Advice on editing with hvx 202

D

dogbreath

Member
I was wondering if anyone could offer advice on which editing software and what hardware requirements for a laptop I should use with a hvx and why? I know there are a few out there but there seems to be a few? problems with support.
I'm a camera operator in Australia just about to invest in a hvx and was hoping someone may have be able to help out?
 
Concerning hardware, if you get a decent core duo or core 2 duo, with a couple of gigs of ram you would be in real nice shape. The dvcpro codec isn't that demanding on hardware. You might want to look into some external drives of some sort for editing off of though, as laptop drives are usually too small for larger projects, and often times limited to 5400 rpm.

I use an eSATA setup, for example.

Concerning software- It really just comes down to your preference. You should browse the various sections for the nle's on the site here.

But, a little info to get you started.

EDIUS Broadcast 4 is the only NLE that supports all formats of the HVX natively, without conversion. Meaning you can stick the p2 card in your laptop and start working immediately. It is undisputed as the software option for hvx/p2 integration. It is a very powerful real-time editing NLE. People don't generally consider it to be as robust, in terms of features, bells, whistles, plugin's etc.
But for pure, raw editing power, and the best p2 support, EDIUS is the choice.

Final Cut Studio supports all formats of the HVX now (I believe), but requires conversion of the HVX's MXF files to apple friendly .mov's before you can work with them. Mac (for some reason) has tended to have problems with offloading of footage, etc. Some people have no problems, some have a lot. It is generally considered to be a very robust, capable and versatile NLE. You get the whole package with final cut studio. NLE, sound, dvd, etc, etc.

AVID Xpress Pro has support for *most* of the HVX's recording options.

Premiere Pro and Vegas have no out of box support for the HVX or p2. You will need a 3rd party program like Raylight or AspectHD(?) to be able to work with the MXF files. These plugins will convert the MXF files to PC friendly avi's that you can work with. But don't expect real-time performance anything on the scale of what you would get from EDIUS with it's out of box (and thorough) p2 integration.

Vegas is cheaper than the others, but is a great program. Really great. Those that use it, love it. I used to use it. I didn't learn much on it, but loved it. I just opted for something with proper p2 support when I bought my HVX's.

There is a new update to Raylight that was just announced that will now allow you to work directly with the HVX's MXF files without converting them. It has some limitations, but as I understand it, it is a huge step forward. It is for use with Vegas. From what I have read, you can edit 1 stream of DVCPRO HD in realtime with it. You can't write back to the card ("yet"), and you can only work with the native modes or the 60i/p modes. There is no support for the pulldown or pulldown advanced ("yet").

Hope that gets you started.

Jason
 
Excellent summary.

If you're getting a new laptop for the HVX, by all means get a Windows PC laptop with a PCMCIA card slot -- plenty of manufacturers are offering laptops with both ExpressCard and PCMCIA slots. Get at least a Core 2 Duo 2.00 GHz; on that system I've cut four streams of HD in realtime straight off the card.

As for an editing program, I really, really like Vegas, and with the new Raylight it's close to being a great solution, just have a few more kinks to work out. But EDIUS Broadcast is fantastic with the P2 cards, probably the best-integrated system out there. I'd skip Premiere until it has native integrated MXF support. If you really, really like Avid then there's not really a reason not to go with XPress Pro HD; only thing is, it doesn't support all the modes yet, but it does support editing right off the cards which is very nice.

Going with a Windows PC laptop also gives you the ability to run the P2 Viewer program, and the various firmware update utilities, and is a more stable transfer station for working with the cards and offloading the cards. And you can get DV Rack 2.0 HD, which is the ultimate companion for the HVX.

If you want to edit on FCP on your desktop, I'd still say get the PC laptop; you can offload cards to an external FAT32 hard disk in the field, and then plug that hard disk into your desktop Mac and import the files immediately for conversion to Quicktimes. If Apple updates FCP to work with native MXF files I may seriously reconsider, but as it stands right now it's just too easy and too powerful on the PC with Avid, EDIUS, and Vegas/Raylight all supporting native MXF editing. I believe there's a plug-in for Premiere that will do it too, from MainConcept, but I haven't tried that.

If you're in PAL territory, I'd give another nod to EDIUS; it has native 720/50P support which FCP doesn't yet offer. I believe Raylight will support 720/50P files too for Vegas, but not 100% sure.

Then there's always CineForm which can convert the files to work in any application, but I don't know what its 50p/25p support is like.
 
And just to add a bit concerning specs for your lappy. I run a core duo 2.16 and also have been able to handle 4-5 streams realtime. Of course, there probably isn't going to be much difference in terms of processing power between a core duo 2.16 and a core 2 duo 2ghz. Probably negligable(I don't think I spelled that right) at best.

But, as Barry said. That is a good starting point. If you go with something in that range or beyond, you will not be hurting for processing power, when it comes to editing. At least in EDIUS. I can't speak for other NLE's regarding the DVCPRO HD codec.

Jason
 
Guys,
Thank you so much for that invaluable info and detailed responses!
It would have taken me forever to research any of the systems you mentioned.
I'll work with your advice and decide on something soon.

Best regards.
 
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