Hi Jason


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Hi everyone,

I'm an indy filmmaker in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've just done
some shorts and that's about it. For the next project I'm working on
(as Producer), our team is going to be able to use a High Def camera.
I do not know which model yet. I have a few questions about editing. I
also am just trying to do my homework and become more familiar with
the medium.

The two mostly used cameras are the Sony F900 and the Panasonic Varicam.
The Sony has a higher resolution but the Panasonic can shoot up to 60 frames
a second and has better color reproduction. Although with a trick you can
also shoot 60 fps with the Sony.


First, what is the typical workflow if we're using some Mac G4's and
Final Cut Pro HD? Can we capture the HD using a FireWire 400 port? Can
we edit the High Def right there in the timeline and export it exactly
like we do with normal DV footage? I've looked over Apple's website
and they explain it a little bit, but I was wondering if anybody out
there has had any practical experience with this?

You cannot digitize HD via Fire Wire. The interface is called HD-SDI. And
you need a very fast harddisk array and a lot of storage. Somewhere around a
Terrabyte if you want to edit HD.
You need a special video card like the Pinnacle Cinewave.


What you usually do is downconvert the HD footage to DVCAM and then do an
offline edit in Final Cut or any other software. You would have to do the
downconvert at a post house.
When you digitize you have to consider some points like start the clips at 0
or 5. The post house will give you all the instructions. Once the offline
edit is done convert the edl to a 24 frame edl and do an online edit at a
post house.

What resolution is HD encoded in? What size are the frames? Aspect ratio?

Sony is 1920x1080. Panasonic is 1024x720. 23.98 fps. Aspect ratio is 1.78 or
16:9.

Regards
Simon