Mac hardware specs/capturing FCP
 

hello!

this has been an ongoing issue for simply because i have never asked anyone about it. my problem is that when shooting on my xh-a1, playback on my hdtv is incredible, it looks like it should. however, when captured to fcp, it shows more noise in dark places, and overal just doesnt look like it should or can. i have seen wonderful footage come from the a1 posted on vimeo, yet my vimeo uploads loose res. my questions is about my system for speed and/or quality. im on a macbookpro with 2.5 duo, 2gb ram, geforce 8600m GT card so its a decent setup. i am planning on upgrading to 4gb ram but i dont think theres more i can do. is there any reason as to why my system doesnt play it back as smooth as i have seen. does firewire quality play a part? i understand the hdv compression, but i am asking because i have seen some great clear exports from the a1/fcp, and i do not know what i am doing wrong.

thanks for any help you can give,

dan

How are you viewing the video when you see the noise in the dark areas? Are you using Digital Cinema Desktop mode? I have noticed that dark areas can look noisy when doing this, but it just seems to be a display artifact and isn't so bad when exported back to tape and viewed on an HDTV.