Well I've never tried it, but you could import and edit in PAL. Then you could possibly export as Quicktime and set the format to DV-NTSC 29.97 fps blah blah... You'll get a new file. Load that up into FCP and export to your favorite NTSC enabled DV device. I have no idea how this would look, but I bet it would work. You'd probably have to size the Quicktime to 720x480 from the PAL file as well.

The details are sketchy...but I remember a couple months ago hearing that a new processor has just been developed that features a new kind of "insulated circuitry" that will make it blaze at speeds never seen before...and that Apple has an exclusive contract for it. And I remember the report saying something about them starting to buy these new processors in large quantities by summer 2002.

Sounds like a G5 is on the horizon to me. If the story I remember was true, I'll bet they announce it before Christmas.

Yeah, 2 days after I order my new G4.

When I decided to upgrade from my B&W G3, I was tempted many times to jump on the dual-800. Fortunately, I waited just long enough to see the dual-1G machines introduced, at a considerably lower price. I was much less concerned about being on the cutting edge of technology than buying the computer just a few days before the inevitable price drop. In my case, it worked out this time -- frequently it doesn't. I fully expect to see my "hot" MAC trumped by something better NLT than this summer -- that's not a real concern to me, since mine won't suddenly slow down or get stupid. Getting the most bang for the buck at the time I buy it is the main consideration for me. I'll leave the "gotta have the latest/greatest" syndrome to the gamers. Now, about that dual, double clutchin' e-flat major G5........!

I've got an older 733 the 1st with the super drive.

I just made my first iDVD and while it was short, I had no problems. I was sweating the settings for quicktime in FCP before the burn. I think it would have been a nobrainer if going from iMovie to iDVD. But I made it in 1 try. Whew!

I do see what you describe as interlacing while on the monitor, but it's fine on the real tube. I've noticed the same "problem" when watching dvd's on the computer as well. It must be taxing to make the sq pxl proscan monitor look like the non sq pxl, non proscan tv.

While I haven't upgraded my version of iDVD, it took 5x the length of content to burn the disc.

Another reason to like Mac, the software that you are paying for when you buy the box; iMovie, iDVD, iTunes. All rock solid. I don't think I've ever crashed in all my playing with iMovie. Love/Hate my a##!

yeah, there's a question? Has anyone ever crashed and lost an iMovie?? (I hope I'm not going to be sorry for this, but I'd like to know!) And if so, what else was running?

Has anyone heard any rumors about when DVD Studio Pro is going to come out in an OSX version?

Not a stinkin' peep here. I've been keeping my eyes sharp for this update. The last I heard (last summer) was that an update to 2.0 was planned for sometime this year.

HDTV
 

I should have delivery of a Hitachi SWX61 HDTV by this weekend- I'll post my opinion on how well XL1S video looks on it. It's a widescreen 61" tv with no lines- it works with pixels as our monitors do- i'm excited to view the video on it...remarks coming soon.


(man I wish that WTC 911 video that was aired by CBS would have been shoot with an XL1S- would have been great for us Canon shooters.....what was that....a PD150?)

Ken & others,

The reason why you do not have the same capacity on DVD-R
disc as the study have is not their fault. It is just technically
(allmost) impossible todo at the moment. The "professional/
authoring" discs you are talking about are dual layer discs.
They get pressed at a factory and have two layers. Your DVD
player can shine through the lower layer with a special laser
color to get to the "hidden" layer. These disc get "pressed"
instead of "burned", that is a whole different process! At this
moment, with my knowledge, it is not possible to burn to a
deeper layer.

So what does this all mean? A DVD-R can hold 4.7 GB of data
(and cannot be encrypted like a professional disc, it can have
region coding though!) versus 9 GB on the dual layer disc. This
is why there can be less video/audio on a DVD-R disc with
the same quality then a "professional" disc. If you truly need
the full 9 GB (and this is very questionable) then get your
disc pressed instead of burning them yourself!

A common DVD-R holds more then enough space to fit a full
movie (if compressed with a good MPEG2 compressor). Most
movies from hollywood use only about 5 GB (exceptions
possible) depending on the amount and type of sound tracks
(DTS takes more space than Dolby Digital or stereo!!). The extra
GB available sometimes are not used (Doh), used for menus
and/or extra items as commentary tracks, behind the scenes
etc. You should be able to fit 1,5 - 2 hours of footage on a
DVD-R disc without any quality loss (if a good MPEG2 encoder
is used).

Now I don't know about the Mac, but for the PC the two best
available are CCE @ www.cinemacraft.com (expensive!) and
tmpgenc @ www.tmpgenc.com.... A guide to get more on a disc
without sacrificing any or much quality can be found at
www.robshot.com

Hope this has clarified some.... Lemme know if anyone didn't
follow it. I'd be happy to explain it more.

Rob,

Thanks very much for that info. Very helpful. I recently saw double-sided DVD-R's for sale, but that would only give you a 2nd side of 4.7Gb rather than 9Gb, eh?

I'm going to look at some of those encoders.

-Ken-

your dvd studio pro for OS X question
 

I read in Australian Macworld magazine that DVD studio Pro for OS X is to be release first quarter of this year.

Ken,

That is correct. It gives you two sides of 4.7 GB. It might
be nice to have your movie on one side (if you truly need
4.7 GB for that) and special futures, a documentary or
whatever on side two. Just a thought. You really should
have enough space to put the movie on one side. Unless
you start to go over 3 hours of footage. But who is gonna
watch that? Perhaps better to put in a telivision show format
and make two or more 45 minute episodes :)

Good luck

65" HDTV test
 

well I finally got the HDTV I've been waiting for- the 61" was broken by the delivery men so I opted for a larger 65" widescreen version made by Mitsubishi.....

...DVD's in general don't look too great- the lower resolution of the DVD's are apparent with screens of this size- yet they look great on smaller sets- the same applies to the footage direct from the camera via s-video cable (even when viewed at 960i via TV interpolation option)....I guess 530 lines of res isn't enough for large screens (I was hoping it would look fantastic-)...

...so if anyone is wondering if the XL footage looks good on HDTV's i'd have to say "not really"..not that the footage views poorly- more like it's pixels are spaced further apart (seems like this in a way) on projection TV's.....but the footage does look great on my smaller tube TV.... just my .02 cents.

65" HDTV test
 

Steve,

I'm sorry to hear that your video didn't live up to your expectations. I too have been wondering how XL1s video would look on an HDTV set. You may have just saved me a big chunk of change for a new TV however. I have a 27" Sony flatscreen and the video from the camera is awesome.

Good Luck,

Bill

Well, really it's not how XL1S video looks on a large HDTV screen or how video from *any * partticular camcorder looks... it's how DV itself looks on a large HDTV screen. Which ain't all that impressive.