Mac hardware Support for the Canon XLH1
 

What do I need for production and post production to allow the camera to use it's full quality and functionality. I have read posts regarding Kona cards and HDV Decks but not certain which pieces are required and which are better buys than others. I'm a film student which puts me on a budget.

*Mac G5 (1TB HDD, 2GB Ram, Dual Processor)
*Canon XLH1
*Final Cut Pro HD

It depends.
 

You don't need specific card if you use HDV via Firewire. But you'll need one if you want to use the HD-SDI output of the camera, and a RAID disk system to record it in 4.2.2. (you should start with the Firewire HDV, which is simplier and already great, IMO)

Ronan,
Many thanks for your reply. I appreciate the opportunity to view other film makers work. Was Le Collecteur shot in HDV?

I am looking to remove the compression contained in DV and use SDI. I believ that I need to connect the XL H1 to a HD capable deck to record uncompressed using the HD-SDI output of the camera. I suppose that I could also look at HDD like Firestore but I am uncertain if they offer HD capability. From the HD deck I wll need to transfer the data via SDI to a Kona or other HD capable adapter.

If my approach aboce is accurate then do you have any suggestions on deck type, HDD vs Tape Decks, and HD adapters for the Mac.

Regards,
Joe

the firestore can record HDV (compressed) and there is a DVCProHD version coming out later (less compressed) but I don't know if there is anything portable that will allow you to record at the same quality the HD-SDI output gives you. Hopefully someone more expreienced than I in HD can answer that more helpfully.
In terms of HDV, as far as I know, you capture and edit it like normal DV through firewire, no cards or expensive stuff other than the computer and camera needed.

Andrew,
Thanks for your reply regarding firestore. I'm hoping this solution will actaly be better than a "deck" approach and less expensive.

Understand your comments regarding "business as usual" for HDV but I am looking to expand my capabilities therefore the search for the best way to get SDI HD into a MAC goes on...

Tks again.

Hi Joe,
No, "le Collecteur" was shot in 16mm, it's my 1992 student master movie. At that time, I wouldn't have guess what digital video, especially HD, would offer !

Regarding the HD-SDI I'm not an expert. But I think that, for the moment, there is no easily portable and low cost recording solution in 4.2.2. (the only one would be an HD-cam VCR on batteries, very expensive to rent). So this output is essentially made for studio shootings I suppose (RAID disks). Maybe in the future some kind of Firestore solutions will be able to record the high rate of a 4.2.2 signal.

If you absolutely want a 4.2.2 signal, you've got to buy the Panasonic HVX200, but you'll loose the possibility too change lenses... We are all dreaming of DVCProHD camecorder with interchangeable lenses under $10k!

(sorry for my approximative use of english)

Raid-n-Stuff
 

I'm using a decklink extreme card in the mac at work to capture uncompressed SDI. We have a Seritek 1TB 4 drive SATA II raid that works great. To get uncompressed HDSDI you would probably need an 8 drive setup. Sonnet makes 8 port SATA cards that could be used for HDSDI. Another thing to consider is that the card allows you a variety of codecs for capture. There is a whole world between 25mbps and 1.4gbps. A great resource for drive arrays and such is barefeats.com. Good Luck, Jason.

XLH1 arrived and I now have a more basic question re:FCP support
 

Thanks to all for the previous post but now I have a more basic question... It looks like Apple's FCP 5 does not support the Canon XLH1. I was looking forward to play with some HDV footage. Anybody know of any workarounds?

I'm pretty sure FCP does support it - it supports HDV, so it should support the XL-H1. It also supports uncompressed and DVCProHD, so you shouldn't have problems there.

Grass Valley have their InfinitiCam deck that's way cheaper than HDCAM. Records to ZIP disks from HD SDI. Their MJ2K codec should be very good.

FCP partially supports it. just not 24F (and maybe not 30F) yet.