I'd agree that the Mac platform as a whole appears to have better support for DVCProHD than most PC-based editing solutions, but don't be too quick to assume this is an all-or-nothing situation. Canopus in particular has got some interesting things going with their latest "Broadcast" version of Edius, which supports most SD and HD video formats on one timeline without pre-conversion to the project template -- resulting in some impressive flexibility for mixing and matching footage from different cameras. I haven't had a chance to test this for working with DVCProHD yet, but if they've got that handled as well as they've done HDV they could surprise a lot of people next year. You need some robust computer hardware to get the most out of Edius, but even with a basic dual-core processor it performs reasonably well.

Canopus has been responsible for keeping many people from jumping from PCs to Macs over the past few years, and with their latest tricks they just might keep us hanging on until Macs become PCs with an Apple logo on them...

Page 7, "import P2". That's the problem. It has to unwrap the MXF file and rewrap it as Quicktime .mov files. According to that PDF, that process is still there. In a native MXF system you wouldn't have to do that, you could just edit the files natively, instantly. It's the only real drawback that I see to the Apple implementation.

Don't want to get into an FCP vs. Vegas thing, but if Vegas had support, I would hands down choose it over FCP all day long, all night long, all week long, all month long. But it doesn't. And it may never. If it does, I greatly by far by an order of a million to one prefer its handling of 24p and format agnosticity over the Apple way. That's just me, that doesn't mean anything to anyone else, but it's just that much better for the way I currently work and the way I want to continue working.

Yep, thinking about that too. Not really any reason not to have 'em both. I'll probably take the plunge after I see what MacWorld brings.

viewing .mov
 

On a Mac,
I have downloaded the quicktime files and they want to open in Final Cut,
However, I have FC v4.5 or something
so this wont work in Final Cut

Nor do they work with the lastest Quicktime
It just takes me to the Apple plugin page

Sorry if this has been adressed - I have not seen it in this thread

Thanks,
J

Am I the only one seeing obvious interlacing in shots that are labeled as being 24P ... i.e. the first two in the list?

Me too. So, I want to know if it's my setup, something I'm doing wrong, or something the camera is doing wrong?

All of the 24p shots Kaku uploaded are in 1080 mode. 1080p24 mode on the HVX works like 24p mode on the DVX...it's 24 inside 60 fields. Aka "pulldown". You'll see a pattern of 3 progressive frames and 2 interlaced frames when this is the case.

There's also a 1080i24PA mode on the HVX, akin to PA mode on the DVX. That would be a pattern of 5 frames also, all being progressive but #5 being a repeat of #4.

Most of Kaku's 24P clips are straight 1080p24, so they have interlace in them. The one clip labeled 24PA is mislabeled, last I knew...it was really 60i.

He never posted any 720p24, which WOULD be what I think you're expecting...a 24fps file with only progressive frames.

..
 

i was able to see the clip after i install avid xpress pro.
the bambo clip was close to fx1 color...also the city clip

http://www.pisces.ath.cx/~test3/Towada_Oirase2.wmv

Nate,
Do you know what options would I use (in either FCP or CinemaTools) to reverse-telecine ?

Hi Barry - re: 2 above -
I didn't realise that any of the NLE's could do that ! Edit straight on the card, huh ... that's just plain cool.

What fantastic technologies we have a choice of.
Sheesh, it's hard to muddle through all of this without having to drop a bundle here and there.
I'm in New Zealand and I'm still trying to get some sense out of the local broadcasters as to when they might go hd. That word from them, for me, will influence the timing of purchases. Stony silence down here ...

Avid's FreeDV software doesn't support HD resolutions, MXF or DVCPROHD via QT. Sorry, but you actually need XPress to do it.

Not to mention the stripping and recompression of the audio channels! Conversion to QT doesn't leave the audio untouched. Even without the AVID DV100 CODEC installed (which doesn't work with QT anyway), you can load one of the FCP HD clips and play the audio.

I feel the same way. For now I will just keep waiting and see what unfolds. I will be very surprised if MacWorld doesn't show new notebooks with Pentium-M CPUs. But I won't switch to Mac... Makes no sense for me. I've priced out a new Mac system that would actually fit into my workflow and be comparable to my other newest workstations and it isn't worth it. I already have to buy a new NLE software, so I can get XPress Pro HD... Or I can get XPress Studio for about the same price of FCP Studio less the system to run it on. But if I buy the Mac, I may as well stay with my all PC workflow and move up to Avid's MC Adrenaline with full HD monitoring and whatnot... We'd be talking about $2500 more than the Mac solution, but I would get a whole lot more. To equal that with the Mac, I would also have to buy a Kona card and a few other add-ons and it still wouldn't quite be equal... And it would be a proprietary odd-ball amidst my all my other systems.

OTOH, a new Mac notebook equipped with FCP just for editing, may not be a bad deal. Probably set it up for $3500 or less. Hmmm...

Hi Jeff - I personally hope that apple doesn't use pentiumM chips - should be Yonah in the pb range. Then in the second half 2006 - merom, which I'm totally guessing here, will be about the time we'll see Intel optimised pro apps and a roll out of new Intel Power Macs with Conroe - Woodcrest for the xserves.

Maybe we'll see m series chips in the iBook range at MWSF.

Are there any nighttime clips yet?

I wouldn't buy a Mac notebook right now because that's where they're most hurting in terms of processing power until they switch over to Intel chips. Apple has apparently done a decent job of squeezing the most performance out of the aging G4 notebooks, but that's old technology by today's standards. If you're thinking of buying a notebook computer for video editing, wait for the dual-core PC (and possibly Apple) models due to ship in the next few months.

What is happening to the MXF file when it is being re-wrapped as a Quicktime? Is the data recompressed, leading to possible artifacts, or is it being adjusted for optimal editing in a QuickTime system without affecting the image and sound?

How long does it take and what are the potential problems? Do you end up with two files, the original and the FCP captured version? Is there any benefit to editing in native MFX? There are good reasons not to edit in native HDV.