Using MacBook as a production monitor...

S

sbryan

Well-known member
It's not the best solution, but it's better than the DVX's LCD screen. I'm shooting in squeeze mode, so is there any way iMovie HD can interpret the footage in realtime? Also, can I record to tape by using a function in iMovie?
 
Barry, quick question for you: How was DV Rack 2.0 with the A1 and the HDV preview? Was it reasonably full frame rate in a large frame and did it have noticeable latency? Just wondered what the overall preview performance in that program was like.

Thanks.
 
Much latency, but realtime preview. It was running on a Core 2 Duo at 2.00 GHz. The latency is inherent in HDV, so there's nothing that a faster computer can do about that, but the fast processor made for perfectly acceptable frame refresh rate.

DV Rack includes a couple of options to increase playback speed for MPEG-2, including the ability to set the MPEG decode to 1/2 resolution, or to decode only the I & P frames, or only the I frames. On my 2.00GHz Pentium M, I couldn't get full-screen full-frame-rate playback on Sony HDV without noticeable glitching; I always had to choose between half-res but all frames (for motion) or full-res but only I&P (for full-frame resolution). The Core 2 Duo seems like it is fast enough to do both, but I mainly tested 24F which has a tad less work to do. For 24F work it was fine for monitoring, provided you recognize that you can't use it to focus with or to follow shots with because of the lag.
 
Thanks for the reply Barry. I'll look into Scope Box when I get my MacBook Pro in the summer.

The only feature I need right now is the unsqueeze option (although DoF assistant... mmhmmm...) Is there an iMovie plug in for this? I'll download a demo of Scope Box to see if that will work for the weekend shoot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top