Xdcam Hd

[jcskeeter]

Just wondering if anyone has used (and I'm guessing someone has) XDCAM HD with FCP lately. I was interested in how the workflow is and if it's easy to work with on FCP. Our company will possibly be moving to that so I was just looking into to see of there were going to be any possible problems or anything like that. Thanks for any info.

 

[NoahK]

Very solid workflow in FCP- handles very elegantly and easy. The image quality is definitely something you should look at before buying though. XDCAM is essentially a slight update to HDV.

Noah

 

[jcskeeter]

interesting?... It's good to hear that the workflow is smooth though. So how does it compare to DVCpro HD?

 

[adkimery]

jcskeeter,
I haven't done an XDCAM HD/DVCPro HD side-by-side comparison, but I did work on a show last summer for ABC that used XDCAM HD and I thought the footage looked good. Also, the picky guys over at Discovery gave the "okay" to XDCAM HD (only in 35 mbps mode though) so that's a good sign.

NoahK, If XDCAM is essentially a slight update to HDV then wouldn't it be fair to say that DVCPro HD is just a slight update to MiniDV? :tongue:

-A

 

[jcskeeter]

Thats an interesting point. I also had heard about discovery channel using XDCAM HD. If it's good for them it has to be pretty good. I would think

 

[NoahK]

jcskeeter,
I haven't done an XDCAM HD/DVCPro HD side-by-side comparison, but I did work on a show last summer for ABC that used XDCAM HD and I thought the footage looked good. Also, the picky guys over at Discovery gave the "okay" to XDCAM HD (only in 35 mbps mode though) so that's a good sign.

NoahK, If XDCAM is essentially a slight update to HDV then wouldn't it be fair to say that DVCPro HD is just a slight update to MiniDV? :tongue:

-A

You could look at it that way but it's kinda apples to oranges. DVCPROHD and MiniDV are both DCT based interframe codecs(like HDCAM). MiniDV is 25Mbits, DVCPROHD is 100Mbits- quite a bit more bandwidth there.

HDV is an intraframe codec(like MPEG-2)- meaning one key frame to 14 change frames running at 25Mbits- same data rate as DV but much more compression obviously as its HD resolution. XDCAM is essntially the same method but the data only bumps up to 35Mbits- still well below DVCPROHD.

My point was that basing a codec on HDV is not necessarily the best starting place for image quality. That said, I've shot with XDCAM cameras and they look pretty good to my eyes. And the workflow with FCP is very very simple and straightforward.

-Noah

 

[Noel Evans]

As Noah said smooth as silk, Im not an editor but I have and its as straight forward as anything. XDcam CAN make some beutiful images. Its very widely used in Japan, including Fuji TV, the second largest broadcaster here.

There has been a close relationship between Sony and apple with this cam good place to read up: http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/xdcamhd_info.shtml

(FYI In case anyone is interested the largest broadcaster in Japan NHK - have pretty much adopted the DVCPro format across the board and purchased I heard 120 HDX 900 units last year - if someone has exact figures feel free to correct me).]

And another inane point HD broadcast is using mpeg2 and can maintained with 6-8 Mbps - still not sure what Discovery's rationale is. Possibly to keep the amount of stuff they need to wade throuhg down?

 

[adkimery]

You could look at it that way but it's kinda apples to oranges. DVCPROHD and MiniDV are both DCT based interframe codecs(like HDCAM). MiniDV is 25Mbits, DVCPROHD is 100Mbits- quite a bit more bandwidth there.

HDV is an intraframe codec(like MPEG-2)- meaning one key frame to 14 change frames running at 25Mbits- same data rate as DV but much more compression obviously as its HD resolution. XDCAM is essntially the same method but the data only bumps up to 35Mbits- still well below DVCPROHD.

My point was that basing a codec on HDV is not necessarily the best starting place for image quality. That said, I've shot with XDCAM cameras and they look pretty good to my eyes. And the workflow with FCP is very very simple and straightforward.

-Noah

Preachin' to the choir about HDV my friend. I rotate between HDV, DVCPro HD and DV quite often (and many times I'll have two of the three in the same sequence), and I more than want HDV to disapear forever. At least in the post world.

I was just tryin' to make a joke since XDCAM is pretty much a higher bitrate version of HDV and DVCPro HD is pretty much just DV25 quad-pumped. Before "HD" became a buzz word I remember Panasonic having DVCPro 25, DVCPro 50 and DVCPro 100.


-A