anyone LOVE their A1->macbook pro->final cut images + workflow?

R

robfilms

Veteran
anyone LOVE their A1->macbook pro->final cut images + workflow?

i have read SO MANY tales of woe concerning the A1 not being recognized by the Macbook Pro and Final Cut edit software.

Some seem to blame Canon. Others blame Apple. Some talk about the firewire connections. Still others scream about HDV.

I am in the market for a camera. My clients still want SD DVDs. I'm thinking about the A1 because of the native 16x9 chips and 20x lens. (Though I am NOT impressed by the camera's LCD)

If I were to consider the A1, I would need to hear from a community of A1/mac users who LOVE their images and their workflow.

Anyone care to shout out?

As always, thanks in advance for your insights

Be well

Rob
 
I have never had a problem with that workflow. I am very happy with the results. The LCD was fine until I started using a 35mm adapter. I now have a Marshall monitor.

For the money and the SD option, it is great. The EX seems very appealing too.
 
michael-

thanks for sharing your experiences

i'm glad to read that your A1 is always recogonized by your mac/fcp edit set-up.

where am i coming from? i come from being an indie writer/producer for the past 15+ years in a very tough market-metro nyc!

and now, with the digital revolution in full swing, i find myself having to acquire new skills: the ability to edit in final cut pro and the ability to shoot much-not all-of my own footage. i have shot w/the pd150/170, the xl2, the hvx200 and more than several super-8 and 16mm cameras. previously, i shot plenty of the "b" roll in my corporate and doc work. now i am moving towards needing to shoot my own talking head interviews.

i'm looking at the A1 because with a 20x lens the ability to have a narrow depth-of-field offers a decent out-of-focus bokah which looks great for interviews. of course, u need to be pretty far from the subject to achieve that look but in production there is always a wrinkle.

i also am looking at the A1 because of its native 16x9 chips. though i deliver sd dvds to my clients, many of them like the film look of 16x9 widescreen. the capacity for the a1 to deliver a decent 16x9 image is also why i'm questioning picking up a dvx100b.

low light is also an issue. i've read various threads on several websites that suggest the dvx100b and the A1 perform equally in low light. i don't need the pd170 low light capacity but i have found that the hvx200 needs much more light than the dvx100.

once questions of acquisition are addressed, there then is the issue of edit workflow. the sd dvx100 workflow from tape to final cut pro edit to sd dvd release is tried and true. and yet, i've read more than a few threads about the A1 not being recognized by the mac/final cut combo. it is hard enough doing productions (enjoyable but hard). i do not need the added headache of technical issues that add gremlins to the show.

and here i sit, which way to go: dvx100 vs A1 vs sony v1 - notice all are taped based. at this moment in the digital revolution, i'd rather trade the sweat equity of digitizing tapes than the insecurities of tech gremlins within the wonders of a tapeless workflow. i am also interested in the ex1 because of its 1/2" chips but am concerned about the extra hands needed in the edit workflow as the flash cards are dumped into the macbook pro on site and then redundancy drives are used to backup the original footage.

man, at times my head is spinning!

any and all thoughts are appreciated

be well

rob

***ps- michael: do u downconvert from the A1's hdv to sd in camera or do u use fcp? again, tia-rob***
 
Hi Rob. Here are my thoughts.

I spent the first day of my life editing on FCP. I had last years version of FCP and it would not work right this month when I tried to load clips recently (last time was testing and that was about two months ago).

I have two projects to edit from the Canon camera. Not complaints about the camera. I wanted 16x9, I didn't need HD and like the long lens. I did have some CA on the lens on long shots (fringes around images). First time I have noticed it, but the first major project I have edited with the A1. Clients want SD DVD so I will attempt to down covert in compressor for the first time (not camera, I hear it is not to good).

Overall the experience has been pretty good. I get frustrated on FCP because of the years on Avid, but it seems to work. My only issue that creeped up at the end of the day looked like some box that kept saying something about not playing back because of issues - almost like it can't keep up with the HDV footage etc. (I am on a Macbook Pro 2.0ghz w/2 gigs ram). I don't have the RT turned on, so I am not sure what that means or will mean when the sequence gets bigger and more demanding for playback. I will also be picking up a Matrox MXO soon to color correct.

If I had my choice I would edit Avid, but not with 24F as they don't support it.

To answer some questions, yes the long lens is not going to help with DOF. I picked up a Brevis unit for that. Tape is cheap and works well. Get good tapes and use them only. I would say the DVX and A1 are about the same in low light. LCD is not the greatest for HD work, so I picked up the Ikan.

Hope this helps.
John
 
I have a Canon XH-A1, Final Cut Pro 6.02 and I think it's fantastic. I have no problems whatsoever, BUT I did have problems previously. Still never figured out what was wrong, but ended up reformatting and putting Leopard on and it works great.

-Kegan
 
kegan-

what type of video do u make w/ the A1?

what do u deliver to clients hd or sd dvd?

can u please detail your workflow?

thanks in advance

be well

rob
 
I would say thie a1 is a good choice.

Like all the other camcorders out, I would say out of the box, the colors are a little flat (which i like) but with a little tweaking, the you can get a good contrast between the colors.

WARNING about low light shooting. I shot in a bar with a few ambient light (like every bar) , and when i captured it, it showed up fine on my monitor, HOWEVER, when we put it on a projector, you couldnt see a thing.

I doubt the work you will be doing will be projected, but if so, fair warning, if it looks dark, then it is...

as far as fcp goes, i use premiere

sorry
 
I picked up my A1 last week and I'm currently capturing footage for the first time while I type this.

I'm running FCP 6.0.2 on a 2.33 2GB RAM MBP and once I changed the video/audio settings to HDV 1080i50 firewire basic it detected the camera right away.

I haven't had much time to experiment with the camera and although I'm used to the larger lcd screen on the Z1's at work the A1's 2.8 inch screen doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

All in all I couldn't be happier with my purchase/workflow so far and would happily recommend both the A1 and MBP to anyone.
 
The biggest culprit for getting FCP to recognize the A1 is the menu where Playback STD is...it needs to be set specifically to HDV for FCP to see it I believe. But the Playback STD option itself disappears unless the firewire cable is plugged in I believe. It might be there when its unplugged and not when it is but I forget which lol. Either way that was my biggest issue.

Also something to consider, if you change that and plug it in and your ready to go....make sure you close and restart FCP...then you'll be just fine. Changing settings on the camera, turning it off and on wont do anything. FCP MUST BE RESTARTED.
 
I've had to trash my preferences a few times to get FCP to recognize my A1. Turning FCP off/on didn't do the trick.

But I also have major problems with a Canopus ADVC110 that I use as a bridge to view SD footage on a small production monitor. FCP Rescue 6 does the trick, but it really shouldn't have to be called on so much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top