Editing HDV

Hi all
I am going to be shooting and editing a low budget documentary on HDV for the first time. I am trying to figure out my work flow and I'm a bit confused. Would really appreciate the help.
Will be using the Sony HVR-A1U to shoot and am planning to cut it on my G5 with FCP 6.
What are the requirements for input and output when working with HDV?
Do I need a Kona card for capturing or can I go without?
Do I need to convert to Pro Res 422 or can I work on a native environment?
Can I use external firewire drives?
What else should I be thinking about???
Thank you!
M.

You can capture and edit HDV natively over firewire - so no need for cpature cards. Lots of people recommend using a ProRes timeline, or capturing as ProRes, or rendering in ProRes.

Here's some more info on that workflow : [www.kenstone.net]

>What are the requirements for input and output when working with HDV?

Minimum requirements would be a firewire cable to hook up your camera to your mac

>Do I need a Kona card for capturing or can I go without?

No. You don't need additional I/O hardware if you intend to capture and output native HDV

>Do I need to convert to Pro Res 422 or can I work on a native environment?

No, you can work native (and with FCP6 you can also enjoy the rendering benefits of ProRes even when working natively in HDV)

>Can I use external firewire drives?

Yes.

>What else should I be thinking about???

You might want to consider monitoring issues. There is no direct monitor out when working with HDV ... for that you would need additional I/O hardware (Kona, Balckmagic, MXO etc)
Also you need to think about how you will be delivering this work and what you will need to buy/rent/arrange for that to happen

Thank you for your super quick reply.
Are you saying that if I want to plug in an HD monitor into the system I have to have a (Kona/ Blackmagic, MXO) otherwise this won't work? If this is the case do you know if I can work with a lower end Kona card and not the $3000? (my budget is limited).
In terms of delivering what are my options if I want to stay in HDV? What if I need to down convert to SD? Do I also need a Kona for this?
Thanks a million.
M

For viewing you can get the Kona LHe...that is $1695. But the Decklink cards are cheaper, the Extreme is $995. And these will allow you to output to a monitor and downconvert the footage to SD.

However, you will need an HD monitor to connect to this...a regular NTSC monitor will only get you a downconverted signal. The Matrox MXO is a great option because you can output a signal to an Apple 23" or Dell 24" display and get broadcast quality monitoring...for under $2000.


www.shanerosseditor.com

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

>Are you saying that if I want to plug in an HD monitor into the system I have to have a (Kona/ Blackmagic, MXO) otherwise this won't work?

Yep, exactly. For critical monitoring of HDV you'll need additional I/O hardware

>... do you know if I can work with a lower end Kona card and not the $3000?

The Kona 3 is a great card, but you don't have to have that one, the LHe would suffice and is half the price. About the same price is the remarkable MXO2 which is a portable solution that will work with desktop and laptop alike ... as yet tho it is untested (should ship this week). The original MXO is probably your cheapest option, is tried and tested, but is an output only device.

>In terms of delivering what are my options if I want to stay in HDV?

You can render your edit to a single HDV clip (called conforming, and its not a quick process) after which you can layoff back to HDV tape. Or if you have a suitable I/O device and recording hardware, then you could layoff via HD-SDI and record that to tape as HDV.

>What if I need to down convert to SD? Do I also need a Kona for this?

Yes and no. You can downconvert in realtime using any of the hardware noted. Also you can downconvert in software (FCP, Compressor etc) and output accordingly.

You could also use the BlackMagic Intensity card. Low cost monitoring over HDMI.

Kevin Monahan
Social Support Lead, DV Products
Adobe
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro Community Blog
Follow Me on Twitter!

Good point Kevin, thats a great low cost card, but perhaps not too many options for color critical HDMI monitors themselves?

The intensity card requires a PCIe slot and her G5 may not have one. Man I pretty sure they don't.

------------------------
Dean

"When I see you floating down the gutter I'll give you a bottle of wine."
Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica.

good catch Dean, if the G5 is an early model (a quick search suggests pre Nov 2005) then it won't have PCI Express slots .. if thats the case then the Kona LHe would be the wrong buy too (the Kona LH would be fine tho)

It sounds like the Kona LHe is a good compromise then.
But can anyone give me an idea of what the main differences between the $3000 Kona vs the LHe are?
I want to thank everyone that responded to my post. I'll be digesting all the info and try and figure out a work flow for my project according to my budget. Though I am pretty sure I'll have some more questions for you all! To be continued...
M.