Basic Questions For HVX/HD Noobies

M

micah9

Member
Hello, I am sure these questions have been asked many times before here. Please forgive any repetition. I would like to use this thread to consolidate basic information and advice for those making the first-time jump from the DVX-100 to the HVX-200.

So with the premise of a some noob that just made the jump from DVX to HVX, what do they need to know to shoot and edit that might differ from their previous experience? Here are my specific questions though I am sure there are other considerations to be noted.

1. What are the shooting-time to gigabyte ratio of the P2 cards?

2. What type of setup is good for transferring footage off of the P2 cards onto a storage device on set? How long does this process take? What gear are people here using for this?

3. What settings do you use in your editing software? In particular I would like to know settings advice in FCP for 720p. This will be my first time shooting and editing at that resolution. But any other shooting and editing settings advice is good too.
 
A good idea is give a look to other threads, tons of info, very usefull info

PS: your answers are there too!!!
 
The problem is that these questions actually require rather complex answers. There are a number of different recording formats, ways to transfer, and ways to bring the footage into the NLE based on what you want and what you are using. Here is my limited experience.

For P2 space, it goes something like this:

480i in DV (same as tape)=4 minutes per gig=16 minutes on a 4 gig P2
480i in DVCPro50=2 minutes per gig=8 minutes on a 4 gig P2
720p in 24pN=2.5 minutes per gig=10 minutes on a 4 gig P2
720p in 30pN=2 minutes per gig=8 minutes on a 4 gig P2
720p in 60i=1 minute per gig=4 minutes on a 4 gig P2
1080i in 60i=1 minute per gig=4 minutes on a 4 gig P2

The N (native) modes give you a lot more space since it is recording just 24 or 30 pure frames instead of trying to encode them onto a 6-i signal.

I think that covers it though (though I might have missed some).

As for offloading and such, this is still and issue that I think a lot of us are still trying to find a good solution to. Some are simply bringing laptops and offloading in between takes from the camera strait to the laptop. This doesn't take too long (roughly a minute per gig) but can be a pain but isn't too bad for those used to the similar loading times with film magazines. Others are using the P2 store. This device simply lets one plug a P2 card in and the device automatically offloads it to a hard drive and reformats it (leaving the camera free). The downside is that currently the hard drive is only 60 gigs which is a bit pricey at $1550. One also can't watch the clips from the P2 store. Another option is the Firestore 100. It holds 100 gigs and attatches through a firewire port. Unfortunatly, this does not support the Native modes that tend to be the most popular and are great for saving space. It's also rather pricey at $1800 for only 100 minutes of HD footage. Focus (who makes the FS-100) claims to be working on a firmware upgrade to support Native recording but there is no word on well that will happen. Some also have been using the firewire to offload directly to a laptop. The obvious downside is that you are stuck to a laptop but save for that it's one of the better options. At the moment the laptop solution has the same issues as the FS-100, in other words no Native recording, but apparently a later version of one of the capturing programs (look on the thread on this board) will support it and remove the redundant frames. Finally a new hard drive solution called Cineporter is on the way. The Cineporter, which is said to retail for $2200 for a 160 gig version late this year, will act as a giant P2 card. It will allow Native recording and all the features of P2 such as instand clip access and thumbnails.

As for NLEs, I'm using Avid. Shooting 720p 24pN is quite easy. Avid recognizes the MXFs no problem (even lets you edit from the P2 card) and works fine. I've heard it has trouble with bringing the interlaced modes into a 24p timeline however. I haven't messed with this yet though.
 
cool man, that's very helpful. I appreciate it. i know this board is chocked full of this and other useful information. thanks for taking the time to share here despite that - it's very helpful to have these questions consolidated in this thread for me, so I don't forget or miss any concerns. ty.
 
yeah I know.. so many questions that all have been answered before but its kinda hard to find them. Thanks David for taking the time to help.
 
Perhaps its time to compile a list of basic info and make it a sticky. We seem to get these types of questions more often lately, and I'll be the first to admit -- much of the basic info has been buried long ago.

I'd be glad to assist in such a FAQ.
 
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