Sony PMW-EX3 XDCAM-EX Camcorder

Hello to all,

Upcoming project is being shot using a Sony PMW-EX3 XDCAM-EX Camcorder. I've watched the Sony tutorial and read a few articles online re; workflow.

I have a G5, 2.3 Ghz PowerPC w/5 gigs ram running FCP 6 and a 2.5 GHz Intel Macbook Pro w/ 4 GB ram running FCP 7. Will either of these systems work okay with this footage?

How much drive space would I need for a 3 hour interview?
How long will it take to transfer the footage from the card to my PowerPC? Would it be faster using my Macbook Pro?

I'm considering purchasing 2 Glyph Portagig50 drives for this project and future projects. Any recommendations on other drives to use?

What questions am I missing if any?

As always, thanks in advance.

Lisha

Hi Lisha,

I think either of your machines will do the job no problem.

I've been working with XDCAM on an old G5 for the last three years. My machine is lower spec'ed than yours (dual 1.8Ghz, 3gigs RAM) and mostly has no issues. I do get occasional stuttering playback in full-screen digital cinema, but it's not really too much of a headache.

The most crucial thing you need is Sony's XDCAM Transfer tool. If you decide to go with the G5, at the moment, most Sony sites are only making the intel version available. I had a bit of a look around and couldn't find the PPC version anywhere. And then I saw this post not far below yours right here at lafcpug. [www.lafcpug.org]

3 hours of XDCAM will be just over 46Gigs. It transfers on my G5 at an average of about three times realtime - ie 3 hours should transfer in about an hour.

Good luck,

Mike

PS - not sure why that link didn't work properly, but just scroll down until you see the Q and A from 'debe'

You cant bracket a link in this forum with () anyway, I fixed it. You can also edit your own posts too. Generally its best to use the link icon in the tool bar when putting a link in your post. Its that globe with a chainlink in front of it.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Thanks, Michael. I figured the brackets were the problem - but not until a bit later.

BTW - did you ever receive that DVD from me ? If not, I'll send another.

regards,

Mike

No I did not. Do send it

Michael Horton
-------------------

Thank you Mike!