Setting up an HDV workstation

Hello, our company is investigating upgrading to HDV. At this time, we shoot and edit in SD and finish offline at a post facility. I have been reading articles, but with the rapid improvements and the new release of FCP Studio 2, I wanted to hear from the experts what your recommendations for necessary hardware are.

Currently in the office we have 2 dual G5 and one quad G5 CPU's running FCP. We would like to be able to digitize and cut footage and prepare it for online in an Avid. Could you please list the hardware and software you all have found to be the best in streamlining your work?

Thanks for your help.

Why not online in FCP? I do this all the time.

The machine you have will work fine with HDV. The requirements for HDV are that of DV, so firewire drives will work.

If you must go the Avid route, just capture HDV native via firewire, don't use ANY fcp plugins or transitions other than fades and dissolves, and export an EDL.


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Thanks for the reply. We online in an avid because we also have source material that comes from digibeta and AE Renders, etc. Any experience with mixed clips on a timeline?

Can you tell me what hardware you use? The Sony deck? Any cards? Do you use HD monitors or have you gone the SD monitor route? Any other things to purchase?

Thanks for the help!

TONS of experience with mixed clips in the timeline, but all that changes with FCP 6. Now just putting them in the same timeline works...no rendering.

I have a Kona LH that I capture my analog footage with. I have a DSR-11, but if I need to capture DVCPRO HD or digibeta, I rent decks. I have an HD monitor, the Sony PVM14L5 HD CRT, that also displays SD.

But HD CRTs are hard to come by. Get a Matrox MXO and an Apple 23" display and you can view your HDV footage at broadcast quality.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

Thanks so much for your reply. Is the Kona card necessary with FCPS2? If I can capture HDV straight from a deck into fcp, is this necesssary?

Thank you!