question about capture/importing/file transfer
by Rob Grauert (RobGrauert)
on
Apr 22, 2008 at 11:07:55 pm
Hello,
I'm thinking about getting EX1. I know it shoots 1080p, and I would probably almost always shoot in this. I've seen on wikipedia that to capture 1080p at best quality, you should use either Dual-link HD-SDI or 3G-SDI. Here is a link to my source. Just scroll down a bit to the chart:
My question is: If i use a card reader, will that still give me the best quality possible since it's not really video capture; it's just a file transfer?
I just want to know because I don't want to buy more than I need in terms of a PCI express card from BlackMagic for my MacPro.
Re: question about capture/importing/file transfer by Don Greening on Apr 23, 2008 at 12:30:05 am
Capturing live using the SDI port effectively bypasses the camera's compression section and records a 4:2:2 signal right off the camera head. This is the very best quality you can get from the EX. The HQ 1080 setting that is recorded to the SxS Pro card will be at the 4:2:0 colour space and that's the best you can get recoding to the cards. Transferring HQ 1080 from the card to a hard drive after the fact will still result in a file with the 4:2:0 colour space.
Re: question about capture/importing/file transfer by Rob Grauert on Apr 23, 2008 at 12:38:52 am
What do you mean by "capturing live using the SDI port"? I know what SDI is, but to do what I quoted, is the camera hooked up to a computer that has HD-SDI input? Or can you get a hard drive to connect to the camera that has HD-SDI?
Re: question about capture/importing/file transfer by Noah Kadner on Apr 23, 2008 at 3:08:19 am
Exactly- you cannot improve the signal once captured to SxS- that's a digital transfer. However you can get a better signal if you hook up the HD-SDI output of the camera-as you are shooting live and send it to an uncompressed capture card like a Kona 3. But this is quite cumbersome and the results may not really be worth the effort in most instances. Here's why capturing the HD-SDI signal after you record to XDCAM EX is pointless:
Re: question about capture/importing/file transfer by Noah Kadner on Apr 23, 2008 at 11:00:44 pm
It really depends where your going next. I like 10-bit uncompressed as an archival format because out of FCP it maximizes the render quality of all of your titles, filters, composites, etc. And from there you have a huge but very versatile archive master from which you can derive your DVDs, web versions, even film outs, etc. It's just the least touched version of a final edit you can create.
