Canon XL2, 16:9 and audio capture in FCE
 

Hello Forum.

I got a descent deal on a Canon XL2 a few months ago and I have spent much time getting to know the camera. I have worked as a photographer for years, but this is my first attempt at video. Exciting and of course many new things to learn.

I have been reading through many of the posts in "Canon XL2 Watchdog" and it has without doubt been the most important source of information. I have established a workflow I am happy with, both when it comes to camera settings and choice of audio. All thanks to this forum. Internet is good :)

I have established a relationship with a freelance journalist and together we will sell news-clips to Norwegian TV, we live on an isolated island in the high Arctic so it is a hassle for them to send people all the way up here if something newsworthy happens. We will also make a documentary this summer, from the abandoned Russian settlement "Pyramiden" (The pyramid) here on Svalbard.

I have ended up with shooting almost all my video in 16:9, as I understand that the camera has a native 16:9 CCD. I also like composing images with that aspect ratio compared to 4:3.

My first attempt to capture film in Final Cut Express (FCE) worked fine, the only thing is that the film was 'squashed' to 4:3 in the Viewer (when I opened the file in QT it was viewed in 16:9). I experimented with the settings in Easy Setup and changed from "DV PAL" to "PAL Anamorphic" and then my film was viewed in 16:9 in FCE. Was this correct procedure? It looks ok, but I am worried that I will ruin the capture with wrong settings.

I have understood that one cannot capture all 4 audio channels in one capture. I have used the front mic (2 channels recording) the background sound, and a mic in the rear XLR for voice/interviews. When I capture video in FCE, I use the "Now"-button that captures the entire job/tape in one clip. When capturing the second run to get the rest of the audio, will I meet trouble when it coms to sync between video and the second audio capture?

Hi Eirik

If you shoot 16:9, the correct easy setup is the (in your case) PAL Anamorphic.

You shouldn't run into a problem with the syncing when capturing the second run of audio, provided you don't change the in and out points. You can record 4 channels if you go into the camera settings and change the audio to 4 chan/12 bit audio. BUT be aware that standard DVD audio is 16 bit...so you'll have to do some resampling to the audio in Soundtrack Pro or another program.

Jonathan