cine-go-girl!
New member
Hello,
I would very much appreciate some advice regarding setting up my digital workflow for an HD project.
Please bear with me because I am still learning about digital video, and as yet am not too sure about the best way forward.
I am about to make a documentary (about 1.5 hours) on a very low budget which I hope to show at film festivals. I have a friend who is letting me use a professional camera (Sony HVR V1E, digital tape) for free during rental downtime. I also have a smaller camera for unobtrusive filming, which is a Canon HF100 (SDHC memory cards).
I will be filming in HD at 25fps (ok so far?), and I will eventually edit the footage myself in Final Cut Pro (this is still in the box!).
I think I have 2 immediate challenges (at least!):
Firstly, I share a G5 Power Mac with my partner who needs to use graphics programs (small files) and Logic for sound design. I need my own computer dedicated to Final Cut Pro, and was also considering a RAID set-up (although I'm still unsure of the best storage solution).
I had initially considered a Mac Power Book which I thought would be useful to:
1.-potentially monitor the shoot ?
2.-download footage straight from the camera so that it can be returned to rental
3.-plug into the raid when at home
4.-potentially plug into my HD TV to edit in true HD (although this may not prove popular!)
However, I was dissuaded from this route as apparently they are not as good as desk top systems for editing (despite being just as expensive). Do you agree? If so, which Mac would you advise me to get? I am trying to keep the budget down, but don't want to sacrifice performance. Do you think it would be better to upgrade our G5 for video, and buy a less powerful machine for my partner? (the current specs are: Quad 2.5 GHz, non-Intel, 2.5 GB memory, NVIDIA GeForce 6600, OS X, version 10.4.4 - which I need to update but I want to back up everything first and I'm not sure how yet!). Also is it true that only Intel Macs work properly with FCP?
Secondly, if I go down the desktop route, then I will need portable storage to transfer the video from the camera tape to my home computer (it will take too long to take the camera home at night after filming , then return it the same evening). Having looked at various options, I thought either the G-Tech quad interface or the LaCie Little Big Disk Quadra as they have esata connections. My camera man suggested downloading footage from the camera to a Power Book at work (in rental) the day after filming, and then transfering it to my portable storage for me to collect when I can. Is it not possible to load something onto the drive so that I can just get the data straight from the camera without going through a Power Book? If not, which program and codec should I use? I thought I-Movie would do the trick, but then discovered that apparently it does something undesirable to the data when exporting HD. How about Quicktime?
I'm sorry if this all sounds very naive, but I am new to this and am finding it a rather steep learning curve! I would be very grateful if anyone could help me, as I am just desperate to get on with the project!
Many thanks...
I would very much appreciate some advice regarding setting up my digital workflow for an HD project.
Please bear with me because I am still learning about digital video, and as yet am not too sure about the best way forward.
I am about to make a documentary (about 1.5 hours) on a very low budget which I hope to show at film festivals. I have a friend who is letting me use a professional camera (Sony HVR V1E, digital tape) for free during rental downtime. I also have a smaller camera for unobtrusive filming, which is a Canon HF100 (SDHC memory cards).
I will be filming in HD at 25fps (ok so far?), and I will eventually edit the footage myself in Final Cut Pro (this is still in the box!).
I think I have 2 immediate challenges (at least!):
Firstly, I share a G5 Power Mac with my partner who needs to use graphics programs (small files) and Logic for sound design. I need my own computer dedicated to Final Cut Pro, and was also considering a RAID set-up (although I'm still unsure of the best storage solution).
I had initially considered a Mac Power Book which I thought would be useful to:
1.-potentially monitor the shoot ?
2.-download footage straight from the camera so that it can be returned to rental
3.-plug into the raid when at home
4.-potentially plug into my HD TV to edit in true HD (although this may not prove popular!)
However, I was dissuaded from this route as apparently they are not as good as desk top systems for editing (despite being just as expensive). Do you agree? If so, which Mac would you advise me to get? I am trying to keep the budget down, but don't want to sacrifice performance. Do you think it would be better to upgrade our G5 for video, and buy a less powerful machine for my partner? (the current specs are: Quad 2.5 GHz, non-Intel, 2.5 GB memory, NVIDIA GeForce 6600, OS X, version 10.4.4 - which I need to update but I want to back up everything first and I'm not sure how yet!). Also is it true that only Intel Macs work properly with FCP?
Secondly, if I go down the desktop route, then I will need portable storage to transfer the video from the camera tape to my home computer (it will take too long to take the camera home at night after filming , then return it the same evening). Having looked at various options, I thought either the G-Tech quad interface or the LaCie Little Big Disk Quadra as they have esata connections. My camera man suggested downloading footage from the camera to a Power Book at work (in rental) the day after filming, and then transfering it to my portable storage for me to collect when I can. Is it not possible to load something onto the drive so that I can just get the data straight from the camera without going through a Power Book? If not, which program and codec should I use? I thought I-Movie would do the trick, but then discovered that apparently it does something undesirable to the data when exporting HD. How about Quicktime?
I'm sorry if this all sounds very naive, but I am new to this and am finding it a rather steep learning curve! I would be very grateful if anyone could help me, as I am just desperate to get on with the project!
Many thanks...