DR-HD100 - M2T or Quicktime?
 

Hello,
I just purchased an 80gb DR-HD100. According to the manuel, it can only record HDV as an M2T file, whatever that is. We're having a bit of trouble importing it to a FCP 6.
When you go through the menu on the DR, it gives the option of recording HD to M2T or Quicktime, yet it only records in M2T. Is there a way to record HDV files in Quicktime? It would make capturing the files easier.

The version 2 software for the DR-HD100 allows you to record 720p into Quicktime and can be imported directly into FCP. I can't make it record HDV SD 50p (I'm PAL) to Quicktime from my HD-111E however.
M2T files can be converted to another format (your choice) using MPEG Streamclip available from << http://www.squared5.com/ >>
Check your drive has V2 installed.

M2T is a MPEG2 Transport stream, the raw data from your tape. That is what is sent by the camera via the FireWire connection.
M2T files cannot be read by FCP as FCP reads basically QuickTime files. M2T can be easily converted to QT using the free utility MPEG StreamClip (MSC).
MSC allows you to have complete control of the conversion parameters. Please note that just converting to QuickTime doesn't grant you that you will retain the right color and resolution information. Different QT codecs deliver different results. Convertiing to DVCPROHD, for example, will discard horizontal resolution data that, if you don't have the original M2T files, will be lost forever. Depending on the application you might decide to sacrifice quality for storage or viceversa. Personally I use the SheerVideo codec which guarantees data fidelity while being much smaller than Uncompressed. I doubt that you can use that codec with the DG-HD100 but I can be wrong. If you use QT recording you should use a loseless codec like Uncompressed or Targa or PNG.

Don't believe the manual because it was probably printed before the v2.1 firmware update for the DR-HD100 was released.

Yes. The DR-HD100 is capable of recording HDV as quicktime and editing in FCP 5.1 or 6 is a breeze with these files. Currently, you can record 720p24, 720p25, and 720p30 as HDV Quicktime files on the DR-HD100.
No 'conversion' takes place except to encapsulate the mpeg2 stream into a Quicktime wrapper that is fully compatible with FCP.
Hopefully 720p50 and 720p60 support will follow shortly after Apple releases their 720p50/60 support update.

i've the reverse problem:
i can't read the MOV files on Adobe Premiere neither on another player on a Windows based system.
Is there a codec to download or install ?

Thanks for the info, guys.
But how can I upgrade the DR? I've tried recording in Quicktime. It's on the menu selection, but it refuses to record in the Quicktime setting. How do I know if my DR has upgraded firmware, and if it hasn't, how do I do an upgrade?

I did it very easily. Go to the focusinfo.com, on left you can see info about updating DR HD100. You will find futher instruction with downloading the update. (You will copy the downloaded update to dr hd 100 and then activate firmware update in dr hd100 menu.) Then, it will work. But not fot 50p / 60p.

Glen, go to the "SETUP" window in your DR. Scroll down to the third line. THAT is the firmware version you are running. If it's not the latest version (I believe it's "V 2.2.1" ) then go to this page of Focus Enhancements and download the latest version - http://www.focusinfo.com/support/downloads.asp#expand

Just follow the instructions page that comes withe the download. It's pretty easy. Good luck

I contacted Focus Enhancements and you guys are correct: I need a firmware update. Apparently the HD200/250 line of cameras won't record Quicktime to the version 2.0 DR-HD100s. I need to download the 2.2 update. I'll try it and see how it goes.

You're the first person I've ever heard of in this predicament!

Does Premiere on Windows even work with Quicktime? Actually, I don't even know if the Windows version of Quicktime 7 includes the HDV codec. It probably doesn't.

I don't know of a way to extract a m2t from a HDV QT without re-encoding.

Have the files already been deleted from the DR-HD100? The only solution I can think of is to play the files back out of the DR-HD100 and capture directly in Premiere (or another m2t capture utility.) The DR-HD100 should show up as a HDV device when the computer is connected to the DV I/O firewire port.

hi Tim,
i've just tried this feature as it was available so i've done some mov test footage. But i always shoot in m2t.
Premiere can import mov files if the codec is properly installed.
I Tought the mov files doesn't have GOP and would be easier to handle in post ?
If it is just a "m2t inside a mov", sure i prefer to shoot in m2t to avoid re-encoding the mov.

Has anyone ever had trouble recording different frame rates? I´ve had a borrowed dr-hd100 and had consistent trouble to a) get it to sync with the camera and b) it would only record hdv-30p.

with m2t, no trouble yet recording 24p, 25p, 50p or 60p hdv.
But i own a HD200 (no 1394in, just out) so i can't preview the footage on camera