How to make an HVX200 fall in love with an Apple

Jan_Crittenden said:
I do not understand the question. What does the Matrox MXO have to do with FCP? In any of the HD editing apps you will need a monitoring card if you want to see your footage in HD as the HVX200 will not pass through the signal from 1394 to component analog out.

Best,

Jan
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It will provide DVI to broadcast-quality video conversion in HD and SD. Attach the box to the DVI port of your video monitor, and then out to a HD monitor.
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
I do not understand the question. What does the Matrox MXO have to do with FCP? In any of the HD editing apps you will need a monitoring card if you want to see your footage in HD as the HVX200 will not pass through the signal from 1394 to component analog out.

Best,

Jan
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Jan, what I meant was that I didn't need to purchase a capture card that had component inputs in order to have the slow motion or fast motion effects of 720p- captured trough the 1080i conversion done in camera for the component out. If I have native codec support in FCP, the only thing I need is a Monitoring device, and the Matrox MXO is a lot cheaper than having to purchase a capture card. It even says it accelerates DVCPRO HD editing, so that's a Plus... Also, with the MXO, I can use it both in my home computer and on my laptop...
 
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Jan,

Is it possible to create an official Panasonic document to release for those of us using the HVX and the Firestore covering all possible workflow options i.e. camera frame rates vs FS100 frame rates and how to ingest it and convert it to use in FCP at various project settings etc. I am really going through a rough time as are others. I appreciate all you do to clear things up for us and realize this is new technology, but frankly, Focus' support is abismal so far. There are a lot of people speculating about this stuff and leading people down dead-end paths. The FS documentation does not really explain much though it throws out a lot of new terminology and functions, I, a vet, need a better map. Please don't take this as complaining, I love your products are soon to order 4 of the new 26inch lcds, but my head hurts from banging it against the wall.

Warm regards,

Don Wilson
AmericanaMediaInc.com
 
I agree Don,

The Focus documentation is obtuse and leaves out vital information. My dealer said that the devices are actually coming directly from Panasonic rather than focus. While its great that Panasonic worked so closely with Focus top delelop this additional tool with the DVCPRO HD branding, I think Pannasonic should hire a good technical writer to supplement or replace the Focus book.

We have gotten the FS-100 to work pretty well, but only through the tutoring from our dealer who walked us through proceedures.

In contrast, our P2 store has excellent documentation.

How about it Jan?
 
RandyRosenthal said:
I agree Don,

The Focus documentation is obtuse and leaves out vital information. My dealer said that the devices are actually coming directly from Panasonic rather than focus. While its great that Panasonic worked so closely with Focus top delelop this additional tool with the DVCPRO HD branding, I think Pannasonic should hire a good technical writer to supplement or replace the Focus book.

We have gotten the FS-100 to work pretty well, but only through the tutoring from our dealer who walked us through proceedures.

In contrast, our P2 store has excellent documentation.

How about it Jan?
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Frankly I thought the Focus documentation led me exactly to what I had to do and that the HVX200 manual left me sctaching my head. ;-) There is room for improvement everywhere and if you have specific areas that you think are obtuse tell me the page number I will pass it along to the Focus Guys.

Best,

Jan
 
The HVX manual is lacking in many areas.

It reads like the old Electric Image manuals if anybody remembers that app.

Why not a supplemental QuickStart guide:

1. If you want to shoot slo mo, do steps one two three

2. To transfer with 1394, steps four five six.

I hope Barry sells a million copies, but I have to say that with a camera this complex, I would hoped that Panny had done a better job.
 
The Focus manual does not explain what things do...the effect of turning this or that on. For example, I can find nowhere what RawDV is and how it relates to DVCProHD, to the Firestore and editing systems like FCP. What to do with the many files and folders once they're in FCP, immediate editing is not a reality, how about the frame rate conversion with audio?. So can I edit a feature with audio once I've converted the Firestore footage using the Panasonic software, so far no. So I'm being forced into editing in 60 and will down-convert on output but my future plan to transfer this thing to film are going to be much harder now. How about a template of a workflow. I am not the only one scratching my head as to what to do with all these files. How does the reel numbering system work, it makes no sense as laid out in the manual. I do what it says and it does what it wants. These are just off the top of my head. I've been editing for 28 years, won an emmy and done my share of shaking out systems and the Firestore makes no sense to me and most everyone I encounter on any forum anywhere. I am happy that you, on the inside at Panasonic, understand things we lowly consumers don't, but frankly neither one of you companies seems to give a damn. It's almost disdane the attitudes we get from the manufacturers. I've called support at both and get people are frustrated at having to answer questions and I am now going to give up, get through this project and stop wasting my time trying to get help from the people wo make and sell the product. It reminds me of politics.

Don Wilson
 
Hi Jan,

Thanks for all the help and answering our questions here. It's great to have you around! I know it's been asked a couple times, and maybe I missed your answer somewhere so sorry if you already answered it, but any news on the P2 viewer for Mac? Is that coming or should we stop looking for it.

Thanks,
Brian
 
So Macbook pros are not compatible with importing from the Panasonic AG-HVX200? I'm lost. I want to buy a great HD camera, I have around 12,000 to spend in all. (after batteries, tripods, etc,,etc,,)..I was leaning towards the AG-HX200(even though from what I understand the lenses are not interchangable).
I'm also planning on buying a Mac Workbook pro in the next couple days. Can I just shoot on the Panasonic AG-HVX200, once done eject the mini-dv cassette , put the mini dv cassette into one of my old throw away $400 mini-dv cameras and get the footage into FCP tha way? Help!
 
We're not talking about the MiniDV tape. You probably will never use the MiniDV tape since you can only record MiniDV quality stuff onto it. If you're buying this camera you will be buying for the other stuff in can record and those formats go onto the P2 card. The old Powerbooks had a PCI slot that the P2 cards fit into for downloading. The MacBook Pros have a PCI express slot that is a different size. An adapter needs to come out before a P2 card can be offloaded directly to it.
 
MBP can't use the P2 card inserted into the ExpressCard/34 slot - at least for now.

But you can put the cam in the PC Mode and mount it on the desktop to ingest footage
 
Can you use the current PC P2 Viewer on a MacBook Pro?

And if you're listening Apple - there'll be an obscene amount of DVXuser subscribers putting in their MBP orders as soon as we get a viable adapter for the cards.
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
It works well, and it is rugged or rather bullet proof, and this is the primary concept behind it.Jan
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This quote is with regard to the Panny P2 store. I must totally disagree. It would appear that everybody is baning on about how great this thing is built, bullet proof etc.

Well a few days back I was in a dealers and he gave me one. I held it in my hands and squeezed it as I pushed my thumbs into the middle of the rubberized casework and I am pretty sure if I pressed harder it would have folded. Bullet proof, I very much doubt it. The build quality is okay, but I would not like to drop one and is sure as hell does not feel like a $2,000 piece of kit to me.

Not trolling, just how I found it that's all. I'm a HVX200 owner, but I'm not sycophantic about the thing either.
 
monolith said:
Can you use the current PC P2 Viewer on a MacBook Pro?

And if you're listening Apple - there'll be an obscene amount of DVXuser subscribers putting in their MBP orders as soon as we get a viable adapter for the cards.
Click to expand...


1. No you can't in OS X.

2. Where are you hearing about the "obscene amount" of DVXuser subscribers?

There can't be that many to make anything obscene.

Awesome maybe

Or horiffic.

But certainly not obscene
 
No PC slot in the MacBook Pro for P2 cards. I'm downloading directly from the HVX200 to a firewire drive. Then transfer later to my FCP edit bay.

"Fragile" firewire? I've never had problems with firewire connections in all the years I've been using it.

You can down load the footage from your HVX200 directly to a drive on your MacBook Pro, too.

FS-100 is also a REALLY good solution, as I'm using one now.
 
I must comment about the P2 store, to be quite honest its not big enough. I go through 60gigs in about 3 hours, no joke. It would be a lovely thing to have but i cant afoord it and would rather have a better external hard drive and capture in my laptop because that hard drive is multi purpose. Its a nice idea, but considering the huge file sizes we are pumping out they shuld update the drive.

Also i still have to stop shooting , take out the P2 cards and dump them to the store all the same, can I plug it directly in through firewire and capture on the go? if so it looks nicer, if not, well. Also I have to buy and buy a charger for the battery just for the P2 Store, i thought a rechargeable batery inside would be nice with the option to fit a panasonic bttery if the internal one was getting low. Companies tend not to what to give us next years technology now, makes us believe that when we type here they are taking what we say and putting them in there next products, but they are humans too and i bet they know the bad points and good points of the equipment they produce, knowing exactly what would be great and not. Gone are the days of leaps in technology, the days of give them a little more even though we could make a super camera or hard drive, are here.

External hard drive with all data just died, obviously not a fan od drives atm. :)
 
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