Barry_Green
Moderator
It was modern Windows hardware, don't know the details.
HMC150 questions answered...
- Thread starter Barry_Green
- Start date
If you have a focus/iris controller I'd be happy to test it if you want to send it to me.....
My understanding is that the specs for CS4 Premiere are on parity for Mac and PC.
PP on the Mac supports it as well, with the same functionality. Unfortunately, mine is a 2.0 GHz Core Duo iMac; it's not up to massive modern "Pro" specs, so it doesn't perform as well as a quad-core or much faster dual-core would. You do need some horsepower.
Barry_Green
Moderator
Yes they're compatible.
ChrisPrine
Active member
The AVCHD transcoder has been updated to 2.0.
Release note says "Version 2.0 supports AG-HMC150series cameras."
But the previous version was working with footage from Barry's review camera, right?
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/desk/e/download.htm#avchd
Edit:
I downloaded and read the pdf.
"Supports newly developed Panasonic AVCHD PH mode including 720p format and
AVCHD metadata of AG-HMC150 camera
Improved transfer speed."
Release note says "Version 2.0 supports AG-HMC150series cameras."
But the previous version was working with footage from Barry's review camera, right?
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/desk/e/download.htm#avchd
Edit:
I downloaded and read the pdf.
"Supports newly developed Panasonic AVCHD PH mode including 720p format and
AVCHD metadata of AG-HMC150 camera
Improved transfer speed."
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ilauzirika
Boring Senior Member
Has anyone been able to find a manual for the hmc151e version? I can't find anything about it, everythings says hmc150,152,153,154, but none says anything about 151e.......
EDIT:
Well, I found this hmc151 leaflet.....
EDIT:
Well, I found this hmc151 leaflet.....
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Barry_Green
Moderator
The version I had from a few weeks ago supported 1080 footage but not 720 footage. I've been using the EDIUS converter instead as it's much faster (but, obviously, only relevant if you have EDIUS Broadcast!)
Barry_Green
Moderator
Will it equal the 170? No, because it's 4:2:0 and long-GOP. It'll be very close under most circumstances though.
Mike Harvey
Veteran
The guy giving the AVCHD/AVCCam presentation at the Panasonic Expo I went to yesterday said that it MUST be a newer, Intel based multicore. I'm a PC/Adobe person, so I'm not that familiar with Mac's, but from the sounds of it you'll need a somewhat beefy machine.
He also said that from the sounds of it, FCP 2, FCE 4, and iMovie 8 will support it, but won't natively edit it. He said the Apple engineers felt it made more sense to import it using the "Log and Transfer" feature (?), and convert it to ProRes or an Apple Intermediate (?... again, I'm a PC/Adobe guy, so I hope that makes sense) than use the horsepower to edit native. He said they still haven't figured out how they (Apple) will implement the metadata from the camera.
He also made it clear that when transfering data from the card (Mac and PC) TO TRANSFER THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE CARD rather than just take bits and pieces.
So Mike, tell us what you thought of the camera. Did you get a chance to handle one? I would hope they had a production model there.
MacPro and at least FCS2
Mike Harvey
Veteran
Yeah, I was able to play with one, but it was made adamantly clear that it wasn't a production model. However, for those that were concerned about the color of the unit, the whole thing was the color of pencil lead, but that may not be the final color.
What did I think? For a street price of $3,500, you can't go wrong. It was much lighter than the DVX... to the point it might be a detriment as it was a little more difficult to hold steady. The lighting in the room sucked, but it held up well. I bumped it to the highest gain setting they had preset (which I think was -12db) and there was remarkably little noise. There was noise, but it wasn't that objectionable. Better than on my DVX. I only got a few minutes to play with it, but they let me shoot on my own SDHC card. I'll try and upload that footage later tonight.
The guy giving the AVCHD presentation was I believe named Bentley Nelson. He was some sort of outside consultant. He showed some footage he shot with the HMC70 and the HSC1U to demonstrate the capabilities of the codec. It was 1080i/17Mbps, as that's all those cameras can do, and it was pretty impressive. Oh, that brings up another thing... the HMC150 will only offer variable frame rates and whatnot in the PH (21Mbps) setting. Anything lower and it's strictly 1080i.
I have got to think that with this codec coupled with the HVX/HPX chips and glass you could turn out some spectacular footage if you know what you're doing. Honestly, if you don't need the 4:2:2 and I-frame advantages (or the expense and hassle of) P2/DVCProHD, or some of the features offered by the HPX/HVX (or the EX1 for that matter) this really is the way to go.
I'm really curious how this stacks up against the EX1 given AVCCam's higher resolution than DVCProHD. I say this because I was going to go with the EX1 until I heard about this camera. My mind still isn't made up, but it's hard to argue with the $3,000 price difference for what you get.
shrigg, I have a sneaking suspicion that when your camera arrives, you're not going to be having buyer's remorse :thumbsup:
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I am running FCS2 (6.04) on a MacBook Pro 17" 2.33 GHz with 4Mb RAM and OS 10.5.4
I'll let you know how it works. I'll be using the ProRes 422 Log & Transfer transcoding workflow. I'll also test Roxio Toast 9 transcoding and will post the results here.
If I am unhappy with this I have downloaded a Free trial of Edius Broadcast to run under Boot Camp. But I really would prefer to stay on the Mac side since I am all thumbs in Windows!
Excellent hands-on report Mike! Yes, this camera should really change the game at this price point. And many will tire of the "wait for Scarlet" option now that RED has scrapped it and is starting over with a completely new (likely more expensive) design. Glad I wasn't planning on one of those!
Sharpness-wise the HMC150 won't compare to an EX1 let alone the nice 1/2" chip DOF that the EX provides... But when you consider that you could nearly buy TWO for the EX1 price it seems excusable. Let alone media costs etc.... I, too am sure I'll be happy with my choice to go HMC150!! :thumbup::thumbup:
Probably it won't run Premiere Pro CS4 if that's what you mean.
But it'll do the Log & Transfer thing in FCS2 just fine. It's just a matter of how long the transcodes take. I hear the faster machines like the 8-core will do em in around 40% of real time... I expect my Macbook Pro to be more like real time or maybe even a little longer.