Live capturing from Panasonic AG-HVX200 using Final Cut and MacBook Pro

I'd say it's possible...Providing that your hard drive is quick enough - A standard FW400 drive i'd say wouldn't be quick enough - maybe even a FW800 isn't quick enough either! I've been trying to capture uncompressed SD video and my Lacie FW800 is nowhere near up to the mark, I'd need a RAID setup I'd reckon - But i'm not sure off the top of my head wether 1080i consumes more bandwidth than uncompressed SD video.

Failing that try it and see! 🙂

According to Panasonic's brochure this camera can go directly into a Mac Computer. The brochure at; ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasonic/Drivers/PBTS/brochures

Panasonic is also offering a free DVD at: http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/app_hd.asp

This camera sounds great and I'm planning on getting it ASAP and exploring Discussion threads and Google now; a lot.

I'd say that it is possible with a FW800 drive, but there are several issues that you need to think about with this.

1) the MBP only has 1 FW bus (not to be confused with ports), if you are trying to send 1080i down one side and out the other it could cause significant issues with dropped frames and such. A solution is to add a expresscard/34 firewire card.

2) if you only record to the MBP and experience dropped frames in the middle of a shoot you have no backup.

In my mind the only way to shoot HD with the HVX-200 is to go to either P2 cards or a Firestore drive.

K

I'm starting to think that the point made about using P2 cards and Firestore are no doubt probably the most professional way to go.

But in following up that idea it seems there are several types of Firestore. Maybe some are not even HD? Maybe some won't take the AB-HVX200 MXF file format?

Maybe some will only work with Avid and not FCP.I've read reports of people having problems with all these variables.

So is there a specific Firestore that is best? What the best? What's the best price?

Having said all that my last idea was exactly the thread topic here. Of course, if frames are actually dropped that would be bad.

On another forum I read someone suggest: a G4 Powerbook with a PCMCIA slot would be better than a MacBook Pro because MacBook Pro's dont have a PCMCIA slot.

This implies a PCMCIA memory card can be used rather than a P2 card!!!????? Or what advantage does a PCMCIA slot have?

Because of falling prices I was wondering about an iBook G4, 1.42GHz and 60GB.(But if frames are actually dropped that would be bad.)

These forums sure are helpful!

it seems there are several types of Firestore

For the HVX-200 there is only one Firestore. You can find info about it on the Panasonic site.

This implies a PCMCIA memory card can be used rather than a P2 card!!!?????

No, no, no...The P2 card shares the same form factor as a PCMCIA card but that is where the similiarity ends. The P2 contains 4SD memory chips and a RAID controller chip. You will find nothing else that will work with this camera.

Or what advantage does a PCMCIA slot have?
With this slot you could put the card directly in the computer to transfer the footage. You can also do this by firewire from the camera.

iBook G4, 1.42GHz and 60GB
I would not reccomend this. First, if you find one it is probably used, Apple does not sell them anymore. Two, it is not fast enough for HD. Three, the HDD will just barely hold Final Cut Studio.

You need the biggest, baddest notebook that you can get. HD takes alot of horsepower and a lot of space. Are you planning to edit on this or just capture footage? You are planning on capturing to an external drive, right?

K

You guys should visit DVXUser.com. There is a load of info about the HVX and FCP on there.

Creative Cow also has a good HVX forum.

K

Great info. I'll get on those other forums.

Not that it is an 'issue,' but to answer the question I was INITIALLY thinking of getting a laptop just to capture video, and edit on my desktop. But I see that the advice of getting the biggest baddest laptop would be a better idea and I've read others say that being able to edit 'on the road,' is a great potential.

I checked out the only tested and approved by Panasonic Firestore and it's the FOCUS FS-100 that comes standard with a 100GB hard drive that provides 1.5 hours of DVCPRO HD recording time with a list price of $2,195.00.
(If using PAL, you need the PAL version)

Other than the valuable other forums mentioned here, I found a good site for FAQ's for the Mac/AG-HVX-200/FCP, at: https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/cs/csregistp2m/ep2main/faq/p2faq .htm

These FAQ's, above, say that "going directly into a PC is possible, but it may fail to record some frames per second. This depends on the performance of PC. So we do not recommend this method."

There is a rebate if buying the USA warrentied camera before the end of the year: a free 8GB P2 card (advertised as a $1,200 value)

I think this answers all my questions about this topic. Thanks everyone for the info and the patience.

P.S. - There is a free contest, BTW, to win the biggest badest laptop, the 17"-MacBook Pro, at http://www.pcmag.com (of all places!)