Trying to play captured HD files on G4 Macbook

OK, I know this question may result in the word "Noob" being branded on my forehead, but...

I've got an external hard drive whereupon the 1080i footage was dumped by my D.P. The footage was shot using a Canon XL-H1, and transferred from tape to disk via FCP. My editor has been working on this project on his tricked-out FCP editing platform, no problemo.

But when I take the hard drive, connect it to my G4 laptop, and try to play the raw tape files in QT, I get an error message and it takes me to this page: [www.apple.com]

There's a laundry list of plug-in programs there, with no explanation whatsoever as to which one I'd need to try to get these files to play. What's the deal here? Is this a hardware problem - the uncompressed HD footage is just too much data for a lowly little Mac to display unless I toss thousands into a new editing platform myself?

I've also tried to play these files on a PC. The problem there is that although the FCP acquisition process *supposedly* saves the footage in a QT format, QT again refuses to play the footage. (Hardware not an issue here: dual-core processor, 2 gigs of ram, RAID 0, 7900GT vid card). The PC platform wants to know what comes after the "." = as in, is this a .avi, a .mov, a .mp4, etc. etc.

Do I have to just junk all the work that's gone into this project so far and just re-acquire on a PC platform so as to be able to get something that works? I'd hate to have to scrap all the work and care that went into building sequences in FCP, but I've been banging my head against this stubborn Mac wall for a while now, and I'm thinking I might as well just start from scratch.

Thanks for any help, and I am now bracing for the noobabuse...

Couple things, XL-H1 does not record HD, its HDV, which is incrediable hard for computers to play. Yet i edit HDV on my G4 PowerBook all the time. Its not a computer issue. Its a codec issue.

Im going to venture a guess that you dont have the most recent Final Cut on your laptop or at least not a recent enough version of Final Cut that contains the HDV codec. QuickTime sent you to their codec page so you seem to be missing something, its more than likely that. Samething with the PC im assuming. Although sometimes the extension does not carry over to PCs, in which case you simply add .mov on to the end. Still, none of this matters unless you have the right codec.

I don't know if you can get the HDV codec outside of Final Cut itself. You can probably get it from your editors machine and add it in to your QT codecs and at least be able to play the raw files back in QT. Still, i think we need more specs on your system. Not performance specs, but QT, FCP, OS, etc....

These files are quicktimes, Like Scott says, but quicktime is just the box that the video arrives in. The codec - whether that be Motion Jpeg, Animation, Dv stream, HDV or a whole other bunch of them, is like the type of hammer that's used to get the video into the quicktime box.

Some codecs come standard on quicktime (and Microsoft products), and some are more professional, or newer, than what your bog standard system will contain. So you have to buy them and install them, or upgrade your system to a point where it can use them, or get your editor to make a version of the footage that you can actually use.

Working with native HDV has only been around for a few years.

BY the way, here's some info on HDV from the FAQ that might help you understand why it's hard to work with.

Why is HDV different to other SD adn HD formats?

Well, already I note the main problem: I have not sprung for FCP for the G4. Which is probably why I don't have the HDV codec.

I'm running OS X 10.0.4, QT version 7.2.0

Is there anyplace where I could download said elusive codec and then install it into QT? I'd hate to have to cough up nearly $1k for FCP software for this G4 when the shift to the Intel version is going to make all this stuff orphanware by spring '08 anyway.

I know, I know, there's always BitTorrent and eDonkey and all the rest of those kinds of solutions out there, but as someone who hopes to make their living from copyrighted intellectual property, I try not to infringe on other's copyrights. It just seems that everytime I turn around, some software company is trying to shove their grubby little paw deeper into my pockets to turn on the features that they advertise, but that mysteriously don't wind up being standard (i.e. Nero and Roxio and the way they treats burning DVDs, QT and QT Pro, etc. etc.).

Don't even get me started on how much pain is involved trying to make any of this wonderful HD content play on a Vista platform. If I'd known how few devices actually display true HD content, and the problems inherent in the post-production workflow, I never would have shot HD(V) in the first place.

Yes. HDV. Shooters love it. Editors, not so much.

But if you work in video, then surely you need to pay to keep up with the latest innovations, or not use the latest innovations. You could still, in theory, shoot on betacam and edit tape to tape for a couple of million..

Thanks for the pointer to the FAQ; I had a working knowledge of HD resolutions and the difference between 1080i and 1080p ... which is to say, that I was one step above bone-ignorant. Reading through all the various formats and hoops through which all my little 1s and 0s have to jump on their way to being a finished project, I am now wishing that I'd shot on Super 16, and was editing on an old flatbed, with nothing more complicated that a razor blade and some clear tape to have to deal with.

I find that I am spending more time trying to make the technology do what it is advertised as being able to do,than I am on actually concentrating on the creative process. Which is a helluva way to run a railroad.

If the footage was captured NATIVE with FCP, then you need FCP to be able to see it. There is no codec that can be gotten that will allow you to view the files. You need FCP.


www.shanerosseditor.com

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

You prob know more about it than I but couldn;t you just take the HDV component from an FCP computer and put it in the Library of a non-FCP computer? I'm pretty sure ive heard of this being done for DVCPro HD at the least...

Here is its location...

System/Library/QuickTime/AppleHDVCodec.component

Hi d...

1) None of the "plugins" you see on the Apple page will help you. Quicktime knew it couldn't play the files you had, so it suggested some codecs that might work. Unfortunately, none of those are for HDV.

2) If you're intending to edit a project in HD, you really need FCP 6 and a newer Intel machine. Your time is worth money, even if you're doing this project for free, and the cost of a new machine and FCP 6 is far less than what you'll spend in time with your current setup.

3) We're getting so spoiled today! Just a decade ago, you couldn't accomplish what you're trying to do today without a Kem or Steenbeck costing tens of thousands of dollars, and far more in film and mag stock - and yes, you had to spend a lot of time learning how to splice and store, how to load split reels... Then take everything to outside labs and mixing studios costing tens-of-thousands more just to get a rough - stuff you can do today on your little $3000. system for free! Anybody who feels the need to complain should imagine spending a few days putting together a film in the 1980s.

Travis
VoiceOver Guy and Entertainment Technology Enthusiast
[www.VOTalent.com]