27" iMacs, Canon XA10, and FCP X: thoughts?

Dear all,
I have a question-- I'm about to sink a lot of money in to buying 5 Apple computers, and I wanted some feedback from this community. I'm refreshing a video editing lab that has traditionally run off of Mac Pros. The last time we made this purchase in 2008, I simply did not see using anything but a Mac Pro with Final Cut 7 as a legitimate option. But now, with the strong advances made by iMacs, I'm inclined to go with "beefy" iMacs.
Here are some details about our computational usage:
• These computers are used by beginning-level film students (we are not a film school).
• The most complicated projects they make (technically) are 15 minute documentaries with very little motion graphics, intricate editing effects, etc.
• The cameras that get used with these computers are Canon XA10.
• The lab will shortly be running FCP X (or outside possibility of Avid Media Composer)
The iMac model I'm conisidering:
• 27-inch screen
• 3.4ghz processor
• 16GB RAM
• 1TB Fusion drive
• 1GB graphics card
So... does anyone see a reason why purchasing this iMac model would be a bad idea? Anyone want to make a case for a Mac Pro? For waiting for the upcoming new Mac Pro?
I appreciate any feedback/tips/suggestions you might have.
Thanks in advance!

One Of The Many wrote:
So... does anyone see a reason why purchasing this iMac model would be a bad idea? Anyone want to make a case for a Mac Pro? For waiting for the upcoming new Mac Pro?
It's hard to make the case for or against the new MP when we have no information yet on price – or any hands-on reports from editors.
But it's hard to see how the iMac would be a bad choice – a great display – and processing power that could easily handle the kind of projects you describe as well as the AVCHD format the Canon shoots. And whatever the MP ends up priced at, it is hard to imagine it not costing significantly more than your configured iMac – particularly if you want an equivalent display.
Good luck.
Russ

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Hello Clare27,
With regards to the camcorder picking up audio noise, the answer would be two fold: yes- as it could potentially record any noise which is present near the microphones when recording, and no- as the camcorder should not actively add static or other 'generated' type noise, such as interference. That can result from things like connections not being plugged in all the way, crossed cables, receivers and transmitters if anything like that is present.
The camcorder should be set to utilize your external microphone/s only and disabling the onboard microphone. Having the onboard microphone disabled will cut down on the chances of ambient noise being recorded. Other than that, simply having your microphones themselves set up and used properly should produce a clean signal which is recorded by the camcorder.
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

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One Of The Many wrote:
So... does anyone see a reason why purchasing this iMac model would be a bad idea? Anyone want to make a case for a Mac Pro? For waiting for the upcoming new Mac Pro?
It's hard to make the case for or against the new MP when we have no information yet on price – or any hands-on reports from editors.
But it's hard to see how the iMac would be a bad choice – a great display – and processing power that could easily handle the kind of projects you describe as well as the AVCHD format the Canon shoots. And whatever the MP ends up priced at, it is hard to imagine it not costing significantly more than your configured iMac – particularly if you want an equivalent display.
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Russ

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I have searched the forums and read everything there is to read and I have tried everything there is to try, but I still can not get FCP to read my Canon HG20.
I am using Log and Transfer, I have changed the settings from ProRes to Apple Intermediate and back again. Nothing works. I can locate my camera on my computer and in FCP, but I can not import any videos I have recorded.
Does anyone here have a work-around that might not be posted on these forums? Please let me know if you guys have any information whatsoever.
Message was edited by: sublimefn87

If you can access the folders content than copy everything as it is on your Drive then disconnect your camera and access the content folder through L&T.
L.
PS. Do you have an old version of FXFactory installed in your computer? If so you may want to replace that with 2.1 or higher.

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Also someone suggested I use "drop frames" to change from 30p to 24p within Final Cut. He couldn't explain how to do it so any input appreciated as well as any thoughts on whether this is a good option to try.

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I have recorded two video shots one with a Canon XA10 and the other with Canon HFR17. Both video quality and bitrates were identical (see attached photos).
I have inserted the two video files in a video editor and the output file is m2ts. If you look closely, the XA10 picture is much sharper than the HFR17 even both video shots have identical bitrates etc. I think the CMOS sensor of the XA10 is much superior. Even when I reduced the frame size of XA10 to 1220, the XA10 output is also sharper.
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Hello Clare27,
With regards to the camcorder picking up audio noise, the answer would be two fold: yes- as it could potentially record any noise which is present near the microphones when recording, and no- as the camcorder should not actively add static or other 'generated' type noise, such as interference. That can result from things like connections not being plugged in all the way, crossed cables, receivers and transmitters if anything like that is present.
The camcorder should be set to utilize your external microphone/s only and disabling the onboard microphone. Having the onboard microphone disabled will cut down on the chances of ambient noise being recorded. Other than that, simply having your microphones themselves set up and used properly should produce a clean signal which is recorded by the camcorder.
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

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I'm running the current FCPX on the current Yosemite OS on a maxed out Late 2012 Mac Mini. Just bought a Canon XA10 and recorded HiDef clips to the internal HD. During recording I monitored the audio on headphones and it was good. When I play back the clips on the camera, again the audio is good. But when I import them to FCPX the audio is garbled. You can make out the sync comments but the audio is terrible, not anywhere close to what I heard outside of FCPX. First I imported all 12 clips. Then I tried just importing 1 clip to a different Library. Even tried exporting a .mov from the project and playing it on Quicktime. Always same result. Canon, Mac or FCPX problem? Thanks!

With the current footage you are using I cannot think of a reason why FCP X is messing with the audio.
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Your 25P mode is different from your 25PF mode. They are very different. I have the HF G10 which is identical in practically all respects except for XLR connections, handle and a few controls. You have a 25PF mode that is packed into the 50 frame format, but it is not native mode to the sensor. Your 25P mode is native. I am on the 30P, 24P, 60i format, but yours should work the same. I read in my 30PF format all the time in FCP X without problems through the Import from Camera.
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I just got the Canon XA10 and new at Video editing. If I shoot in Cinamatic mode (24fps) or Auto (60i) etc.. When I import to my computer and Premier Pro it is showing my setting at 29.97 FPS on anything I shoot no matter what frame rate I shot in.
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Hi Kim,
I'm about to purchase the XA10 also and use it with PPro CS5.5 so I'm very interested in your questions - and the forum's answers. Are you using CS5 or CS5.5?
Allthough I can't help answer your question yet, I can confirm and add to pabalsamo's advice - if you want to capture full HD video quality, you'll need to switch to MXP or FXP mode. These are the only two settings that allow full HD 1920x1080 video recording and the picture quality is outstanding. However, if the XA10 is like the HFS21 (my current camera) you may have problems when it comes to editing MXP footage. To be safe, I usually stick with FXP and I'm very happy with the results. The default setting on your XA10 may be 'SD' (I'm not sure why Canon does this) which is why you found yourself shooting in it... I might be naive suggesting this, but I'm wondering if shooting in SD has anything to do with the problem your having? Maybe just to eliminate, try shooting in FXP, 24P and see how Adobe recognizes it...
By the way there's a good introductory article on HD compression/codecs/bit rates here: http://www.camcorderinfo.com/d/Reviews&level_b=Camcorder&level_c=HD.htm#
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Codecs: H.264, Linear PCM
I'm storing all my footage on a Media G/Drive 750 GB 7200rpm.
I will listen and try anything I can to get this footage to look as awesome coming out as it looks going in!!!
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New to posting so please be paitent with me!!!

Tom, here's a question...just so I'm clear on this:
I also have an XA-10 (as well as a 7D). So I'd typically be working with 1080p footage. Obviously, for performance sake, I'd want to switch playback to Proxy while editing. Then, as you suggest, switch playback prefrences back to "optimized" (ProRes 422) for exporting. But when switching back to 422, don't you have to re-render everything?

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I have a mid 2011 iMac running Mountain Lion. I typically download HD AVCHD video from my Canon XA10 camcorder by inserting an SD card from the camera into the side of the computer. When I click on the SD card, thumbnails of the video footage appear on the iMac and when I click on a thumbnail, the clip opens in Quicktime. Now I can view the clip. This is all fine.
Here's my question: when I look at the Quicktime movie inspector, the following appears:
The original footage is 1920 x 1080 since I shoot at the highest setting on the camera (MXP).
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Does Quicktime degrade the footage? Is there a way to preserve the full 1920 x 1080?
When I import the footage into iMovie (which I do directly from the chip into iMovie) is the quality degraded as well, even though the transfer into iMovie doesn't involve Quicktime (at least I don't think it does).
If, after sharing a clip from iMovie via Quicktime to create a file to upload to Vimeo, I can view it in Quicktime and the same thing happens:
The inspector says "Current Size: 1736x 977."
Any advice? Am I doing something wrong and as a result losing resolution?
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David

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http://osxdaily.com/2011/06/30/deleting-the-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-recovery-hd-parti tion/

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Message was edited by: Penn-Ohio

Hi there,
in terms of best way without complications, get the H.264 into pro res before you edit.
establish your workflow as to how to do this, Shane Ross has an excellent tutorial on the subject if you do a search here.
In terms of best quality to use, there are many ways of looking at this - for instance if you are exclusively cutting 5D material and its for web delivery then proresLT is fine, if you are cutting 5D into high end sources then prores HQ may be more suitable for yout.
My own experience is that 5DtoRGB provides the cleanest way of transcoding (at the expense of speed) over the others (Mpegstreamclip, compressor, EOS plugin etc) but thats just my choice - theres an article here
http://motionlifemediablog.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/5dtorgb-color-tests/
that talks about it in more detail, and theres a good forum here
http://www.cinema5d.com/index.php
you may want to peruse, particularly with reference to flat gamma picture styles,
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have fun
Andy

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Google for camera reviews, but treat with caution those written by customers.
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FCP recognizes the video captured on the internal memory. However, it does not recognize the video captured on the SD card in the camera.
Any ideas?

Well, I'm connected to my iMac using a USB. (iMac is running version 10.58 of Leopard). I'm using the latest version of FCP 7.0.2
I can log and transfer files "taped" to the internal memory of my HF20. Files show up fine and import fine.
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I put the card back into the camera and hit the "Add volume" on the top left of the log and transfer and I can see my Canon drive and the other drive which is called "No Name" (I'm assuming simply because I haven't named it anything) I'm also assuming the No Name Drive is the SD card. However, I may be wrong. All the files are grayed out on this drive.
Not sure what else I need to add to give you more info. Let me know if what other info needed and I'll post it.
Thanks again!

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Up to this point in my FCP experience, I have used nothing but Log and Capture with my Canon NTSC ZR60 mini cassette camcorder which has worked great with FCP. I am on the verge of purchasing a new Canon HD camcorder and am worried about connectivity issues using Log and Transfer. The new Canon camcorder I am looking at says this about connectivity: "USB|HDMI". Will this work with Log and Transfer in FCP 7.0.3? In addition, the camcorder has 8 gb of Flash Memory. Not sure how that translates into video time? Is upgrading to 32 gb of Flash Memory worth the expense?

Thank you, Russ. I have watched Shane's tutorial:
Tapeless Workflow with Final Cut Pro 7
and found it very helpful. The reason for my concern was I thought I read in one of the FCP threads that one had to use Firewire for the transfer but it is not listed in the Connectivity for the camcorder I am looking at. Yes, the camcorder does have removeable media storage. Is that my work around concerning Firewire and FCP?

27" iMacs, Canon XA10, and FCP X: thoughts?

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