Recording Audio Only?

Redbeard

Redbeard

New member
Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm waiting on an HVX order (placed mine around early December with Spec Comm), but my next short has a CineAlta lined up for it so the wait isn't killing me.

Right now my work flow has no problem with the P2 time limitations, however I am curious whether the HVX allows for uncompressed recording of audio by itself. A minute of room tone starts to sound like a lot more of a storage investment when its tied to a beautiful HD picture of the sound mixer's feet. (although having an image to go with the foley sessions might be conveniant for syncing if the waveform is odd - and it would be easy enough to seperate the audio track after the fact).

In any case, does anyone knows off the top of their head whether the HVX can do an audio only record? Thank you much.
 
Redbeard said:
In any case, does anyone knows off the top of their head whether the HVX can do an audio only record? Thank you much.
Click to expand...

I don't think you can JUST record audio to P2... but what I'd do is slap in a $4.00 DV tape and record to tape as much as you want... audio is still uncompressed, just not 4 channels. Not that you can (currently) use channels 3&4 for anything other than the on-board mic.

Regards,

Jim Arthurs
 
Thanks Jim, although with DV tape there's apparently a drop in quality (from the FAQ)


How many channels of audio does the HVX200 support?
It supports 4 channels of PCM 48K 16-Bit audio via 2 XLR connections in DVCPRO HD, and DVCPRO50; 2 channels in DVCPRO and DV. DV tape can also record 32K 12-Bit signals for 2 channels live and 2 for dubbing later.

However it sounds like you can do 16 bit to DV quality video as long as you are recording to P2. I had thought that it reverted to 12 bit even when you were recording DV to P2. My mistake. And that makes a lot more sense for sound only situations. Thanks again.
 
Shouldn't be a drop in quality on DV tape, except for tape issues like dropouts, which are rare if you treat your camera right.

However, I'm fairly certain there's no way to record only audio with the DVX.

However, in theory, it should be possible to delete only the video immediately after recording, since the MXF format keeps 'em in separate files. I'm not sure if it can be done in-camera, though.... but that may be your answer.
 
I just realized I completely misread that FAQ excerpt. The 12 Bit 32K is an option if you need to dub to extra tracks on DV tape, otherwise it's the same as the HD flavors.

That is interesting about the MXF format keeping them seperate though. Wouldn't even need to open the NLE.
 
Maybe someone can try it... I wonder if the camera would be unhappy with someone deleting parts of clips outside?

(Assuming for quick workflow you put the card in the laptop just long enough to delete the file, then put the card back in the camera... which is I guess the only way any of this would matter).
 
The DV tape bit makes this all kind of moot other than curiosity. I just figured there would be some point on location when the laptop battery would be dying, the cards would be almost full, and it would be really handy to get clean versions of some location sounds with a couple of stereo mics.
 
I'd love to know how the mic pre-amps on the HVX compare to the DVX... hopefully equal to or better, as that was a selling point for the DVX.

Jim Arthurs
 
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