Looking to go from DVX100b to HVX200a - What do I need?

B

bigox

Well-known member
I'm a DVX100B user and have been for many years. I'm just now about to upgrade to the HVX200a.

I'm a little bit ignorant when it comes to P2 cards, as I've always just shot with tape using the DVX, so what I wanted to find out was, what exactly do I need with my HVX to be able to shoot footage and then capture it? What are the basic essentials?

I'll be wanting to use the HVX in HD and 24p using P2 cards.

1. My understanding is the 16 p2 cards hold about 30 to 40 minutes of footage at a time and then you need to unload them? If this is accurate, I'm assuming you can go pretty non stop with 2 size 16 P2 cards? For example, one is full, you give it to someone to capture the footage, while that's being done, you can continue with the 2nd 16 size p2 card and once that is full you can rotate back to the other one etc etc etc - Is this a pretty fair assessment on how this works? How many cards are needed to be able to continue working for a full day without having to stop and wait for the card to be empty and ready to use again?

2. How long does it take to capture the footage off a p2 card? With tape on the DVX the capture process is basically real time. Is this the case with the p2?

3. Is there anything else I need other than the camera and the cards to capture the footage? I'm assuming you just download the footage to an external hard drive or lap top? Is there another middle man device that is necessary to get the footage from the p2 card to the hard drive? For example, with the DVX, you just need a cord to plug in to the camera and the computer to capture the footage from a tape. Is that pretty well the way it works for p2 cards or is there an entire different process involved?

4. I shoot almost everything with my DVX in 24 frames per second and that will likely be the case with the HVX as well. With the DVX there is an automatic setting for the 24 FPS that works great for me. Is this the case with the HVX as well? Is it similar to the DVX in that way?

General note: I use Sony Vegas Pro as my editing software. I currently have the latest version of 9 and will upgrade to 10 soon.

Any information on these questions and any other helpful hints from previous DVX100B owners who made the move to the HVX200A would be much appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Here is some info... I recommend search and reading to learn more.

bigox said:
I'm a DVX100B user and have been for many years. I'm just now about to upgrade to the HVX200a.

I'm a little bit ignorant when it comes to P2 cards, as I've always just shot with tape using the DVX, so what I wanted to find out was, what exactly do I need with my HVX to be able to shoot footage and then capture it? What are the basic essentials?

I'll be wanting to use the HVX in HD and 24p using P2 cards.

1. My understanding is the 16 p2 cards hold about 30 to 40 minutes of footage at a time and then you need to unload them? If this is accurate, I'm assuming you can go pretty non stop with 2 size 16 P2 cards? For example, one is full, you give it to someone to capture the footage, while that's being done, you can continue with the 2nd 16 size p2 card and once that is full you can rotate back to the other one etc etc etc - Is this a pretty fair assessment on how this works? How many cards are needed to be able to continue working for a full day without having to stop and wait for the card to be empty and ready to use again?

BUY A FEW CARDS IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT. I WOULD PREFER TO HAVE 3 CARDS TO ROTATE IF YOU CAN. DEPENDS WHAT KIND OF STUFF YOU ARE SHOOTING. SCRIPTED? DOC? REALITY? MUSIC VID? VERY DIFFERENT STYLES TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN IT COMES TO HOW MANY CARDS WILL BE NEEDED. RECORD TIMES VARY BASED ON SHOOTING 1080 OR 720 AND FRAMERATE. YOU CAN SEARCH FOR CHARTS OF RECORD TIMES. SHOOTING 720PN 24P GIVES YOU ABOUT 40 MINUTES ON A 16GB CARD. YOU CAN HOT SWAP THE CARDS. DOWNLOAD TIMES VARY BASED ON YOUR COMPUTER AND HOW YOU ARE OFFLOADING. MORE SHORTER CLIPS OFFLOAD QUICKER THAN A FEW LONG CLIPS IN MY EXPERIENCE.

2. How long does it take to capture the footage off a p2 card? With tape on the DVX the capture process is basically real time. Is this the case with the p2? DEPENDS ON COMPUTER, WHAT YOU USE TO OFFLOAD AND HOW MANY DRIVES YOU ARE DOWNLOADING TOO. OFFLOADING FROM CAMERA? CARD READER? PLAN FOR REAL TIME AND YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY WHEN IT TAKES LESS.

3. Is there anything else I need other than the camera and the cards to capture the footage? I'm assuming you just download the footage to an external hard drive or lap top? Is there another middle man device that is necessary to get the footage from the p2 card to the hard drive? For example, with the DVX, you just need a cord to plug in to the camera and the computer to capture the footage from a tape. Is that pretty well the way it works for p2 cards or is there an entire different process involved?
IF YOU WANT TO USE THE CAMERA YOU CAN, BUT THEN OBVIOUSLY YOU CANT BE SHOOTING. P2 CARD READERS ARE OTHERWISE NECESSARY. SOME OLDER MACS HAVE A SLOT FOR THESE CARDS. I CAN'T SPEAK TO PCS. BUT SOME HAVE A SLOT I BELIEVE. I THINK THE BEST SOLUTION IS BUYING A P2 CARD READER - APPROX. $350.

4. I shoot almost everything with my DVX in 24 frames per second and that will likely be the case with the HVX as well. With the DVX there is an automatic setting for the 24 FPS that works great for me. Is this the case with the HVX as well? Is it similar to the DVX in that way?
SAME THING.
General note: I use Sony Vegas Pro as my editing software. I currently have the latest version of 9 and will upgrade to 10 soon.

Any information on these questions and any other helpful hints from previous DVX100B owners who made the move to the HVX200A would be much appreciated!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
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I made the same transition about six months ago. I never thought working with tape was that big a problem, but when I got a used 200 and started working with P2 in Final Cut Pro, I never want to go back. My experience is limited, but it seems that the HVX200 is optimized to shoot in 720. Maybe that isn't entirely correct, but it seems to be a sweet spot. Usually I shoot in 720p30n, which gives you slightly more than two minutes per gig on a P2 card. I recently did some shooting in 24 which gives you a bit more. One of the things you may want to look at is one of those old Panasonic P2 card readers, an AJ PCS060. You can buy them on eBay for about the same cost as a new plain card reader. They change hands routinely for $300-$400. (You didn't say if you're working on a PC or a Mac. There are cheaper alternatives on a PC, I think.) Anyhow, if you get one with the most recent software, you can use it as a card reader or a direct HDD capture device. The current firmware, according to Panasonic, is version 2.01. If you get one without that version, you can update it here: https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/cs/csregistp2m/ep2main/soft/upgpcs060_e.htm Something to think about. P2 cards are certainly expensive, but the workflow is very easy to handle although I can't speak directly to Vegas. My only caution is that the move to HD is fraught with incompatibility perils. Plain old SD DV is very simple by comparison.
 
My experience with Vegas has also been restricted to the low-end version running on a PC, but there is also apparently some basic incompatibility between Vegas and P2 format video that can't be resolved without a plug-in to bridge that gap.
 
hey bigox,

To your question, here are the top 3 things that come to mind:

1. Faster & bigger capacity hard drives-- the footage will take up a ton more space. Also, the higher quality video will need faster drives to give you the editing performance that you've been used to with DV. I'm a 'get-the-most-out-of -the-least' kinda person, so I typically edit HD video on portable FireWire800 7,200 RPM hard drives (LaCie Rugged to be exact). Most editors go for the desktop RAID 0 hard drives for speed. But those actually aren't needed.

2. Stabilization-- the HVX200 is heavier and a bit awkward to hand-hold compared to the DVX100. This makes shots more difficult to steady, even when using the optical image stabilization (OIS) feature.

3. Lighting-- the color and richness of HVX200 footage is amazingly film-like. and like film cameras, you'll need some light. bring more light that you used with the DVX.

Good luck!
Andrew
 
This info is great. It's helping me a great deal to prepare for the transition.

I use a PC by the way.
 
Does anyone have recommendations for recommended PC computer speed (processor, ram etc) for editing the HVX HD footage?
 
Any recommendations for PC Computer Speed for editing the HVX HD Footage? Processor etc?
 
Anybody? When I tell the computer guy what I need to be able to edit HVX footage, what do I need to tell him?
 
If you are considering a HVX200a, you should also be considering a HPX170. Unless you really need the tape drive for reverse compatibility, the 170 is a better cam. And I can tell you since I made the same switch over a year ago, that once you go P2, you will never want to do tape again, ever. Do a little research on the cams, they will both produce the same image, but the 170 has more and better user features.

Grant
 
I checked into both cams and actually was able to find a better deal on an HVX200a with not many hours, so that's what I went with. It just came in. Now I need to know how much I need to upgrade my computer so it can handle the HD footage. Any ideas on what I need to be looking at?
 
i have an hvx200 with an R series p2 card and an E series p2 card, both 32gb and i'm working on Vegas Pro 9 with raylight ultra.
i got tons of plugins like newbluefx, red giant, spicemaster pro, trapcode, etc. my sony vaio laptop has 4gb of ram upgradebale to 8gb. i also have a adapter for the p2 card that makes it fit in the laptop pci slot.

the biggies: raylight ultra for vegas pro, the pci slot adapter, and the p2 drivers. good luck !!
 
dvcproHD is a very efficient codec. any modern machine will be able to handle it. but as always get all the power you can afford.
 
i got a swit 7 inch external thru a cpmponebr plug its great to have an external monitor as the hvx200a has small:happy: monitor capabilities
 
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