Simplicity? Can it be achieved with the HVX?

J

jin

Member
I keep searching this forum for views on the HVX and they're pretty mixed. I want to upgrade from my DVX, and have used the Z1, with potential interest in the V1, but am seriously considering the HVX. My main concern is workflow ability. I use a Dell Precision M90 MWS which has no slot for the P2, and use vegas 6 and PP 2. I will purchase Raylight as I am aware I will need it for use in either app, but what is the simplest/cheapest way to aquire this footage. Do I buy the P2 cards with the firestore and do the old shoot-one-P2card-out-then-put-it-into-laptop-while-I-shoot-out-the-other-repeat-etc-to-save-time deal, or can I just shoot with the firestore then capture it into the laptop once it is full without needing P2 cards? How long would it take to offload the footage from the firestore into the laptop (maxed out WS)? Do I have to get a firestore and at least 1 P2 card no matter what? Is there an easier/cheaper way that is worth saving the buck? I hope I am covering all ground on my questions, and I know this topic has been beat into the ground, its that it seems that something is sidestepping here. Oh, and how similar is the footage between the DVX and the HVX? With instantHD will they compare? I am not sold on the HVX yet, but I want to be.
 
Ditch the firestore and get a couple of cards. If you have an expresscard slot, get the duel-systems adapter. This will be far and away the easiest way to work. With a couple of 16gb cards you'll be able to record over 80 minutes in-camera at once, and a card will offload to your computer in about 13 minutes or so, so you'll stay way ahead of the game. With Vegas and Raylight you don't even have to copy the cards to your hard disk, you can just edit directly off the cards.
 
Or just getting a firestone might be a good idea. They have a new update so you can now also shoot in 720p/24pn. It's like $1800 for the 100gb firestone, and you can record way, way longer instead of using 2-4 P2 cards, which probably would cost more.
Is that free 8gb P2 card rebate offer (when buying a HVX200) still available now? That way you have at least one p2 card and the 100gb firestone. At least that's what i'm thinking of doing.
 
The 8GB P2 card offer expired at the end of March, although you can submit qualifying claims until the end of April.

The prices of P2 card also just dropped significantly, and 16GB card will be available in May, making them more competitive with the Firestore.
 
In my opinion 3 or 4 P2 cards is the way to go. If you just buy a firestore you are limited to 100gb of footage in one sitting. If you have to shoot a 2 hour live event in 1080, you are pretty much screwed with the firestore. With a rotation of 3 or 4 cards and a laptop to offload to, you can shoot continuously until the camera runs out of power.
 
If you have a laptop and can shoot stationary, you might as well record directly to it...
 
Barry_Green said:
Ditch the firestore and get a couple of cards. If you have an expresscard slot, get the duel-systems adapter. This will be far and away the easiest way to work. With a couple of 16gb cards you'll be able to record over 80 minutes in-camera at once, and a card will offload to your computer in about 13 minutes or so, so you'll stay way ahead of the game. With Vegas and Raylight you don't even have to copy the cards to your hard disk, you can just edit directly off the cards.
Click to expand...

barry,

i just built a pc with a core 2 duo e6600 and 2gigs of ram. do you think that will be enough to capture the HVX HD footage to my computer and edit in vegas 7 without having to convert the m2t files with a 3rd party program like raylight or cineform? my goal is to avoid using any 3rd party programs all together and make my workflow the most simple i can get.
 
The HVX doesn't use M2T transport streams -- it uses DVCProHD, which uses intra-frame compression that is much less processor intensive than long GOP formats. Also, if you use Vegas, you'll need something like Raylight.

Your hardware will be sufficient for editing HD.
 
Sorry. I'm kinda new to this stuff but, bordering the off-topic boundary, will anyone please tell me whether raylight has any other function other than transfer from MXF to AVI, to edit in Vegas cause it doesn't have native MXF files support (is there any other NLE that lacks this functions, besides FCP and his .MOV issue?)?

Those were two questions. Correct me where it is necessary!

Thank you! The forum rules!

Santiago
únicaFilms
 
Premiere, After Effects and most consumer-oriented NLEs also have no idea what to do with MXF files.

Be aware that Raylight adds the ability to work with MXF containers and the DVCProHD codec, but it does not give Vegas or Premiere the ability to capture DVCProHD material over Firewire directly from the camera. You therefore cannot use record-to-disk as suggested previously.
 
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