FCP 5.1.2 + HDV 24F = Bliss

[Elton]

Just wanted to quickly say that I just got my upgrade to the latest FCP and have been testing the 24F support.

...IT ROCKS!! :)

I have a G5 dual 2.7 and batch capture with timecode works, scene detection capture works (new clip for each start/stop on the tape), print to tape @ 24p works too! It prints back to tape exactly how 24F is recorded natively by the camera, i.e. repeat flags instead of bandwidth-wasting pulldown frames recorded to tape!

Also, I'm able to get RT color correction and quite a few standard effects/filters with no trouble. One benefit I have with my Kona card is that I am also able to live-scrub the HDV 1080 24p timeline to my HD monitor via component analog. It's a nice bonus, but full-screen desktop cinema mode works fine too.

Well, in short, you FCP users that are about to get an A1/G1 are VERY lucky! The whole thing just works now without intermediate codec workarounds and utiltiy programs. Oh, and 24F clips are only 3.2 MBs according to FCP. :) You could cut an entire feature from a single firewire drive, easily.

I had to suffer through all sorts of annoying problems to be able to work with true 24p files from 24F footage.

...now it's all LIKE BUTTA! Smooth sailing, baby!

[manglerBMX]

does the firestore work with the 24f mode well in its quicktime24p mode? at my station i use a h1 and a firestore but haven't had time to experiment any with the two. but as a dvx owner for over a year this camera is very catching, we'll see.

[Elton]

I have no idea. I've only tested tape capture.

If you have the latest FCP you should give it try!

[manglerBMX]

i think i'll try and make some time this week and give it a go for and see how it works. or just bring the camera and firestore home and play with it. much better idea there.

[Elton]

Please post about your experience! If Firestore QT 24p works with the H1 that would be a nice alternative to tape.

But always roll tape anyway!

[Noel Evans]

Yes good to know Elton and thanks for the post.... I think I stated before once my camera comes I have just about 0 time before i need to actually use it on a real job and I want that time to concentrate on camera not workflow.

That brings me to another point why the A1 fits well with me (maybe sony also but I havent checked this point). But, as a DVX owner the A1 has the same 72mm lens thread and basically this means that everything I already have now works with it. Funnily enough with my cavision mattebox that has rotating filter I still slip in the circular polariser and use it. Decided to upgrade the 35mm adapter from letus flip to m2 hd. Other than that though Im all set.

[Norbert]

What about 25F? Does that require some sort of support or can you simply capture it the usual way except with no fields (progressive)?

[Elton]

It has actual 25F support too, which is to say it won't do any interlace rendering in the timeline. You can actually capture 25F in 1080 25P or 50i modes, but 25P will keep the pure progressive handling intact.

btw, I am quite surprised at how snappy the editing actually is with 1080 24p HDV, as my G5 dual 2.7 isn't all that fast compared to current models.

So far, I've found the best method of maintaining quality is to edit in HDV, and finish both back to HDV tape (as an archived backup), and also simply change the timeline to a high quality intermediate codec (SheerVideo being my favorite, as well as 10 bit uncompressed) and render FX/filters etc. and finish a self-contained QT in said formats. From there you can encode a high quality h.264 for HD DVD or even the web and basically retain almost all of the original acquisition quality.

It's slick. :)

[manglerBMX]

ok i shot some footage with the h1 in 24f in hdv and used the firestore fs-4pro capturing quicktime 24p and it captured it using the .m2t format. however quicktime will not recognize this format and it won't let me import it into fcp. any suggestions? i'm using fcp 5.1.1.

[manglerBMX]

i downloaded mpeg streamclip and i have to convert the files using that. doesnt seem like a lot of fun so far. anyone have any other suggestions?

EDIT:
apparently there is a firmware update to the fs4prohd so that it capture the hd files in qt files and not the m2t. i should have that update by the end of the day, depends on how long it takes the person in purchasing to get this ball rolling.

[Elton]

Thanks for the update, Mangler. Look forward to more. :)

[manglerBMX]

i gota update to fcp 5.1.2 so that i can get the 24f support and unfortunately focus only snail mails that firmware updater for the hdv qt support so it seems like its one thing after another, but i'll soon be up to par.

[meta4]

elton, would you say that you can work with m2t's without using cineform without hassle or degredation?

I'm just trying to decide if I should include cineform with my XH-A1 purchase budget.

[shawnmaddock]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Cineform Windows-only? It wouldn't apply to working with m2t's in FCP.

[manglerBMX]

fcp and well apple in general don't recognize m2t. you have to encode using mpeg stream clip in order to use those. check and see if cineform has an update for qt hdv codec. i ordered the firestore update yesterday but i won't see it for like a week.

[Elton]

CineForm is "visually lossless" which I basically believe is true in a subjective sense, but it creates larger files for all the conversions from m2t. And as of right now it is Windows only.

[Kholi]

Elton I was going to PM you about this but your PMs are disabled.

In VLC player, when I go to play a 60i clip from Kaku's G1 downloads and I select DISCARD as my deinterlace method, it drops the frame to what looks like 720p. That's cool. What I want to know is:

Why does the footage cadence look like 24f all of a sudden? Am I seeing something weird?

[Elton]

Probably looks more like 30p with that method. It doesn't look like 720 60p, i.e. "live video look", right?

[Kholi]

Probably looks more like 30p with that method. It doesn't look like 720 60p, i.e. "live video look", right?

Yeah it probably looks more like 30p than 24f.

It removes the live video look. While "linear" makes it look really clean and glossy video.