Oh, another thing: I think (THINK) that it can record straight to Quicktime format. If so, this could be a massive advantage for FCP users. Think about it: no need to "import Panasonic P2" anymore! The footage would be edit-ready the second it's recorded.

The plan would be to use a FAT32 external hard disk, and record straight to that disk in Quicktime format. Then plug that drive in the Mac and EDIT IMMEDIATELY! No conversion from MXF to Quicktime. This could be a really sweet "missing link" that makes the FCP platform even better integrated with the HVX.

Of course, we're mixing platforms here: FCP on the Mac, HD Rack on the PC, but with a Macbook Pro it becomes all one computer anyway...

I'll have to remember to test this...

It can definitely record direct to QuickTime format. It should also support the 50P format as well. (The 50P question I'm not as sure of, but will have an aswer as soon as I'm back in the office.)

Barry - while I haven't tried it yet with DVCProHD signals, I have used MacDrive with standard DV and HDV recording. MacDrive lets Windows read HFS+ (Mac format) drives. Using MacDrive, DV Rack can record to an external HFS+ formatted drive, and you won't run into the file size limits that FAT32 partitions suffer from.

I know there are other questions pending in another thread, and I will get to them shortly.

I agree that would be great, but in my experience so far with my HVX/FCP/Apple workflow, I don't feel like there is a "Missing Link." It all works fine for me.

But then again, maybe I'm not pushing the HVX to the limits like some of the more experienced users here, such as yourself and others. I'm just shooting some pretty simple stuff. :)

One question that I would have on recording straight into a Quicktime format ~
Let's say you shoot directly to Quicktime 7.0 today. Then a year from now Apple is now on QuickTime 9.0 which is using different means, compressions, codec???, or something we have not even heard of yet. If your footage was shot straight into 7.0 wouldn't you be limiting yourself to that version and not be able to "upgrade" your original footage to version 9.0?

The current method would allow you to take your original files and convert them to 9.0 (or whatever's available) down the road as technology continues to advance.

Thanks Karl. Would be great to get confirmation on this. Also thanks to Barry for lending a hand to try and confirm this, very much appreciated.

Mark

Well, you're going to be editing in today's software, so using what's available today makes sense. There's not a whole lot of validity to the idea of "futureproofing" because everything's going to change anyway. Tape formats come and go, computer platforms come and go. Shoot what works today and finish your project, and if things develop to the point where your old platform is threatened to become obsolete, at that point you should be able to convert your data into whatever the "new thing" is.

Codecs and such are not an issue because DVC Rack is recording the same native codec information that the HVX produces, and Quicktime already supports. So even if there were new codecs etc., you wouldn't want to use them, you'd still want the native format support.

Great to know. I figured there had to be a reason YOU were excited about it! Thanks.

I've been using DV Rack since it first came out, and I love it. We shot the entire film "Siren" using DV Rack, and the director (Pat Kerby) announced he never wanted to shoot anything without it. So I've been nagging Serious Magic to produce an HVX version, and when they did, well, I was happy! :)

I have since received an email form the DV Rack guys to say they will be supporting both the PAL and NTSC version of the camera.

Thanks DV Rack
Mark

Any update on this? I just checked Serious Magic's website and did not find any info on a DVCPRO HD version...