to your system.
All the Best
Mads
London, UK
Mac Million Ltd. - HD Production & Editing
Please watch our latest video on Data Protection at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVyv_lTywwc
Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/bigflopproductions
Re: Need help capturing Panasonic HDX900 footage. by Mads Nybo Jørgensen on May 31, 2008 at 6:10:26 pm
Hey Reuben.
If you can transfer your native material from tape to system without any kind of re-coding going on in the middle, then that is the road forward. If your end delivery is higher resolution/less compressed format, then you should consider going uncompressed for the grading process.
All the Best
Mads
London, UK
Mac Million Ltd. - HD Production & Editing
Please watch our latest video on Data Protection at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVyv_lTywwc
Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/bigflopproductions
Re: Need help capturing Panasonic HDX900 footage. by Reuben Fink on May 31, 2008 at 6:49:33 pm
Thank you for your reply,
If you could address my question about firewire it would be of great help.
In regards to the HDX900 Is there any digital loss when capturing with firewire?
Does firewire implement re-coding?
Knowing the answer could save me a bundle of money.
Thank you again.
OSX 10.4.8
Equipment: G5 dual 2.0 gig 2.5 gig ram
Aps: After Effects CS3, FCP Suite 2, Photoshop CS3
Re: Need help capturing Panasonic HDX900 footage. by Mads Nybo Jørgensen on May 31, 2008 at 9:28:36 pm
Hey Reuben.
Sorry, I can't help you with the answer to that question. Fire-wire itself is just a data carrier. But what happens on the camera or FCP side is something else, and since I've got neither at hand - I don't know.
Best advice is to check the manuals and search the Panasonic and FCP forums.
All the Best
Mads
London, UK
Mac Million Ltd. - HD Production & Editing
Please watch our latest video on Data Protection at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVyv_lTywwc
Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/bigflopproductions
Re: Need help capturing Panasonic HDX900 footage. by Evan Schafer on Jun 2, 2008 at 2:12:11 am
Firewire transfer is 1:1. I'm assuming you'll be capturing using the camera? Be advised, you'll only be able to capture into the DVCPROHD format, not Uncompressed 8 or 10 bit. You'll need a Kona or BlackMagic card for that.
Re: Need help capturing Panasonic HDX900 footage. by Tim Kolb on Jun 2, 2008 at 11:49:42 am
Any capture via FW is a data dump. There isn't any recompression because there isn't any decompression.
Capturing HDSDI and then capturing as DVCProHD (as opposed to uncompressed) would involve recompression as the signal is sent over SDI as a "decompressed" signal.
You could gain something by capturing 10 bit uncompressed. How much is a bit of a subject of debate. Unless you were involved in a project with heavy color correction or visual effects, I'd weigh it carefully as your data storage balloons by around 10x.
