HDV and FCP advice needed!

[Alucardx03]

I have a Sony HDR-HC7 HDV camera. I'm looking to archive the footage that is on these tapes (and also keep the tapes, as they lend themselves very well to archiving). I just purchased Final Cut Studio, so I have all of those options available to me.

What is the absolute best capture codec and best way to output this footage? What kind of files? I want it as near to the original content as humanly possible. Hard drive space is not an issue, considering I have about 3.5 TB and only about 6 tapes. If more space is needed, I'll just buy some more.

I should also mention, I'm not even looking to cut the videos much, just into large chunks. I'm not going to be doing a lot of fine editing or anything. For example, if a tape has both a vacation and a party on it, I'll separate the two events. That's it.

So, all you FCS 2 pros out there, I need your advice.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Capture the tape as native HDV. The quality won't get any better than the native codec on the tape.


Lethal

 

[Alucardx03]

Capture the tape as native HDV. The quality won't get any better than the native codec on the tape.


Lethal

Thanks, Lethal. How would you recommend outputting it?

 

[LethalWolfe]

Output like back to HDV tape? DVD? A QT to keep on a HDD? What kind of output were you thinking about?


Lethal

 

[Alucardx03]

Output like back to HDV tape? DVD? A QT to keep on a HDD? What kind of output were you thinking about?


Lethal

I want to output to a HDD at the highest quality possible, regardless of space. Would you recommend outputting it as an HDV file, or something else?

 

[tcgjeukens]

Log and Capture as MOV file

Alucardx03,

To transfer the video from HDR HC7 to FCP, connect camera to Mac using Firewire.
Start FCP.
Select "Easy Setup"

• Format = HDV
• Rate = 29.97 (in case you are US based)
• Use = HDV - 1080i60

Create a new project.
Under file choose "Log and Capture"
Start the tape and press the "Now" button.

Your footage will transfer to Mac without conversion at native format.
One hour tape will be around 11 - 13 Gb.

Regards
Coen

 

[LethalWolfe]

I want to output to a HDD at the highest quality possible, regardless of space. Would you recommend outputting it as an HDV file, or something else?

If you want to output a finished product to store on a HDD then 10-bit Uncompressed is the highest possible quality and will run a bit over 550GB/hr. Of course that is a ridiculous amount of over kill for the situation. Apple ProRes will run about 60GB/hr which is a bit more manageable. DVCPro HD would also be an okay choice and comes in at about 48GB/hr. DVCPro HD will playback be the easiest to play back on your machine.


Lethal