HDV and how to deal with it (on a Mac)

P

Philipp

Active member
Hi there, in spite of the URL, this seems to me the best community to professionally discuss even the Sony issue of HDV.

I followed all the instruction I could find, i.e. capturing video from the cam (HVR-Z1E) in iMovie - opening the Medieafolder - importing Media to FCP HD - setting up a sequenz using the HDV-specifications - ... Ooops, there we go.
How can you set up the HDV-specifications if you don't have them in a setup list and you don't know exactacally how they should be. So you try to type in all the facts that you know from the movie file. But then there is still the red line on top of the placed media in the sequence. So what are the precise settings for HDV in FCP HD if I cannot wait for FCP HDV to be published?

Besides, simply draging the material from a well set up Z1 into FCP HD in 1080i set up and leting compressor without any adaptions create a badly compressed DVD-MPEG from it in SD brought up a very convincing result. I am stunned by this camera, and I always loved the DVX. But now...
 
Have a look at HDVxDV- this is considered the best current solution for Mac today.

http://www.hdvxdv.com/

Keep in mind NAB is right around the corner and we can expect a likely update to FCP with full HDV support.

Noah
 
imovie

imovie

don't capture with Imovie. At least in my case, there's always something wrong with it. You install Imovie, use the Apple Intermediate Codec, and then setup Final Cut Pro Hd manually to square pixel, 1920x1080, apple intermediate codec. To capture, you can use Lumiere HD or a free utility you can get from Apple.
 
If I had a ton of editing to do I would probably just buy Final Cut Express HD. I played around with it at an Apple Store where they have the Sony cam set up. It was really slick and easy. How many hoops do you want to jump through? The upgrade is only $99. Can you upgrade from FCP to FCE? Considering the circomstance you should be allowed. If you have a family member in school you can pick it up for $149.
Good luck!
Sam
 
I didn't try FCP express, but I want to have the original m2t file and deinterlace it with MPEGstreamclip. This is not a problem if you film in CF25 mode, but if you don't I don't think FCP express will give you a good deinterlacing solution. In fact, if it is like Imovie5, it will treat your movie as interlaced automatically. In 2005, who wants to work with interlaced footage?
 
i dont recommend CF modes... check out dvfilm.com. i also had no problem at all with capturing in Imovie other than lack of timecode...wait for FCP5
 
Well

Well

princigalli said:
don't capture with Imovie. At least in my case, there's always something wrong with it.
Click to expand...

What exactely is wrong with the files generated by iMovie. Well, after trying several things I ended up using iMovie to capture the complete tape and convert the files in QT to what HDV is: Anamorphic 16:9 HD, i.e. 1440x1080.

I don't see any serious loss but perhaps that's because I never saw the real thing, hm?

@princigalli: What ist that free appl by apple? Didn't find anything.
 
Philipp said:
I don't see any serious loss but perhaps that's because I never saw the real thing, hm?
Click to expand...

That's exactly the point. You can't get any sort of output. I experienced quality loss, loss of luma, bad audio sync, and capture glitches when capturing in iMovie. Plus, there is no way to manage or log the media. WYSI-NOT-WYG

Also, if you try to do a straight convert down to DV, the fields will be reversed.
 
That sounds to me as if the codec is wrong. After about 12 hours of captured media I did not see any sync problems. I am not so sure about the croma or luma as I did not yet connect the cam to a proof monitor. But the picture look good tp me. Just what I expected from my settings while shooting. Let me also say that I am deyling with the media after I extracted the Bin in FCPHD.

So, again, is there any technical measure of that loss?
 
Apple has updated OSX to correct the following issues:

iMovie HD (5.0.2)
Audio in PAL widescreen
Sharing (exporting) HDV to videocamera tape
Synchronizing with HDV 720p content
Importing video from a DV videocamera when using analog passthrough or recording live video
Compatibility with some analog-to-digital converter boxes
Capturing video with Hi-8 (Digital 8) devices
Placing titles over DV content
Playing iPhoto slideshows that include protected content
Opening iMovie 4 projects that use speed-adjusted clips.
 
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