New Editor

L

Ldogg

Active member
Being about a year long member of this forum I have learned so much. I just finished filming a documentary, and I have about 10 (24 hr) days of footage in the can. I want to start logging and capturing so I came to this section for for all intensive purposes the first time. I'm afraid I'm at the bottom of the learning curve all over again.

I am determined to use this as a learning experience so that I will know the ins and outs of building an editing system, but I read the thread titled advice for G5 system and nearly died. No clue what it was about.

I have a G5 (don't know the innards (unless there are pretty standard innards...what am I looking for?), 2 brand new 500gb Lacie external drives, and a whole lot of footage. I realize I need a deck and a NTSC monitor. I also know the basics of FCP.

Specifically...what's a good deck and why in the world are they so expensive?
Isn't there a cheaper deck that is quality? Ithought they were just for saving camera heads, but some are like 5 times as much as my DVX.
I'll probably get that 600+dollar JVC monitor from rush at EVSonline.
What else am I missing?

Very green but even more thankful for help.
Logan
 
I use a Sony GV-D1000 Clamshell DV deck. It cost me about $930.00 over a year ago. Since I live almost exclusively in the DV world this deck is great for me. It's got a tiny footprint as well.

The best site on the net for top FCP advice is www.lafcpug.org, check it out if you have not already.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'll check out the sight and the deck. But this is basically my situation. This is pretty much in some ways a one time thing. I definately 100% live int the mini DV world, I am editing this massive project and then most likely selling the deck promptly afterwords

. What is it about a deck..even a 900 dollar deck... that makes it cost a 4th of the cost of my camera. What does it actually do besides save wear and tear on my camera heads. Doesn't it basically just play the tapes. Please forgive my ignorance as I am very new at this. Thanks.
 
My understanding is that the decks are much more robust, with bigger stronger components than, say, a camera's in part because they don't need to be miniaturized. Obviously, the components in a camera are designed to be a great balance between "tough" and "packed like sardines". Decks also typically offer more features geared toward the use they're designed for, such as zippy transport, multiple in/outs, timecode functions, etc.

I'd say if this is a one-off project, get a little clamshell. Or if you're not overly concerned with wear and tear on your camera, get a $35 DV rewinder, then use your camera as the playback/capture device.
 
Buy a $250 MiniDV camera and use it exclusively for capturing/logging/playback of footage. Don't waste your DVX to capture the footage. A cheap MiniDV camera will work just as well. I capured 36 hours of footage for a feature film I'm just now finishing, all with a little Samsung $299 camera.

Use your money for more important things than a deck.
 
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