Final Cut Pro Does Not Directly Support XLH1?
 

That's a question.

I've searched, and discovered workarounds using SDI and the AIC.

But to clarify, FCP 5.x does not directly import via firewire footage from the XLH1 in HDV without transcoding, etc?

Is that correct?

And we are hoping for a change at NAB2006?

FCP does not directly support 24F. That is the issue. 1080i in HDV settings works fine, but you simply cannot capture 24F at all. The image skips in the capture window. As of right now you can capture with a couple of free programs and convert 24F to other formats for editing, in addition to the SDI option.

We're all waiting for a sensible solution...but the alternatives work right now.

Does 1080i need SD out?
 

I thought I read that the H1 didn't support recording 1080i unless you went out to an HD deck via SD out. Also, what is the true frame rate on 1080i? It can't be 24f, since FCP doesn't support it.

Yup, you're wrong. :-) If you capture via firewire using HDV, you can plug the camera OR the Sony deck in and it will capture the footage from the H1 perfectly.

To get the 24F footage in, you will need a Kona or Blackmagic card and bring it in via SDI.

Both work fine.

Kevin

Not quite true -- in addition to a Kona or Blackmagic card, there are several alternatives (one of which Barlow mentions above).

For details on the alternatives, check out this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=60530

You can actually capture 24f in FCP, but only using the "HDV Apple Intermediate Codec" method.

This worked for me too, but is there any loss in quality capturing with this method?

Hi Andrew,

You can read about the Apple HDV intermediate codec here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301599

My company is working with XL-H1 and Final Cut Pro 5.1 or above without any problems. The capture works perfectly.