I saw the camera at DV East a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you it's fantastic. A guy from Abel Cine demoed it for us and let me tell you there were more tongues hanging out then a pack of dogs who haven't had water for a week. Jan has already mentioned that it transfers to HD beautifully and I cant even describe what a beautiful image it is capable of making.

Forgive my relative ingnorance with regard to the world of professional / broadcast technology. But one matter on which I'm still a bit stymied is that of capture. I've looked at Panasonic's various DVCPRO50-compatible decks and none features default Firewire connectivity. One or two offer a $700 add-in Firewire board (yikes). Is "SDI" the only way to capture footage from this camera into a Mac? If so, can someone point me toward (a) educational sources on SDI (ie. what distinguishes it? and, (b) resources that would enable me to add this capability to my Mac/FCP4 editing system?

Your best bet would be to add the FireWire board to the deck. The other options would be to add a card with SDI capability. Pinnacle's CineWave is one card and I know there are several others with SDI options, such as Aurora Igniter and AJA IO. You'll also have the option of SD or HD with these cards. The total expense isn't just the camera, it's all the support gear as well.

I understand you can rent the sdx900 for approx 650 a day. Does not include your fave lens....

But you might be able to get a two day week if your dp is down with the rental dudes...

The footage will still have lapses, like on on any long distance shots, just like HD except worse. Outdoors over about 30 feet is where it falls down. Indoors/tight areas/close-ups/medium shots, it really does look like super16mm.

<<<-- Originally posted by Ken Tanaka : Forgive my relative ingnorance with regard to the world of professional / broadcast technology. But one matter on which I'm still a bit stymied is that of capture. I've looked at Panasonic's various DVCPRO50-compatible decks and none features default Firewire connectivity. One or two offer a $700 add-in Firewire board (yikes).

Ken,

The Machine that handles the DVCPRO50 over firewire is the AJ-SD930 with the AJ-YAD955G 1394 card, so if you thought the $700 price tag was tough, these cost a bit more than that. Sorry. However, since the majority of the editing is done in the NLE, my suggestion would be a rental to get it into the system and then another to lay it off, months later depending on the length of the edit.

Is "SDI" the only way to capture footage from this camera into a Mac?

No, in fact it would be preferable to go in the MAC over 1394 and discard the extra frames on the way in. Using the FCP4 and the the Advanced Pull this is exactly what can happen. You transfer in in the native DVCPRO50 file and it takes less file space as only the 24 frames are viewable.

BTW, I checked the link of LadyX on the bottom of your post. Looks like an interesting project. I look forward to looking at it later today.

Best regards,

Jan

50 Mb 1934 VCR
 

This is a good choice for NLE editing 1394


ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasonic/Drivers/PBTS/brochures/B_AJ-DX225.pdf

Ciao
Francesco

Re: 50 Mb 1934 VCR
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Francesco Marano : This is a good choice for NLE editing 1394


ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasonic/Drivers/PBTS/brochures/B_AJ-DX225.pdf

It would be if it was delivering but it is not going to be available next year around NAB time.

Jan

Thanks very much for the guidance.

Jan: Indeed, I know that the decks are far more $. I was actually remarking on the cost of just the add-in 1394 board being around $700. That DX225 deck looks perfect and NAB-season may be good timing for me.

You might be able to pick up a show special. Panasonic usually has some good deals at NAB.

To Summarize
 

Let me get this straight---with the AJ-SD930 deck andAJ-YAD955G 1394 card one can bring footage into a PC driven NLE and edit. For instance, Dr. Dropout over at Vegas says that you can edit PRO50 footage with the Matrox DVPRO50 codec?

If this is the case, then what are your drive requirements--do you need to go SCSI?

If it came in on FireWire, FireWire 400 drives should be adequate. FireWire 800 or ATA RAID 0 drives might allow more RT effects or more channels of audio/video. It will depend on the NLE software, ram, drives etc.

I found an interesting article on Panasonic's site regarding a Volkswagen ad shot with the SDX900.

Panasonic is offering a Digital Filmmaker's Grant for filmmakers wanting to make a documentary or feature film. What do you get if you win?

The Panasonic AJ-SDX900 and a DVCPRO50 deck among other things, for three weeks time. Saw this over on 2-pop, here.

For the full set of details, please go here:
http://www.panasonic.com/pbds/subcat...ant_promo.html

Looking forward to some interesting proposals.

Jan

<<<-- Originally posted by Ken Tanaka : I found an interesting article on Panasonic's site regarding a Volkswagen ad shot with the SDX900. -->>>

Ken, for an even more interesting read on the same commercial see:
http://www.abelcine.com/bodies/body153.php

This is the "guys" talking about what they did. Pretty interesting.

and of course there are links to that commercial on the Abel Cine Tech web site as well at:

http://www.abelcine.com/SDX900/SDX900_quicktimes.html

Overall a pretty cool little spot and it upconverted to HD so well. Filmouts can be sen at Laser Pacific in LA and Heavy Light Digital in NYC. These two places work very differently as far as how they get to film, but both look very nice indeed.

BTW Ken, I stopped over at Lady X, Pretty hip. Nice job. i noticed that there are a whole bunch more coming from all over the world. Nice little concept they stated there.

Best regards,

Jan