AJA I/O + Pro Rez
 

Hi,
I've recently decided to go the whole uncompressed route with the XL H1 and the AJA I/O and Pro Rez 422 via SDI out solution looks good to me. Has anyone had any experience with this?
Our final product usually ends up as DVD and we use FCP to DVD Studio Pro. What would the workflow be like for this? I've had problems in the past with HDV to DVD mpeg-2 but have recently found a good solution.
Would be glad for any advise as I'm a newbie.
Cheers,
Nikki

My workflow isn't exactly the same as yours, but it's close. I have to edit a ton of footage from different formats onto one timeline, so I'm using ProRes as my lingua franca. Source clips can be archival footage stored in MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 at various resolutions, graphics created in After Effects or original footage shot in HDV on the XL H1.

Unless I'm specifically cutting together a whole show just from HDV footage and graphics, I leave my timeline set to ProRes 422 with 8-bit rendering. It works like a dream.

To go to DVD, I simply export a reference movie from Final Cut and drop it into Compressor, choosing the supplied MPEG-2 preset appropriate for the length of the show. Compressor handles scaling the footage down to anamorphic NTSC for me. I drop the resulting MPEG-2 and Dolby Digital tracks into DVD Studio Pro and I'm off to the races.

Sometimes my last stop before Compressor is Color. Not always, since my shows are more like documentaries than dramatic presentations. When I do that, Color renders out to ProRes anyway, so I'm left with the same end result that I would have gotten if I'd come right out of Final Cut.

For me at least, it's a very solid workflow. I can't imagine going from the HDSDI spigot on the camera into an AJA and thus into your Mac would result in a very different experience. I say go for it.

Jeff, is your reference movie uncompressed QuickTime from the timeline?

Pro Rez
 

Thanks Jeff.. that'd great.
I don't see why there should be a difference either. Pro Rez is Pro Rez...right?
My other option is to get a black magic decklink card and capture straight into my Mac Pro, I think it supports Pro Rez.
Anyone tried this?

Some things to consider...

IOHD Does ProRes only in HD.
Decklink HD captures to several different codecs, and just about all are better than HDV.

IOHD has a neat handle.
Decklink HD does not.

IOHD converts everything to everything in realtime at really good quality, and all even without a computer.
Decklink...um...not so great.

IOHD = 3x price of Decklink HD.
Decklink = 1/3 price of IOHD.

IOHD has neat blinking lights.
Decklink HD... sorry, none.

IOHD has lots of handy connections that don't clutter up the back of your Mac.
Decklink has lots of handy connections that form the largest pigtail ever.

I could go on and on... but I should be working.

You may also want to check out the Blackmagic Multibridge Pro ...

It's an external box that connects to the workstation via a single PCI-e card/cable or

It can act as a standalone I/O converter box


and it has a ton of I/O options as well as HDMI in/out for monitoring; HD/SDI; component; etc

The workflow with Prores sounds great, what is the difference between prores and prores HQ?
I mean is it just a 140 vs.220 mbs? Does it make sense to go Prores HQ?