HD camcorder compatibilty and choice for FCP

I would like to buy a new HD camcorder that has to be compatible with FCP (I'm still on version 7.0.3).
The one that looks the most interesting is the Panasonic TM900, but several comments on Amazon's site suggest that the full quality mode (1920*1080p (50p)) is not able to be captured in FCP (well, Macs in general actually).
This would seem to make it irrelevant for me at that quality level if I can't make use of it.
I was wondering which HD camcorders are considered the best quality and most compatible with FCP?. I would prefer them to be under £1000 and I am not averse to upgrading to a newer version of FCS if absolutely needed.

(well, Macs in general actually).
This is crap. You simply use ClipWrap2 to transcode the media because the FCP interface doesn't support it for ingest. Once it's been transcoded with ClipWrap2 you're done. Simply import into FCE and edit in a 50p timeline.
You do realize that there is nothing you can output 50p to, right? No Blu-ray players support 50p. You're never going to put 50fps media on the web. You can't put it on tape. You could play it back from QuickTime, but you'd better have a pretty big fast hard drive hanging off your computer. 50fps uses massive chunks of drive space, about 2G per minute for ProRes. You must be doing theatrical digital projection I guess.
BTW 7.0.3 is the latest version. There's nothing to upgrade to.

Similar Messages

What current model camcorder is best suited for FCP 4.0

I have a PM G4 FW800 Mirror door running 10.3.2 and decided to get into this video stuff. I am a Pro Tools user.
What camcorders will work with Final Cut Pro 4
Will any 1394 Firewire Camcorders work ?
How about current Cannon , Panasonic or Sony ?
Anyone with experience ?
thanks

Most 1394 DV camcorders will work with FCP. Some older models out there (think Hi8) lack device control, but will still import using Capture Now.
There is a list of "certified" camcorders for FCP, but its vastly incomplete. I have never seen FCP simply not recognize a camcorder with FireWire.
As far as brands are concerned, it should come down to what fits your needs and preferences. All three of those big name brands should be fully compatible.

Kona 3 [and XENA] for FCP Questions

Is the XENA 2Ke compatible with the Macintosh platform and FCP, and if so which is the recommended version of OSX and FCP?
I have previously read someone stating that you can use this card on both platforms therefor negating the need to purchase a Mac only Kona 3.
I am doubtful of this however your immediate response / confirmation / denial of this is greatly appreciated.
ALSO
Is anyone aware of news relating to an upgrade of the Kona 3 card [ie Kona 4 or a Mac and PC compatible XENA card]?
I am looking at assembling a new HD online capable suite in the next few weeks and am hoping to avoid purchasing ie a Kona 3 card just before the release of [theoretically] a Kona 4 card [possibly at NAB 08]. Being that 4K / Red post are and should be at a premium in the coming months I would like to assemble a post solution that can handle for example a short form 4K online [if possible].
I know I am dealing with a lot of what-ifs but for the investment I need to make I will be asking similar questions to these everywhere I can including the forums such as this.

Anyone / everyone please feel free to comment
Hi Jerry
First and foremost, thank you very much for your detailed reply.
1. Hmmmm. "AJA, is there something in the air too?" [lol].
I just love the thought of new gear and technology... and AJA furthering its hardware support of RED in FCP, looking forward to any NAB developments.
*2. Regarding the Xena-2Ke for Mac.* Just received a reply from AJA Tech Support stating the following:
+"Hi Mitch,+
+The Xena-2Ke is compatible with Mac OSX 10.3.x, 10.4.x and 10.5.x running+
+the appropriate Kona 3 driver.+
+On the other hand A Kona 3 is not compatible with Windows.+
+Let us know if you have more questions.+
+Thank you,+
Rudy
+Rudy Van Ko+
+AJA Video Technical Support+
+Email: [email protected]+
+Phone: 530-271-3190+
+AJA Video Systems+
+443 Crown Point Circle+
+Grass Valley, CA 95945"+
Interesting...
*3. Monitoring 2K?* What are you using to monitor 2K, HD Jerry?
Many guys in similar situations to myself over here in Australia are using Apple Cinema Displays with a Decklink HD-Link Pro box for monitoring. Obviously the 30" Cinema Display has the resolution to handle 2K monitoring but is it suitable in your view?
Realistically I am looking at offering an immediate service based mainly on a HD offline / online workflow. I would however like to future proof myself as best I can by assembling hardware that can handle 2K with reliability, stability and to reasonable levels of accuracy and complexity.
*Up until now [NAB] I've been looking at something in the order of the following setup:*
*Online Machine*
Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
8gb RAM
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3GB/s
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB (Stereo 3D, two dual-link DVI)
One 16x SuperDrive
AirPort Extreme card (Wi-Fi)
Apple wireless Mighty Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard
*Third Party Card / Hardware IO:*
Kona 3 with K-Box
*Offline Machine:*
Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
4GB (2 x 1GB)
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3GB/s
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI)
One 16x SuperDrive
AirPort Extreme card (Wi-Fi)
Apple wireless Mighty Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Monitoring:
JVC DT-V24L1DGE 1920x1080 Pro HD LCD with 1:1 pixel monitoring / no scaling and all the regular / required inputs and features
*BUP / Archival Purposes / Proofs:*
Lacie D2 Ext Blu Ray Burner
Storage:
Caldigit's HD Pro OR G Technology's G Speed OR G Speed es [though not sold on G Speed es - great price point but really doesn't have the sustained drive speeds. Great for online SD, Pro Res and possibly basic DVCPro HD / HD Sequences etc. [www.g-technology.com states "Two G-SPEED eS units and the G-Tech PCIe RAID controller support all of the above plus 10-bit, 1080i/60 HD playback in RAID 0 or RAID 5 mode."]. Will be looking into the new Apple owned Promise RAIDs too; your thoughts on these? Unfortunately I don't really have the budget for SANman, X-Serve, Fibrejet etc solutions at present but for the right job, that would obviously change.
I really appreciate the idea of how you are working with 2K, though your description was not really that detailed it definitely sounds smooth. Do you think that I am heading in the right direction in your opinion with the gear I have in mind, and is the minimum 2K future proofing concept I have a valid one?
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and hopefully reply to some or all.
Anyone / everyone please feel free to comment.

Info please...control surface and mixer for fcp and audio recording

i'm looking for a control surface for final cut pro and also xlr/line inputs for recording guitar and vocals in cubase or audacity.
read all the info here after numerous searches. still some questions.
was looking at the tascam 1082 but not sure of the build quality...i saw one and it looked a bit cheaply built. the two demos at guitar center were falling apart. didn't look nearly as well built as the mackie. also i have been reading here and elsewhere about bugs/problems etc.
was looking at the m-audio...not sure about that one...$1250...
was also looking at mackie control surface...but no firewire...how do you hook it up to a mac? also no audio inputs. what would i need to buy to work in conjunction with that for recording audio? if i bought the mackie, i'd still have to buy an audio inpur device and that would end up costing as much as the m audio.
i know i could just buy a mixer for recording and forget the control surface...i already have a shuttle pro which works fine and i have gotten used to using the mixer in fcp...no problems. but the motorized faders on a control surface sure would be nice
so questions:
how does the mackie connect to a mac and what other device(s) would i need to record audio and how would they hook up...would they play nice together?
ppl who own the tascam...happy with it? used the mic and line preamps? are they noisy?
do i need an additional firewire bus reguardless of which control surface i get?
how does one route the audio for these when in fcp? i currently route my audio through my dsr 11 deck. will the control surface just go through firewire or would i have to actually jack into the control surface with additional cables and have to remove my present cables from my speakers everytime i want to use the control surface?
sorry so many questions. it's really tough to make an informed decision in buying something if you don't understand the mechanics of it.
btw, appreciate the info so far that i found doing my searches.
thanks
carl

I've got the Tascam FW1082 and I absolutely love it. I can't believe I ever edited without it. I'm considering upgrading to the 1884 in the future.
As for the mic preamps, they sound great. Nice and clean. There's no such thing as a line preamp, but the line inputs are clean as well.
For routing, I go to the 1082 via firewire until I turn on my external video monitor, at which point I send both video & audio to the deck and route the audio from the deck into a pair of the mixer's analog inputs. That way you avoid the delay of external monitoring. The 1082 allows you to listen to both the computer & the inputs at the same time, so switching back and forth is seamless.
As for durability, I've had it out on a few location recordings, but most of the time it's on my desk. It's still in mint condition. I'm sure if it was on a display where any 10 year old could come mess with it, it wouldn't be in as great of shape, but then again, a Neve console wouldn't look that great if every little brat that walked in the door could play with it. If you take care of your stuff, you'll have no issues with this mixer.

MPEG Streamclip not working on Mac Os X - downloading videos and converting for FCP X

Hello,
I had used MPEG Streamclip (square 5) before but its not loading the url and not finding the files... any ideas? I need to download short free archive clips for this project. I would appreciate your help and suggestions. _M in Sydney

a friend tested the program on their computer and it worked but they were running the new snow leopard operating system, this is the hardware overview
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB41.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.31f0
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
as far as i can tell there isn't any corruption - can i test for that?
should i try to un-install the entire suite or just photoshop??

What Compressor codec should I use for footage recorded on a Canon T3i, edited on FCP 6, and intended for Vimeo?

I am looking for help!
My planned workflow is as follows:
Footage recorded on Canon Rebel T3i ---> Edited on Final Cut Pro 6 (sequence compression is apparently H.264 according to the browser) ---> Compressed with Compressor (ver 3.0.5) in original 1920 x 1080, 24p format ---> Uploaded to Vimeo
I am now at the point where I am trying to find a Compressor setting that will create a compressed movie that looks somewhat similar to what I see in the canvas in Final Cut Pro 6. I have tried using the H.264, Apple ProRes 422(HQ), HD Uncompressed 8-bit, and XDCAM HD 1080p24 settings and in all cases, my movie plays back fine, however, the brightness/exposure seems to be hiked up a few stops and there is a substantial amount of noise in both the blacks and midtones that doesn't appear in FCP's canvas.
My compressed movie I wish to export is only intended for Vimeo (similar to Youtube). Is there a different setting I should be trying, or perhaps a way of downloading a more effective or current codec?? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated as it is very disappointing to see my movie degraded so much from its orginal quality.
Shaun M

H.264. But the FCP Legacy (FCP 7 and earlier) Canvas and Viewer aren't color accurate. Not designed to be. Their purpose is to show you what you are doing, show you the footage so you can make editing decisions. For color accuracy, the ideal way, since this was designed with television and feature editing in mind, is to have an IO device like those AJA.com and DECKLINK.com make, and send the signal to an HDTV or broadcast monitor.
Apple has realized that more and more people are editing for the web and computers only, so they made it so that FCX's viewer IS color accurate. So...what that means is that currently, using what you have, you won't get things to match....they aren't designed to. So you can adjust for what happens when you export.
But a big issue is that you are editing H.264 in FCP native. FCP doesn't work with H.264 native well, all sorts of potential issues can arise. Sync issues, quality issues, the correct shot be exported, all sorts of things. FCP works best with the FCP editing codecs. What are they? They are found in the EASY SETUP list. But for HD, the most commonly used option is ProRes 422. There is a BIG problem that FCP Legacy will SEEM like it'll work with H.264 natively just fine...it doens't throw up any warnings. That is bad. Also something Apple fixed with FCX.
The fact that you are editing H.264, and trying to export H.264, might also lead to the footage being more off that it would if you edited ProREs 422, and exported H.264. Note...H.264 is a higher data rate codec, and easier for FCP to work with...but because it has a higher data rate, the file sizes are much higher than the original H.264. 5-6x larger. FCP 7 did have a way to import Canon 5D, 7D and T2i (needed a hack with the T2i) via Log and Transfer. But it doesn't work with the T3i...not even with that hack. Because FCP 7 was no longer updated after the T3i came out. It's 4 year old software, discontinued 2 years ago.
If you want to edit native, you need to look at Adobe Premiere Pro CC. It's interface is more accurate too.

IMac vs Powermac for FCP

I am debating between an iMac and PowerMac for FCP editing. I am primarily a shooter but would like to offer editing to clients as well. Don't anticipate anything to graphics or effects intensive. For fairly simple editing does the PowerMac have a huge ($1500) advantage over the top of the line iMac?

iMac:
DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD (possibly) and maybe AVCHD only. Those are the ONLY formats you can edit. I say possibly with DVCPRO HD because the ONLY drives you can use on an iMac are firewire drives. Those are fine for DVCPRO HD (Firewire 800 required), but only for working with P2 DVCPRO HD...nothing from tape. You only have one firewire bus, so capturing using that bus for the camera, AND for the drive is sketchy. Will work most of the time, but not all of the time. Forget Uncompressed SD or HD...not gonna work. The ONLY thing you can upgrade is the RAM...that's it. So Motion will work fine, but not optimally with the graphics card already in place.
Mac Pro: great expandibility
YOu can install different graphics cards, install capture cards for working with uncompressed HD and SD...and can install eSATA cards for working with faster drives. It comes with 4 internal drive slots, three empty, so that you can install fast drives internally that will work with uncompressed SD and DVCPRO HD and ProRes (ProRes on the iMac will be iffy).
Mac Pro is a professional machine, and iMac is a consumer machine. If you work with DV and HDV only, and only need firewire drives, it should be fine. But that's about all you can do with it.
Shane

Looking for Wedding Special Effects for FCP!!!

Hi guys,
Help me out here! Can someone tell me where I can find wedding effects/ plugins and transitions for FCP.
I have seen things like firework plugins on tv or flowers making the transitions and so forth.
I looking for something similar or better.
Thanks a bunch in advance everyone,
Zia

Hi Dave,
I am reffering to stuff like Digital Juice Toolkit7 Wedding Tools II.
I am also looking for plugins or matte like Sparkles, Flowers, Fireworks and others to work as animated mattes on top of a clip.
Thanks,
Zia

Closed Captioning for FCP 7

What is the best way to go about Closed Captioning with FCP 7.0.3?
Is there a plug-in or do I need 3rd party assistance?
tia for any info.

We've been using Annotation Edit for creating captions and subtitles for FCP 7. For captions, we create an SCC file, which we then play out to either DVCAM (via FireWire) or XDCAM HD (via HDSDI/Kona LHe) using the Edit to Tape function.
It's a bit more affordable than CPC.
The developer for Annotation Edit is working on a new application that will include some extra features for captioning. No word on a release date yet.

Best Camcorder For FCP and FCE

Right, so I have a rough budget of £500 and I need the best camcorder I can get for money. It must be compatible with FCP and Express. Can anyone out there help me with my predicament??
Many Thanks

Better information, you'll get better responses over the next few days, keep reading.
Best for me includes excellent low light functions and excellent glass. I need neither digital zoom nor auto gain.
Decide on an acquisition format by determining what you expect to do with the movies you create. You may not need full 1080 but can get by with 720. Resist cameras that record in a codec that must be transcoded before editing.
bogiesan

Refresher for log and transfer in FCP 7

Hi,
I need a bit of a refresher to using log and transfer in FCP 7 what setting do I use for XDCAM ? Do I set it to AVCHD?
Please help
Thank you
Jeff

Have you loaded the xdcam plug in?
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2721
Otherwise, I think you have the choice of keeping it as xdcam or converting to prores when you log and transfer. xdcam are smaller file sizes, while prores is generally less taking on the system.

Best Low Cost Camcorder for FCP?

I'm going to take back a Samsung D453 camcorder because it has time code breaks during capture. Does anyone have any recommendations for a low cost DV camcorder that is supported by Final Cut Pro?

Actually, recording timecode on a tape might have been a good idea with analog crash recording, but it does not make sense on DV camcorders. If nothing else you end up recording twice on the tape which increases wear on the camera heads and doesn't do much for the tape either.
As an alternative to blacking tapes, simply record the first 30 seconds or so of the tape without images. Use a bars and tone if the camera can generate one. Otherwise use the FCP version. This gives you enough preroll area for capturing all material after this point.
Once into the tape, just make sure when you stop recording, the heads are in a position that will allow them to pick up the timecode and continue on. As long as you do not rewind and review the footage you are good to go. If you must rewind & review, stop the play back a few seconds short of the end of the previous shot.
So to recap. Generate bars and tone for the first 30 seconds of the tape then give your self enough preroll on each shot as well as an additional few seconds at the end of each shot.
If you must review a shot/scene in camera, stop the tape before the end of the scene so the camera can pick up the timecode as it moves on.
Good luck.
x

Best compatible Pro HD Camcorder for FCP 6?

I am used to the old days of mini-DV format when things where simple LOL! With the introduction of new formats I do not know which way to go?
Can someone help me in the best HD Camcorder for ease of capturing and editing. I will need to give pros and cons to my boss. I know DV tape is still easy to capture and edit but what is the cons of it now a days?
I heard with compressed formats editing can be difficult and still has issues??
Budget wise looking at options in the $2500K up to $4K.
Thank you

I use HDV in a Sony V1U. I used to edit in HDV natively, but now I capture to ProRes 422 (NOT HQ) any my G5 Quad does it in real time.
Pros: HDV uses DV tape which is inexpensive and great for archiving: capture it, then stuff in in its case, then in a plastic box (I got mine from Tapestockonline.com) for safekeeping.
ProRes edits easily, but if you have multiple streams (like multiclip, composites, etc.), you may run out of disk band width. I use the internal 7200RPM drives, or external FW800 drives and get two to three streams. More than that and you need a RAID (see CalDigit). A trick: put different captures on different devices/busses: one stream on an internal SATA, another external FW800: you are sort of doing a poor mans performance RAID.
Cons: a drop out on tape may mean up to 1/2 second of missing video and audio data. Whoops! I use Sony HDM-63VG (videographer grade: $8/tape) and have never had this issue.
Capturing HDV to ProRes 422 is only "capture now." There is no log an capture, so recovering from a failing disk drive is more complicated... You could capture to native HDV, then convert it in and FCP sequence set for ProRes 422, or using Compressor.
Prores 422 takes about 4x the disk space as HDV (or DV, for that matter).
I will eventually go to solid state capture, and the new JVC's are pointing in the right direction. Long GOP mpeg2 on SDHC will be more reliable than tape, so dropouts should not be a problem. I'd probably still convert to ProRes 422, however. Buying bare drives and a Wiebetech ComboDock is about as cheap as archiving tapes.
Just some thoughts: no conclusion.
Eddie O
PS: with the NEW JVC camera, does anyone know if the color space is 4:2:2 or 4:2:0?
Message was edited by: Edward A. Oates
Message was edited by: Edward A. Oates

Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Creative Suite: New Choices for Customers

Adobe has announced the new Cloud-based model for software distribution, along with new terms for boxed product upgrade eligibility. Beginning with the CS6 releases, when they happen, upgrade pricing on boxed products will only be availble one generation back. There is a limited window to upgrade now to the current versions at a discount.
See http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/11/adobe-creative-cloud-and-adobe-creative-suite -new-choices-for-customers.html

Eugene:
Based on the current information we have (from the blog post), which may not be correct and which you should not rely upon:
There is some confusion about the word "discount." As used in the blog post, in general there are no "discounts" for upgrades, there is the upgrade price and there is full price. But, also in the blog post, there is a special "discount upgrade" if you choose to upgrade to CS5.5 today (prior to Dec. 31, 2011), which is 20% off the regular upgrade. However, Peter used the word "discount" to distinguish between upgrade pricing and full price. It's probably a good idea to avoid using that word there because of the potential for confusion.
I have CS5 InDesign in work. So I will be able to upgrade that to CS6 when it comes out at the discount price?
You will be able to upgrade to CS6 at upgrade pricing. Not the 20% discount, but it is "discounted" from the full price of CS6.
I'm still using CS2 Illustrator and Photoshop, for the little work I do in those programs, they're fine. But if I want to upgrade them to CS6 I have to pay the full amount of an upgrade, with no discount... or will I have to pay for CS6 in full for both of these programs?
You will have to pay the full price (not the "full amount of an upgrade," whatever that means).
If you elect to upgrade to CS5.5 prior to Dec. 31 of this year, however, then then you can pay the discounted upgrade price to upgrade to CS5.5 (well, CS5 since Photoshop CS5.5 doesn't exist), and then you can pay the CS6 upgrade price in March/April. So you can pay for no upgrades (full price) or two upgrades (one of which is 20% off).
At the moment I can upgrade CS2, photoshop and Illustrator for €240 each, to CS5. So wouldn't I just be able to do that now and then buy the CS6 upgrade at a much later date perhaps just before CS7 comes out?
Yes, you can do that.
If CS6 has the tools to basically go "File>Export>Epub" and I get a fully working epub file without having to trash about in code afterwards or make complex tagging in InDesign, then I'll be buying it.
It looks like EPUB is evolving pretty fast, so even if ID CS6 fully supports what you want out of EPUB on Day 1, I bet you'll need to be prepared to postprocess it on Day 2. Or at least long before Day 200.

I have just upgraded to Mountain Lion and my signatures for my Mail is not showing up. I have the signatures inthe preference panes and selected for the email address, but when I make a new message, the signature shows as none and doesn't give me a choice

I have just upgraded to Mountain Lion and my signatures for my Mail are not showing up. I have the signatures inthe preference panes and selected for the email address, but when I make a new message, the signature shows as none and doesn't give me a choice. Yesterday, the signatures were stacking instead of switching to the one I wanted to choose.

I had this and fixed it.
I had upgraded to Mountain Lion and my signatures in Mail were fine. But then about a week later, I got a new computer and used Migration Assistant to copy my stuff to the new machine. Upon opening Mail, I had all the correct Signature information in the Preferences>Signatures window, but nothing worked.
After lots of hunting, I found the Signature Folder. It's in:
Yourusername>Library>Mail>V2>MailData>Signatures
Looking at my previous setup (which works) I saw in that folder two types of files: .webarchive and .siganture
Looking in my new machine's Signature folder, I saw only the .webarchive folders, not the .signature folders
Since this was literally a clone of my previous setup to a new machine, here's what I did:
1. Quit Mail
2. In Problem machine, go to
Yourusername>Library>Mail>V2>MailData>Signatures
3. Move the Signatures folder someplace safe, but out of the MailData folder
4. Get the Signatures Folder from the working install (like a backup) and copy it to the MailData folder on the problematic machine
5. Start Mail on the problem machine
This worked for me. I don't know why Migration Assistant didn't copy the full signature folder, but this fixed it. It worked perfectly partly because I had just backed up with Carbon Copy Cloner and the very next day set up the new machine. I don't know where Lion or earlier versions of mail stored signatures, but the absence of the .signature filetype seems to be the problem.
Hope this helps

HD camcorder compatibilty and choice for FCP

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