HVX200 to MacBook Pro via USB transfer question

[Steve55]

I'm thinking of buying a MacBook Pro; the bottom of the range 1.83GHz model.

What I want to do is use the HVX200 and a single 8GBP 2 card. When P2 card is full, I won't even take it out of the camera, I'll simply plug in a USB 2.0 lead from the HVX200 to the MacBook Pro and drag/drop the P2 disc to the Mac desktop.

Does anyone have any idea what the transfer speed of a full 8GB P2 card using 720P/25P shooting mode would take to transfer over?

Is there a better/cheaper workflow than this?

[THE HONEST LIAR]

First of all I'm not a tech expert.
So not sure of the transfer rates off hand.
However, I know that if you are going to do what you suggest, I would drop the 8gb p2 Card and go directly to the macbookpro, via FW400. You don't need the card for that.
But if you need mobilty in the field then thats a different story; check out the FS-100.
Perhaps buy 2 4gb p2 cards and a HHD to off load on for studio work that would be another way to go.

RECAP.
1. DROP 8GB P2 CARD.
2. DIRECT CAPTURE TO HARDISK ON MACBOOKPRO VIA FCP.
3. FS-100
4. BUY TWO 4GB P2 CARDS & OFF LOAD ON HHD.

OPTION 2 IS THE CHEAPEST AND YOU GET A FANTASTIC MONITOR IN THE BARGIN.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Barry_Green]

What you want to do won't work. Do not use USB2 to a Mac computer running MacOS. Use firewire instead.

Secondly, it'll probably take somewhere around 7 to 8 minutes to transfer an 8GB card to the MacBook; can't answer definitively as I don't have either an 8gb card or a MacBook, so hopefully someone else here can answer.

[Steve55]

Barry, why won't USB work on Mac? according to Panny brochure the USB is best for a file drag and drop method?

[Scott Sullivan]

From what everyone has said, Firewire to laptop seems to be the cheapest route. But is it the smartest route?

I ask this because I'm thinking about going with the HVX as well (mostly because of the excellent posts/reviews of members here). However, I'm a VERY small studio (ie: me!) and don't have a large budget. I'm doing a major switch from PC to Macbook Pro 17" and FCP then later this year, the HVX.

I'm sold on P2. I just can't afford it. But I want to be ready once prices come down, all I'll have to do is buy the P2 cards.

Getting back to topic, recording to an external hdd on a macbook pro seems the cheapest route. But, if I'm recording an hour long session, is there a possibility of burning out the hard drive during such a long sustained capture? I'd prefer the double RAID backup concept (forget if that's RAID1 or 2, but you know what I'm talking about - 2 hard drives that are mirrored), but just how long can I capture before I kill my external hdd?

Thanks!
Scott

P.S.
I really don't like the idea of continuously removing 4 GB cards from the back of the HVX. I know it's rated for way lots of inserts, but I figure, the less I remove/insert cards, the less likely damage will occur in there (bent pins, dirt, normal wear and tear). Or am I just being paranoid?


EDIT: 8:41 AM
After reading the thread in the link below, I am reconsidering the RAID idea. Arrghh. Does anyone else have first hand experience / opinions on external HDD aquisition?
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=65644

[THE HONEST LIAR]

My intention is to by pass p2 totally until the prices come down significantly.
I plan to capture direct to a macbookpro and then back up the files to my G-Tech 500 Hard Disk. I can only do this due to my work arena, which is theatre-based performance.

But, back to the point.
I'd advise you 55 to get hold of a Macbookpro 17, which has Firewire 800 and you get a great screen as a in field monitor. I know it's a few dollars more but it will make all the difference when you get down to editing.
If your going to do that on the laptop.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Shane Ross]

You cannot capture footage via USB 2.0, and the camera can turn into basically a card reader, but ONLY via firewire. It cannot, AFAIK, mount the card on the desktop via a USB connection. When you put the camera into device mode, it says on the screen IEE3394 which means firewire.

And Liar, you cannot capture to the INTERNAL drive on a laptop for you will drop frames. This is because the operating system also resides there and when the OS needs to access a system resource, it stops recording and thus drops frames.

You must capture to an external firewire HD, and to do that you need a PCIe to firewire card adapter, and I don't think they make those yet. You cannot use two firewire connections from the same computer (does the Macbook Pro 15" even have two?) as they share the same bus which can, again, lead to dropped frames. ESPECIALLY with HD footage.

But test. TEST TEST TEST before you go out and shoot. ALWAYS test so that you can work out the bugs.

[Barry_Green]

For benefit of future readers, let's clarify: Shane's USB/firewire restrictions are for Mac OS. Now that the Macbook Pro can run in WinXP mode, the opposite becomes true: if you're running WinXP on the Macbook Pro, you'd need to use the USB port and not the firewire port...

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Quote Shane Ross

And Liar, you cannot capture to the INTERNAL drive on a laptop for you will drop frames. This is because the operating system also resides there and when the OS needs to access a system resource, it stops recording and thus drops frames.

You must capture to an external firewire HD, and to do that you need a PCIe to firewire card adapter, and I don't think they make those yet. You cannot use two firewire connections from the same computer (does the Macbook Pro 15" even have two?) as they share the same bus which can, again, lead to dropped frames. ESPECIALLY with HD footage.

End of quote.



Quote Bryan Xin.

I successfully captured 1 hour of 1080i60 directly to the built in hard drive on the MacBook Pro and also was successful doing this on the Power Mac G5. I was only able to capture 30 min. to the Power Book G4 because of space limitations. I also successfully captured 30 min. clips in 720p24 on each system.

End quote.

He did mention to be fair drop frames on the G4 powerbook. However not on the Macbookpro.
And in addition the Macbookpro 17 now has a Firewire 800 port for HHD if you want to go that route.


Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Tunnell Mill]

Alright. All this sounds great and exciting, but I'm relatively an elementary newcomer to all this...so can somebody give me a basic, trust-worthy 101 on what exactly I need for my shooting/editing workflow?

Here's what I've got: an HVX, one 4 gig P2 card, a Mac G5 running the latest version of OS and the latest version of Final Cut (Studio).

I have tried nothing with the system yet as I just upgraded to the latest OS and to Final Cut Studio just today.

1. When I go out and shoot, be it 720 or 1080, should I bypass the P2 card altogether and digitize directly into a laptop via Firewire?

2. What laptop? MacbookPro? Powerbook G4? Seems like from above, the MacbookPro sounds like the best bet for my situation.

3. I do not have an HD-res field monitor for shooting purposes. I've somewhat figured out for myself that it makes the most sense to buy a laptop and kill two birds with one stone, being that it serves as a field monitor as well as an external HDD, especially the MacBook, right?

4. When I shoot, would I be advised to shoot directly to my P2 card and transer the footage to the laptop after the card is filled? Or, would it be better to bypass the P2 altogether and go straight into the HDD? Can the latter even be done. If so, how?

5. Editing. I have a nice G5 sitting here. I'm typing on it right now. If I buy a new laptop, say the MacBook, I would be purchasing it for 2 reasons: a field monitor and storage space, right? That said, if footage can be directly captured to the laptop, makes more sense to edit right there on the laptop, correct? Or, is it possible to transfer the footage from the laptop directly to my G5 via Firewire where I can edit there...and have access to a much larger computer monitor...and, all the extra HDD space, including all the external HDD's I have currently hooked up to my G5? Once again, what's the best route?

There's no doubt I'm trying to prevent from spending any more money. The HVX, the "one" P2 card and the G5 have pretty much eaten me alive as it is. I can afford a MacBook as one more thing...and possibly in time, a larger External HDD...but as of now, need to really work with what I've got. If you add all the space of my external HDD's together, I know I have at least 600 GIG or more of space starting out. My question to everybody is what sounds like the best approach for me to take?

Make any comments or answers as thorough as possible. Remember, a lot of us are new to the terminology...and sometimes it's hard to tell by some of these responses what exactly makes the most sense. I do very much appreciate any feedback. And I'm sure there'll be more questions to come.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Tunnel Mill here's the link , also do some searches this topic has been discussed extensively.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=54917&highlight=bryan

I hope you find a solution.

Also check out this one.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=54493&highlight=opera

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Shane Ross]

I lay out three workflows on my blog at www.LFHD.net:

http://homepage.mac.com/comeback/iblog/Work/B787268209/C515898016/index.html

With one card you will have a lot of down time.