HD For Indies

MIKE CURTIS' HD FOR INDIES EDITING FAQ, version 0.61

OK, so here's my FAQ. If it isn't in here, I may not have caught up enough to the recent stuff. But this is a good place to start. If you don't find the answer to what you're looking for, and you can't find it using the search function, or if you just want me to walk you through it, I am available for consulting by emailing me at mike@hdforindies.com. I charge $150/hr, one hour minimum, additional time billed at fractions of an hour. Typically, you give me a call at a pre-arranged time, we chat on the phone to answer your questions, and then you drop a check in the mail to me and we're done until you might want some more assistance.

UPDATED AUGUST 20, 2005 - I've added links to BUNCH more articles I've written/linked to having to do with workflow, why HD, Digital Intermediates, etc. I've also added links to the tape formats section that offer much greater detail on the cameras/formats/resolution issues involved, especially the "what's missing here?" article.

UPDATED JUNE 13, 2005 - scroll to bottom, I've added links to some of my "Why DIY HD?" from when I started this blog.

UPDATED 5/9/05 - rearranged a few sections, tidied up the Table of Contents, inserted long bitching section on why high def H.264 won't play on your crappy old Mac, revised AJA vs Blackmagic section, started rough outline on tape formats section

UPDATED TWICE, LAST TIME 10/16/05 - added a bunch more articles of interest, including a 10/15/05 article comparing the currently interesting sub $10,000 US) HD camcorders either on the market or announced and shipping supposedly this year

-------

OK, this started as a simple note about four plus hours ago, and I'm still typing. So this is now a major posting to HD For Indies, and will probably be a reference point for months to come. This article covers what systems can edit what video formats, mostly centering on recent era machines, mostly centering on HD video formats (but DV is included).

This is a rough draft, I'll keep honing on it (I hope). it ain't purty, but there's lots of good info in here.

This covers the specs on the new Macs, and what models will and won't be able to edit which formats of video including DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD, and compressed and uncompressed HD video via HD-SDI. Also, playback of H.264 high definition content is addressed.

...and then more stuff is addressed, to the point I'm adding a Table of Contents, which must mean I'm getting serious about this stuff.


-----------------------

Frequently Asked Questions

Apple Announces New Macs (spring 2005)

Editing HD Content - What's Required?
(this is a whole section, broken down below)

Q: What if I want to edit my HD masterpiece at a standard definition offline resolution? Such as if you don't have the money/equipment for the full-on HD online thang

EDITING DVCPRO HD-What's required?

EDITING HDV-What's required? - includes discussions of iMovieHD, Final Cut Pro 4.5 (using LumiereHD or HDVxDV), Final Cut Pro 5

EDITING P2 based DVCPRO HD - What's required?

EDITING HDCAM, D-5, HDCAM SR or other HD-SDI based HD-What's required?

Editing Uncompressed HD - What's required?

SUMMARY OF WHICH MACS WILL EDIT WHAT KIND OF HD FOOTAGE - this is a whole section, with models below, for each below I answer:

What can I edit/play back on my:

iBook
PowerBook
eMac
iMac
PowerMac G4
PowerMac G5

APPLE'S PUBLISHED REQUIREMENTS SPECS FOR H.264, Final Cut Pro 5 AND Final Cut Express HD

High Definition H.264 Playback Requirements-updated 5/9/05


Apple's Final Cut Pro 5 System Requirements

Apple's Final Cut Express HD System Requirements

Tape Formats Defined in rough order of quality (this is a rough work in progress)
VHS
Digital8
DV
DVCPRO/DVCAM
DVCPRO50
IMX
BetaSP
Digibeta (Digital Betacam)
HDV
P2
DVCPRO HD
HDCAM
D-5
HDCAM SR 4:2:2
HDCAM SR 4:4:4
uncompressed to disk

Links to Articles, Editorials, Workflow Discussions, Etc. of Interest - there's LOTS of good stuff in here, dig around. I keep coming back and adding to it, I'm not even up to this year on catching up on good articles.

COMPROMISES AND WORKAROUNDS FOR THE POOR AND (financially) STARVING INDIE - this is another section, really the FAQ part.

Q: I've shot my opus on HDV, but Final Cut Pro 5 isn't out yet. What do I do?

Q: I've got this HD footage to edit, it's on a hard drive...now how do I edit & monitor it on my non-PCI-X computer?

Q: Ingest: "I've got footage from the following tape formats, how to I get it into my computer?"
This section includes HD-SDI ingest based formats (HDCAM, HDCAM SR, D-5), as well as the FireWire (aka IEEE 1394a, also called iLink by Sony) based ingest formats: HDV, DVCPRO HD, ProHD, and DV

Q: OK, I've shot on Format So & So which I now understand I can't edit on my current machine. What can I do?

Q: What are my HD monitoring options? How do I see my HD stuff on a video, not computer screen?

Q: DAMN! Those HD-SDI professional monitors are expensive! How can I save money and NOT buy one of those?

Q: What's better? AJA Kona2 or Blackmagic DeckLink HD Pro?

FireWire 800 - don't I need that for HD?

Q: OK then, what about storage for uncompressed HD?

end table of contents

NEW MACS ANNOUNCED

Apple announced more new computers today, new iMacs and eMacs. So it's time to go over what you can do with all of these new machines for HD purposes. If you just want the "yes/no" list for your computer, scroll to end of article.

New iMacs:

1.8 or 2.0 GHz G5, 600 or 667 MHz bus.
17 or 20 inch screen
512 MB RAM
ATI 9600 graphics w/128 MB VRAM
Combo or dual layer SuperDrive (SD on 20" model only)
-ships with Tiger and iLife 05
-Bluetooth 2.0+EDR & Airport Extreme
17" 1440-by-900 screen with 1.8 GHz Combo drive ($1299) or 20" 1650x1080 inch screen with 2.0 GHz SuperDrive (($1799)
intermediate model with 2.0 GHz, 17" screen, SuperDrive is $1499

New eMacs: $799 & $999
($799 model)
17-inch flat CRT display
1.42GHz PowerPC G4
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA drive
Combo drive
ATI Radeon 9600
64MB video memory
56k internal modem

An extra $200 gets you 512MB memory, a 160 GB drive, and a dual layer capable SuperDrive

OK, so here's the good stuff:

We'll start with the basics:

EDITING HD CONTENT-What's Required?

Let's start with the easy stuff and work our way up:
Q: What if I want to edit my HD masterpiece at a standard definition offline resolution since I don't have the money or a hoss enough system? Can I do that on my G3/G4 based system?

A: Maybe. Apple's stated specs for Final Cut Pro 5 (due in about a month) is an 867 MHz G4 or faster, or any G5. You can run it on slower hardware, but it may not do what you need it to do.

Final Cut Express HD's specs for DV require 500 MHz G4 desktop of 550 MHz G4 laptop.
EDITING DVCPRO HD-What's required?

Q: OK, let's start looking at real HD. What about that DVCPRO HD stuff Apple was crowing about last year? I heard there's a new camera coming out from Panasonic for $6000 that shoots this format later this year?

Panasonic's $65,000 Varicam shoots 720p at any frame rate from 4 to 60 fps. As for cheaper options, pep - the HVX200 from Panasonic will record 720p or 1080p or 1080i DVCPRO HD, and should be very impressive. Records onto P2 cards, but that's another topic.

As for editing it: a 1 GHz G4 or better is required (this includes any G5), single or dual processor. So no, your old dual 500 doesn't count, and I don't know about dual 867's, Apple is saying they aren't fast enough. And minimal specs are usually MINIMAL specs, so 1 GHz is the threshold that matters. Laptops count in this category though - I can edit Varicam footage on my 12" PowerBook (even if I can't see all the pixels in the video, even in full screen mode).

If you have a G3, you are apparently SOL in the modern world. Time to upgrade, big time.


EDITING HDV-What's required?

Q: OK, but that's either too expensive or not out yet. What about HDV? I hear it's Sliced Bread 2.0 combined with The Second Coming.

A: I consider HDV to be the Second Coming of DV. More pixels, still not full-on pro quality, but a helluva deal for the money.

HDV has two flavors at the moment, and will have a third later this year (sometime summertime, ProHD). There are two sizes/types of HDV - 720p and 1080i. At present, JVC makes a 720p camera, and it sucks rocks, so skip it. Then there's Sony's 1080i HDV cameras, the HDR-FX1 and the HVR-Z1U. They pretty much rock the house, especially for the money (about $3500 and $5000 each online). Get the Z1U if you can afford it.

There's a variant called ProHD coming out from JVC, first camera expected in July, it's 720p but can do 24fps. You'll need a third party tool like LumiereHD to assist in the 24p part, Final Cut Pro 5 can't handle it natively.

To edit HDV, you will need one of the following:

iMovieHD, part of iLife '05, $99, and a 1 GHz G4 (or faster) and 512MB RAM installed.

Pros: cheep.
Cons: transcodes to AIC (implies a quality loss), VERY limited editing/export capabilities. That article I wrote about using iMovieHD to get AIC into FCP? There are problems with it, doesn't quite work.

Final Cut Express HD with a 1GHz G4 (or any G5) or faster with 1 GB RAM installed.

Pros: light hardware requirements, low cost ($300)
Cons: transcodes to AIC, not native editing (implies a quality loss), reduced feature set as compared to Final Cut Pro HD

Final Cut Pro 4.5 - requires third party software to get HDV into it, such as LumiereHD or HDVxDV. iMovieHD trick doesn't quite work, so never you mind.

Pros: Hey, it works, and works now, and you can pick your editing codec of choice depending on desired workflow, amount of storage you have available, and capabilities of your Mac.
Cons: much more complex workflow. System requirements vary depending on working codec chosen. Search HDV, LumiereHD, or HDVxDV with the Google bar at top of webpage for lots more info.

Final Cut Pro 5: Ahhhh......now it's easy...in about a month. Native HDV editing, but more of a processor hit than DVCPRO HD or any standard definition format. Expect to see more progress bars, expect to wait for rendering if you're on the minimally spec'd machine, which is a 1 GHz processor (G4 or G5, single or dual will do) with 1GB of RAM installed (2GB recommended). So you'll be able to edit native HDV on a laptop if you wish. Rockin!

EDITING P2 based DVCPRO HD - What's required?

Q: What about this new P2 based, $6000 HD camera from Panasonic coming out (AG-HVX200, due Q4)?

A: There are three issues with it:
1.) Can your machine edit it?
2.) How can you get the footage in there in the first place?
3.) Can you see all of the resolution of the footage on your monitor, all at the same time?

Answer 1: It's DVCPRO HD codec, same as Varicam, so 1 GHz G4 or faster. No, sorry, your dual 500 G4 doesn't cut it.

Answer 2: If you have a laptop with a PC Card slot, you can pop it in there. Or an external one connected to a Mac. Drivers aren't perfect yet for that, but you can drag the files over. For direct integration into Final Cut Pro 5, you need the little P2 reader. The only one on the market is either $2000 or $2500, can't recall off the top of my head. Ouch. But it'll pull the footage into FCP with timecode etc. I expect a better driver and cheaper reading options by the time the camera ships.

Answer 3: For 720p work, you'll need a screen of at LEAST 1280x720 to see all of the image, full size, pixel for pixel, at the same time. For 1080 res work, 1920x1080 or bigger. As a practical matter, more pixels is better so you can have the image full size AND a menu bar and other stuff on screen. 15" PowerBook (no iBooks), 17" G5 iMac, minimum for 720p work to see it all at once. There are also broader issues of monitoring involved - if you don't have the AJ-1200A deck available whenever you want to do color critical work (like color correct), you'll HAVE to be on a dual 2.0 (older not newer), dual 2.3, dual 2.5, or dual 2.7 GHz G5 with an AJA Kona2 or Blackmagic Design DeckLink HD card (several variants), and some kind of video monitor (not computer monitor). More on this later.

EDITING HDCAM, D-5, or other HD-SDI based HD-What's required?

Q: OK, I'm ready to step up to the big leagues now - I want to edit HDCAM material, or work with 720p footage NOT coming over FireWire. This also includes D-5 and HDCAM SR. What do I do?

A: OK, now we're stepping up the requirements substantially. To edit HDCAM in ANY fashion, WHATSOEVER requires an AJA Kona2 or a card from the Blackmagic Design Decklink HD line (there are several). These are the relevant shipping products: there are older cards to be ignored, and CineWave has been cut off at the root by Avid's acquisition of Pinnacle. These two card lines are the two viably available, affordable, supported, smart-to-buy choices. I really wouldn't look at anything else.

To work with an AJA or BMD HD card, you HAVE to have PCI-X slots, and the vendors recommend dual processors. I've seen capture work on single processor G5's, but I don't know how well the other features would work. This is where it gets complicated. Over the past few years, there have been PowerMac G5s with single or dual 1.8 or 2.0 GHz processors. SOME of them have PCI-X, some of them don't. It used to be a safe bet that a dual 2.0 GHz G5 would work for any HD project. That is NOT the case with the new model. The only simple way to be sure is to verify it has PCI-X slots, and is a dual 2.0 GHz G5. The new ones, with dual layer DVD burners? No PCI-X, therefore these cards would only work in standard definition. Bummer. SO: just be sure.

To continue: a PCI-X enabled dual 2.0 GHz or faster G5, AJA Kona2 or BMD DeckLink HD (or HD Plus or HD Pro) card.

If you can only afford a non-RAID hard drive solution, you're stuck working at compressed HD resolutions. DVCPRO HD, PhotoJPEG, and the like.

Editing Uncompressed HD - What's required?

DO YOU WANT TO DO UNCOMPRESED HD? Then you need very fast storage, on the order of 200 MB/sec for 1080i work. If you're just doing 720p24 work, you can get by with under 80 MB/sec under certain circumstances, carefully prepped, etc. etc. disclaimer disclaimer. Read up on SATA RAID (using the Google bar at top of page), I've written tons on this stuff. SATA cards from Sonnet, Firmtek, Highpoint (beware that one for now!) and others coming to market make it possible to do uncompressed HD work, albeit with RAID 0, which means if any one drive fails the whole RAID volume goes down with it. But it's cheap, in the $1-$2/GB range. Fault tolerant storage is out there and works, but is much more expensive - see Apple's XServe RAID, and products from Huge and Medea. These solutions are in the $4-$8/GB range. Again, I've written extensively on the blog before about these issues.

So, finally, the summary, which is what you probably wanted in the first place:

SUMMARY OF WHICH MACS WILL EDIT WHAT KIND OF HD FOOTAGE

iBooks - what can I edit/play back on these?

12"

500 MHz G4 or faster: DV only

1 GHz G4 of faster: DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD
no HD pixel for pixel - screen too small
no P2 card support built in
no high def H.264 playback

14"

500 MHz G4 or faster: DV only

1 GHz G4 of faster: DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD
no HD pixel for pixel - screen too small
no P2 card support built in
no high def H.264 playback

PowerBooks - what can I edit/play back on these?

12" - if 1GHz or faster G4, DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD - but can't see ANY HD pixel for pixel, screen too small. NO P2 card usage built in for upcoming Panasonic camera. no high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM unless working with compressed (DVCPRO HD) or downconverted compressed material.
If less than 1 GHz, DV only.

15" - if 1GHz or faster G4, DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD - CAN see 720p pixel for pixel (screen's big enough), CAN'T for 1080 res. Will be able to read P2 cards in the field (for new Panasonic HD $6000 camera). No high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM unless working with compressed (DVCPRO HD) or downconverted compressed material.
If less than 1 GHz, DV only.


17" - if 1GHz or faster (think they all have been) - DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD - same screen limits as 15" - NOT enough res for 1920x1080 footage (only 1650 pixel wide screen). Will be able to read P2 card, has slot. No high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM unless working with compressed (DVCPRO HD) or downconverted compressed material.
If less than 1 GHz, DV only.

eMacs - what can I edit/play back on these?

500 MHz or faster G4 - you can work with DV downconverts only. No high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM at all, unless working with compressed downconverted material. No built in P2 card support.

1 GHz or faster G4 - you can work with DV, HDV, and DVCPRO HD. You can capture HDV and DVCPRO HD and store it on your internal hard drive, you are likely to have trouble trying to capture these formats and record onto an external hard drive at the same time; is one reason (among many) I don't recommend these machines, especially with their limited internal capacity. No high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM at all, unless working with compressed or downconverted material. No built in P2 card support.

iMacs - what can I edit/play back on these?

G4 iMacs

less than 1 GHz G4: DV only

1GHz G4 or faster: 1 GHz or faster G4 - you can work with DV, HDV, and DVCPRO HD. You can capture HDV and DVCPRO HD and store it on your internal hard drive, you are likely to have trouble trying to capture these formats and record onto an external hard drive at the same time; is one reason (among many) I don't recommend these machines, especially with their limited internal capacity. No high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM at all, unless working with compressed or downconverted material.
No built in P2 card support.

G5 iMacs

slower than 1.8 GHz - DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD native editing. No high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM at all, unless working with compressed or downconverted material. No uncompressed SD, either (same is true for all PowerBooks, iBooks, eMacs, iMacs; all but G4/G5 towers)
No built in P2 card support.

1.8 GHz or faster - DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD native editing. MAYBE high def H.264 playback (needs to be tested). No HDCAM at all, unless working with compressed or downconverted material. No uncompressed SD, either (same is true for all PowerBooks, iBooks, eMacs, iMacs; all but G4/G5 towers)
No built in P2 card support.

PowerMac G4s - what can I edit/play back on these?

500 MHz or faster, single or dual - DV or compressed/uncompressed standard definition video only
No built in P2 card support.

1 GHz or faster, single or dual processor - DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD native editing. No high def H.264 playback. No HDCAM at all, unless working with compressed or downconverted material (I'm intentionally excluding CineWave HD & Kona 1- gets cost prohibitive, gets dumb with other costs involved).
No built in P2 card support.
NO PRACTICAL MEANS OF MONITORING HD other than IF using DVCPRO HD, and IF have Panasonic AJ-HD1200A deck plugged into FireWire on Mac and to a video monitor via HD-SDI or analog connections AT ALL TIMES. This is a huge gotcha - means all G4s are useless for color correction unless the deck is sitting next to you the whole time. Two weeks rental would pay for a high end HD card.

PowerMac G5s - what can I edit/play back on these?

Single/dual 1.8 GHz - DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD yes. NO uncompressed HD or monitoring (officially supported). High def H.264 playback YES, but 720p only - this is the entry point for that according to Apple. If you've captured your compressed HD elsewhere, you could edit, but not preview/monitor on this system. (Well, you MIGHT be able to edit with downconverted output, but getting the drive throughput? Maybe.)
No built in P2 card support.

Dual 2.0 (new) - same as the single/dual 1.8 G5 above, with the exception that these will play back 1080 res (1920x1080) HD content compressed with H.264.

Dual 2.0 (old), and Dual 2.3/2.5/2.7 - DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD yes, all via included FireWire. These machines have PCI-X, so can use Kona2 or DeckLink HD line (DeckLink HD, HD Plus, HD Pro single & dual link) and use native SATA arrays fast enough for uncompressed HD, and can connect to SCSI (ugh) or fiber channel (mo bettah) for uncompressed HD. (A used dual 2.5 GHz box might be a sweet deal right now, certainly the OLD dual 2.0. I say this on May 3, 2005). These are the only option to work with D-5, HDCAM, HDCAM SR formatted media, and require a large, multi-disk RAID to handle the enormous file sizes and throughput requirements of these tape formats.
No built in P2 card support, but can add it via USB 2.0 or FireWire.
But these are the only systems that can capture via HD-SDI, the easiest systems to get uncompressed HD disk throughput from, and the only systems that will let you monitor an HD video signal without a $25,000+ deck right there all the time. These are the machines to buy to edit HD seriously. Period. The end. Otherwise you spend more, get less, or can't at all.


High Definition H.264 Playback Requirements

H.264 content:

Apple has clearly state on their QuickTime tech specs web page:

For 1280x720 (720p) video at 24-30 frames per second:
1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer
At least 256 MB of RAM
64 MB or greater video card

For 1920x1080 (1080p) video at 24-30 frames per second:
Dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer
At least 512 MB of RAM
128 MB or greater video card


So that clearly rules out all iMacs and eMacs right off the bat for playing these formats back. You can encode them (more slowly than their faster brethren), but you can't play them back in real time. H.264 is a VERY processor intensive codec - that's one of the reasons the data rate is so small, it requires a LOT of horsepower to do it's thing.

Q: "Well, what about the new iMac? It's 2.0 GHz, and that thing says 1.8 GHz is required!"

A: It SAYS PowerMac G5. There are differences between the two machines above and beyond processor speed, such as bus speed. That said, real world testing (and I'll be doing some) will verify this, but in terms of stated stats, gotta go G5. Maybe the top end iMac will work, maybe it won't...wait and see.

Warning: flaming vitriol from Mike below, beware:

Q: Well dammit, this looks like a conspiracy - my 600 Mhz G3 iBook should run OS X Tiger (after I get install CDs from Apple instead of DVD), so why won't these HD trailers play back smoothly, dammit!

A: Because, nitshit, you have an ancient machine. DEAL WITH IT. This new H.264 stuff is pretty bleeding edge. In a few years, it'll be No Big Deal, but for now it is. Even though Microsoft's Windows Media 9 appears, at first blush, to have lower playback requirements, large HD playback is DIFFICULT, and requires a LOT of computing horsepower.

AND if you don't have a 1920x1080 or higher resolution screen, SHUT UP and quit yer cryin' about it not playing back - YOU COULDN'T SEE IT ALL ANYWAY. YES, Apple should put non-HD H.264 trailers up on the web. If they're going to have 1080 and 720 res stuff, a 480 res option is a reasonable expectation...in time. For the moment, QT 7 is only available on Macs, for those who downloaded new software in the last 10 days (I write this May 9th). So it's a niche market. In time they'll migrate to more H.264 stuff, but the "fullscreen" playback option on most trailers works OK with Sorenson 3, it just takes a larger file to look as good as H264. If you're already on broadband, it's not that big of a deal to wait a bit longer for something that'll play back on software that's been downloaded in the last two or three years.

Somebody complained on Macintouch about the 1080 res Batman trailer not playing back on their 600 Mhz G3 iBook. Was this flamebait, or was the guy really this dumb, excuse me, ill informed? That laptop only has an 800x600 screen, anyway - EVEN IF it were a fast enoug machine, the screen doesn't have enough pixels to show all of the HD signal anyway without scaling it down. And if you scale down, you might as well have downloaded the non-HD version anyway.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A 23" 1920x1200 LCD or a CRT capable of at least 1920x1080 playback, the 1080 res trailers and content DON'T MATTER, because you couldn't see it all anyway.

Now, the 720p trailers are a different story - if your screen is 1280 pixels wide, and this includes the 15" Powerbooks, you CAN see the full resolution...if your machine is fast enough. Which most aren't - again, a 1.8 GHz G5 or better is recommended. I'm going to check some stuff out myself to see how they run.

Apple's Official Final Cut Pro 5 System Requirements

Here's what Apple has to say on their site:

Final Cut Studio System Requirements
Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) or G5 processor
HD features require 1GHz or faster single or dual processor (my emphasis - mike)
authoring of HD DVDs requires a PowerPC G5 processor (Interesting! Why?
512MB of physical RAM
HD features require 1GB of RAM or more (2GB recommended)
Mac OS X v10.3.9 or Mac OS X v10.4 (or later)
Core Image Units and 16- and 32-bit float rendering in Motion 2 require Mac OS X v10.4 or later
Display with at least 1024 x 768 resolution
QuickTime 7 (or later)

Apple's Official Final Cut Express HD System Requirements

DV

Macintosh computer with a 500MHz or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor (550MHz for PowerBook G4 or iBook G4, 450MHz for dual PowerPC G4 or G5) and an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) graphics card compatible with Quartz Extreme
Mac OS X 10.3.7 or later
QuickTime 6.5.2 or later
384MB of RAM (512MB required for RT Extreme and Soundtrack)

HDV

1GHz or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor
1GB of RAM
All above OS, QuickTime and graphics card requirements

Tape Formats Defined

- I'm going to work on this one, this is just notes for now, and I've probably got some details wrong, so don't bank on stuff in here

All digital tape formats "cheat" in that while you MIGHT capture them to uncompressed from tape, they were not captured uncompressed in the field. Besides color space compression (4:4:4 becomes 4:2:2, 4:2:0, or 4:1:1), JPEG like compression is applied to all digital tape formats to squeeze that large amount of raw video data onto that tiny tape. You'll need to understand concepts of 8 vs 10 bit, 4:4:4 vs 4:2:2 vs 4:2:0 vs 4:1:1, subsampling vs full raster to understand this.

VHS - just shoot me, and not in a good way. Analog. Blah. Crap. I'm just including this to be thorough.
Digital8 (ugh) - don't go there - DV compression on timecodeless tapes
DV - 720x480, 8 bits, 4:1:1, 25 megabits/sec aka 3.6 MB/sec w/audio. 2 channel stereo audio uncompressed 16bit 48 KHz, or 4 channels of lesser quality, native FCP editing, 24p supported by some models
DVCAM/DVCPRO - same picture quality as DV, but with "real" timecode (24hr clock), native FCP editing, 24p on some models
DVCPRO50 - like DVCPRO, but with twice the bandwidth - 720x480, 4:2:2, 50 megabits/sec, about 7 MB/sec, native FCP editing, 24p on some models
IMX - MPEG-2 compression, but all I-frames (keyframes). 25 megabit I think, not sure - native FCP editing (in v5), 24p SD on some models, HD XDCAM from Sony in the works
Digibeta aka Digital Betacam - 2:1 compressed, 720x486 (note slight difference), 4:2:2, 8 or 10 bits/channel, but is the tape format 10 bit? Not sure. 24p?
BetaSP (ugh) - analog. just including to be thorough. Nice cameras, but analog so hassle to work with modern systems (is inefficient in many ways)
HDV - three formats:
720p30 at 1280x720, 4:2:0, 8 bits/channel, 19 megabits, how many audio, compressed?
1080i60 at 1440x1080, 4:2:0, 8 bits/channel, 25 megabits, how many audio?
ProHD - 720p24/25/30/60 (60 off of camera but not to tape), 1080i yes, 1080p? Audio?
P2 - lots of options - 720p, 1080p, 1080i, variable framerate from 4 to 60 @ 720p, features not fully defined for HD, HD P2 camera ships end of 2005 aka not relevant to HD until end of year. P2 cards EXPENSIVE, direct to disk options will be interesting and crucial for cost effective deployment
ProHD - does native 720p24, but what about audio?
DVCPRO HD - two flavors supported on tape:
720p - 8 bit, 960x720, 4:2:2, how many audio uncompressed?
1080i - 8 bit, 1280x1080 (eek!), 4:2:2, how many audio uncompressed?
HDCAM - 1080i handled at 1440x1080, 3:1:1, 8 bit, how many audio uncompressed? 4 I think. 720 res details?
D-5: 720p, 1080p, 1080i, 24p yes, 8 or 10 bit, 1920x1080 or 1280x720. First deck that does 10 bit, full raster (not horizontal scaling down)
HDCAM SR 4:2:2: 8 or 10 bit, 720p, 1080p, 1080i, 24p yes, full raster (1920x10080 and 1280x720 internally), 4:2:2. Can do 1080p60 but only with SRW-1 deck. Also only on that deck, stereoscopic imaging.
HDCAM SR 4:4:4 - with an extra board, can do 4:4:4 @ 440 megabits. Only on SRW-1, can do double data rate- 880 megabit. SRW-1 has features so different, I'm almost inclined to call it a different format than HDCAM SR, or at least a superset of HDCAM SR, since it'll do things the SRW-5000 and SRW-5500 decks won't.
HD uncompressed to disk - full raster, 8 or 10 bit, lossless

there's also this old blog posting: Format Overview: what the various tape formats really record - my first stab at this last summer, has some additional info not listed elsewhere in the FAQ

then there was Video Cameras vs. Videotape Image Quality: 'What's Missing Here?' Part I which went into more detail as well.

fill in data rates for all above, find old notes

Links to Editorials & Workflow Ideas/discussion

Roundup of Prosumer HD camcorders under $10,000 as of 10/15/05 (and some of these haven't even shipped yet, preliminary/guessing about specs)


How to shoot HD then post it with no HD equipment - this is old, from early 2004, but the general outlines are still valid. Lots of tech has changed since then, such as HDV, Final Cut Pro 4.5 & 5.0, etc.

The case for Do-It-Yourself HD post: total creative contorl, on your schedule and budget-basically, if you have the technical know-how on your staff, you can fiddle with it to your heart's delight without having to go "into session" at hundreds of dollars an hour in an online suite. I've backed off my gung-ho level since I first wrote this over a year ago, but it's worth considering IF you know what you're doing (or your staff does).

Why has HD cost so damn much? - this is over a year old (written in April 2004), so prices and equipment have dropped and changed (respectively), so keep that in mind that this is generally accurate in intent but inaccurate in details and specific examples of gear and prices.

Advantages of creating digital masters or Digital Intermediates as is the trendy term, although working from HD doesn't count as a DI, especially if not going back to film. "Digital Intermediate" started life meaning shoot on film, edit/color correct/ do effects/ tweak digitally, then go back to film. Now it's abused all over the place. Digital Master implies something a little different.

The Business Case for HD: Why it's a better sell than DV for your independent film - this also is over a year old but holds up. HDV is the new DV - not as good as it's professional brethren, but darned good for the money.

the motion picture film industry lives at the behest of the consumer 35mm film industry again more than a year old, but interesting for long term prospects.

Some thoughts on LONG term digital archiving

Big Question Answered: 'Why no 1080p24 in HDV or DVCPRO-HD?

Backup strategies & risk analysis for HD quantities of data - again, this is more than a year old, and there ARE now valid tape backup options for HD quantities of data. So this is a bit obsolete. Want to know new options? Feel free to ask, but answers are on a consulting ($) basis. : ) (hey, gotta eat, too, ya know!)

Quick tidbit - backup blues - another from over a year ago, including comments from some guys that over-relied on a piece of technology that bit them (they had NO backups - dorks!) Keep in mind, technology and my experiences have changed, this is only valid from a general point of view.

Thoughts on mobile editing with FCP HD -- go lite or go HEAVY - again more than a year old, but some thoughts on the matter.

HD monitoring - how to view your HD video as video - again this was written in spring/summer 2004, but the general theme is valid - digital monitoring is sharper than analog. One thing I DON'T mention in there is about color accuracy - Apple 23" has pink issues and other problems etc.....it's NOT a "great" solution after all. Split HD/SD seems a pretty good approach, although that doesn't address standard definition's 601 color space vs HD's 709 color space. What does that mean? SD monitoring can't replicate all the colors an HD monitor can (or should be able to any way).

Some more thoughts on backups - again from mid 2004, so pricing/gear options are different, so take with a grain of salt. Doesn't include modern tape options.

Thoughts on RAID Level 0 - and what it means for data security - read this one with the backup strategy stuff I've mentioned. Again, from May 2004 so keep the "obsolete" factor in mind.

Why Final Cut Pro HD is so important - wrote this in May 2004 about Final Cut Pro v4.5, but it's still generally valid

some non-definitive thoughts on Avid vs. FCP HD - from June 2004, so realize it's out of date, but the general sketch of it kinda holds up, enough that I thought this was worth including in here. What does hold true, I think, is this - that it is ALWAYS the little mammals, not the big dinosaurs, that change the industry. As well as He Who Has The Biggest User Base CAN Always Win (if they're smart) - whoever has the biggest user base can afford the most for R&D and will be able to add new features/do more development than the other guy...and win.

HD For Indies: "DIY HD posting idea: Can't afford to buy? Rent, or buy then sell"

HD Labs Report #1: SATA storage for uncompressed HD - this is from June 2004 (NOT 2005), and I've learned a lot of new things to change my mind about the conclusions presented, and new hardware has come out, but here's some hard #'s to play with. Again, it's more than year old and lots has happened. Duly disclaimered.

Niche Topic: Shooting stop motion? Forget video camera, use digital still camera - from June 2004 (NOT 2005), so some details I'd suggest doing differently. But it's still an entirely valid approach for stop motion AS WELL AS for time lapse.

OneRiver Codec Comparison Site- has a nice set of samples of codec quality. Useful comparisons of RGB to YUV rendered stuff, especially of note is the DVCPRO HD comparisons, so you can see what it does to your images. Includes samples, plus test-it-yourself materials and instructions.

HD CRTs dirty little secret - lo res - good article from Digital Cinema Magazine on why HD CRTs don't show all the detail that is really in an HD signal. Quote: "The dirty little secret of HD is that very few people have ever seen a full-resolution HD picture, and the $30,000 to $40,000-plus broadcast monitors that are currently used every day to critically view finished HD product can barely display half the available resolution of a 1920x1080 HD picture."

--------
Panasonic Varicam/AJ-HD1200A deck workflow - here are several articles on Varicam workflow:

Mike's (my) raw notes from working with Panasonic AJ-HD1200A DVCPRO HD deck for editing Varicam footage

efficient Varicam/FCP setup - an ongoing email exchange I had with somebody about how to edit Varicam footage using a Panasonic AJ-HD1200A deck

Good thread on working with FCP HD and Panasonic AJ-HD1200A deck for high quality output

A couple more niche but interesting threads on Varicam/Panasonic AJ-HD1200A DVCPRO HD deck workflow issues

---------

Notes on Upsampling testing, FCP workflows, Compression Apps, and SheerVideo codec - this is from August 2004, but some of it is still accurate/relevant

First hand HD production advice: "Digital Producer has this article of a bunch of first hand advice on working with HD"

First Impressions: Hands On With HDLink & DeckLink HD Pro - from August 2004, but much has changed since then (new drivers add tons more features)

---------
Thoughts on Digital Intermediates (or digital masters)

Thoughts and musings on desktop digital intermediate work

Focus on desktop DI: what's possible - I wrote this before Final Touch HD came out, which changed what's possible (if you can afford it). Keep in mind, this was August 2004, much has changed (and I've learned more since then)

HD & Digital Intermediate Storage Requirements - hard numbers and possible applications

Interested in desktop Digital Intermediates? Read this thread
-----------

Why use HDLink instead of Final Cut Pro's Digital Cinema Preview - again from August 2004, and has some inaccuracies, especially items 1 & 2, which are NOT true.

Automatic Duck Rolls Out New Timeline Integration Tools-how they can be used for Digital Intermediate/Mastering Workflow - again, a bit dated, from Aug 2004, but generally still holds true

Thoughts on pure digital filmmaking - prompted by a reader letter. I'm still working on this stuff, FYI.

Email conversation on post realities with Frank Reynolds, indie editor in NYC - long but interesting about the frank realities of indie editing

Good article to understand RAID technology - my article has a nice/quickie synopsis, links to a looooong but very thorough article.

The True Resolution of the Sony HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1U

HDLabs Report: Hands on with La Cie 1TB Bigger Disk Triple Interface (USB2, FW400, FW800)

Differences between Sony HDV cameras: consumer HDR-FX1 and pro model HZR-Z1

Video Cameras vs. Videotape Image Quality: 'What's Missing Here?' Part I

COMPROMISES AND WORKAROUNDS FOR THE POOR AND STARVING INDIE

Q: I've shot my opus on HDV, but Final Cut Pro 5 isn't out yet. What do I do?


A: Several possible options:

1.) Capture it as DV (all HDV cameras allow this I think) in FCP and edit that. Wait for FCP 5 to ship, recapture as HDV. This works in THEORY, haven't tested it. As with all batch capturing operations, proper logging (fill the the Reel Name field!) is crucial to success.

2.) Use LumiereHD (which drops every 1000th frame, creating audio drift on long clips) or HDVxDV (which may have the same problem, don't know) to transcode to a codec you can edit with. LumiereHD has a workflow to let you link back to the source HDV for final, high quality rendering. Both programs require MUCH more hand-holding and figuring out than

3.) Dub it to another HD format to capture and edit. Zowee, expensive.

4.) Capture the video as uncompressed HD if you have a Kona2 or BlackMagic card installed, using an AJA HD10A converter box (or similar) that converts the HD analog to HD-SDI. How to get audio in? Hmm, tougher...FireWire capture and re-sync? Haven't done it.

5.) Just wait for FCP 5, not that far off.


Q: I've got this HD footage to edit, it's on a hard drive...now how do I edit & monitor it on my non-PCI-X computer?

A: Editing's no biggie, so long as you have the throughput on your disk system, which might be a deal killer (keep reading).

As for monitoring, I think the BlackMagic cards will (and the Kona2 won't) let you play back HD video and it'll downconvert on the fly to SD if it's installed in a PCI slot and properly configured. It'd almost certainly have to be compressed HD, however.

The current PCI-X SATA cards on the market will work in PCI slots, but aren't as fast in those because there isn't as much bandwidth available. Digging around on barefeats.com, I found mention of 132 MB/sec write speed on a HighPoint RocketRAID 1820A card (NOT my top pick), and about 200 MB/sec read speed. I'm not sure if that was 4 or 8 SATA drives. That should be sufficient for PLAYBACK, but not capture. But then, will there be bus contention issues between the SATA card and the HD card, bringing throughput lower, or hodging the whole deal? I don't know. I'm not in the mood to test it all, but if someone does, let me know. You might be able to get away with 720p24 uncompressed. But compressed is probably the way to go if you are stuck with a PCI only system.

I certainly would not, under any circumstances, recommend buying a PCI only desktop Mac to edit HD with. Penny wise, pound foolish in the extreme.

Ingest: "I've got footage from the following tape formats, how to I get it into my computer?"

Q: I've got these HD tapes (HDCAM, D-5, HDCAM SR, DVCPRO HD, HDV, ProHD, etc.), but I don't have the hardware to capture it. What do I do?

HDCAM, D-5, HDCAM SR capture options - these formats all require that you capture the video via HD-SDI. That's a High Definition Serial Digital Interface. There is no analog HD used in production (analog is only used for monitoring). There is also no FireWire type option for these, the data rate is way too high among other reasons. (Sony has a proprietary editor and connector that can edit HDCAM natively called XPRI and HD-SDTI, respectively, but they don't let anybody else play in their backyard so it's moot.) To capture these formats, you (or someone!) need to have a dual G5 with PCI-X slots. This includes the OLDER dual 2.0 GHz models, and the 2.3, 2.5, and 2.7 GHz dual processor models. DOES NOT INCLUDE the new dual 2.0 GHz model. Then you also need an AJA Kona2 or BlackMagic Design DeckLink HD, DeckLink HD Plus, DeckLink HD Pro (single or dual link) card. For the compressed codecs, regular SATA drives will do, FireWire 800 probably, FireWire 400...maybe, depending. For uncompressed video, you need really really fast storage if you're going to do uncompressed HD. FireWire won't do ever, SATA RAID can do it, if carefully set up. Easy off the shelf solutions from Apple, Huge, & Medea work, but are much pricier....but also offer fault tolerance in case one drive fails, as well as redundant power supplies, remote monitoring, fewer cables that can run farther, etc. Bag SCSI - go fiber channel.

Or you could dub it to DVCPRO HD for FireWire ingest, but then you're losing resolution (DVCPRO HD is only 1280x1080, HDCAM is 1440x1080. Both scale up to 1920x1080 for playback).

Or you could pay someone to capture it and send you the files on a drive. Then you're stuck in the position I described above...

DVCPRO HD capture options - 1 GHz or faster G4 or G5, use FireWire and that's it is my preferred method if you can get a Panasonic AJ-HD1200A. You can also capture via HD-SDI if you wish, see above for details. FireWire is a little cranky for some users, but generates tiny files; HD-SDI is more straightforward (with recent drivers anyway) and allows for compressed (offline quality) or uncompressed (online quality) options. FireWire allows for a single source that is both offline datarate and online quality. Confusing? Yes, but true. That's a longer subject. Somebody bug me to link in on this one.

HDV capture options - 1 GHz or faster G4 or G5, use FireWire and that's it once FCP 5 is out. See other link for stop gap alternatives. Supposedly (Apple person said so) can capture from HDV to uncompressed for optimal quality workflow. Can you capture from HDV to DVCPRO HD then I wonder? Or PhotoJPEG, or or or or.....???

ProHD - my understanding is that when the cameras ship in July, that you'll be able to capture the 720p30 output of the camera as native HDV. The 24p stuff will require a third party option, LumiereHD was showing a workflow at the JVC booth at NAB that'll ship in time to work wit the cameras.

DV capture options - any mac with FireWire and a 500 MHz or faster G4 processor (or any G5 processor). They all have built-in FireWire, that's all you need.

Q: OK, I've shot on Format So & So which I now understand I can't edit on my current machine. What can I do?

A: Transfer, downconvert, compress, or some combination. If you shot on a non-FireWire-able source, such as Digibeta or HDCAM, you can capture it on another system and transfer that data to your system. What if your system can't play that footage back, due to reasons like processor speed or datarate limitations? Then downconvert it or compress it. If it's HD, downconvert to SD (making SURE your timecode matches! And if offlining, do letterbox with windowburn out of image area!)

If data rate's too high, capture to something compressed you can work with - DV or DVCPRO50 or DVCPRO HD - all offer native effects for editing. Consider HDV downconverts for HDCAM once FCP 5 ships. Consider it, but don't necessarily choose it. Just a thought.

In general, convert it to something you CAN edit on your system, but that you'll be able to go back and recapture the better quality source material at a later time and still use all your existing editing decisions. Make sure your planned workflow will all work and match and line up and hand off. Capturing DV into Final Cut Pro to recapture from HD masters (with matching timecode!) will work; editing DV downconverts in iMovie hoping to hand it off to Final Cut Pro is asking for trouble or outright failure. Test a little bit of footage and make sure it all works the way you want it to. Make sure the timecode matches; clips starting with timecode of zero do NOT count as "Hey dude! Timecode's working!"

Downconvert to do your own offline, then online it somewhere that does have the right gear. This is a loooooooong conversation to have with your post production supervisor (I do this if you want to hire me, BTW) to make sure all the myriad dangers are missed. There are a LOT of ways to mess this up. Easiest is same software to same software - Final Cut Pro offline to another Final Cut Pro station. Much riskier is jumping software within a company - Final Cut Express HD to to Final Cut Pro HD. Riskiest yet is jumping from one software company to another - Final Cut Pro HD to Avid, for instance. Doable, but only under tightly limiting circumstances - certain things won't carry over, or be done wrong, etc. At gut simplest, you can always bring in an EDL (edit decision list) from your software and have the online facility recapture all the footage and rebuild (automatically) from that EDL, but then all of your titling, color correction, effects, etc....poof! Gone or needs rebuilding. Along those lines, one of the reasons I like offlining in HD (even compressed heavily) is that your FX work can be done "at size" even when they only have the proxy footage, not the final stuff to start working with. Obviously not for greenscreen, but certainly for inserts/additions etc.

Q: What are my HD monitoring options? How do I see my HD stuff on a TV like device?

A: Tricky.

If you have HD video that's shot on HDV or DVCPRO HD, you can get it into your computer via FireWire...but then it's not simple to see it on a video monitor (not a computer monitor, where it will look entirely different due to brightness, contrast, gamma, white point, and other stuff you may not have heard of).

HDV is the only HD format for which there is NO built in means of viewing your video on a video monitor (not a computer monitor) as you edit. So you have to use an AJA Kona2 or BlackMagic Design DeckLink HD card (there are several) in a Mac with PCI-X slots (older dual 2.0 GHz, or 2.3, 2.5, or 2.7 GHz dual G5s) to feed the signal out an HD-SDI interface. THEN the problem is connecting to an HD-SDI interface. Only professional grade studio monitors include this connector type, and it's usually an add-on. A $2000-$3500 add-on. OUCH! Fortunately, the AJA Kona2 ($2500) and BMD DeckLink HD Pro ($2000) models both include SD/HD analog outputs. (This one feature makes the DeckLink HD Pro model definitely with the extra $900 over it's basic DeckLink HD little brother). With HD analog, you can connect to a professional monitor, but also to most consumer HDTVs (more on that next).

DVCPRO HD - if you're FireWiring your footage in with the Panasonic AJ-HD1200A deck, then you can connect a video monitor to the HD-SDI or component outputs of the deck. If you DON'T have the deck there full time, then you need a Kona2 or DeckLink HD card.

HDCAM, HDCAM SR, D-5, and sometimes DVCPRO HD - for those that ingest via HD-SDI, you're in luck - the Kona2 and Blackmagic DeckLink HD cards have HD-SDI outputs built in, and the Kona2 and DeckLink HD Pro cards (the high end BMD card) have analog HD connectors.

Q: DAMN! Those professional HD monitors are EXPENSIVE! How can I save money?

Realize that the color, saturation, white point, contrast, etc. are quite different on consumer TVs than professional monitors, and are both are different from computer monitors. With the available options today - plasma, DLP, D-ILA, LCD, CRT, rear projection, front projection, etc., images look different on all these devices. Don't even begin to think that plugging your HDTV into your G5 via one of these cards will look anything it would on another set of another type, or a digital projector, or especially a film print.

That said, for just editing and non-critical evaluation (don't do color correction on it), a consumer HDTV will work. Plus, it's a consumer HDTV you can watch other stuff on. But for editing & color correcting HD, that option kinda blows.

Low cost devices such as the AJA HDP and Blackmagic HD-Link offer an alternative. They both cost around $700-$800. They convert an HD-SDI signal to a DVI signal and RCA stereo pair - so you can connect an inexpensive DVI based computer LCD monitor. For 720p work, a 1280x800 pixel (or 1280x1024, or 1280x960) monitor is a good fit, and for 1080 res work, a 1920x1200 is the appropriate match. 1920x1200 pixel monitors have dropped significantly in price, and are now in the $1000 (Dell) to $1499 (Apple) with HP, Sony, and BenQ in the mix as well. The Apple 30" will exactly pixel double a 720p signal, displaying a 2x2 replication of each source image pixel, but for 1080 res work, it'll simply sit in the middle with a lot of black around the edges.

Of the two, the HDP is 4:2:2 YUV only, but offers TWO additional HD-SDI passthrough outputs - a very handy feature. The HDLink offers 4:4:4 support and the ability to load in lookup tables to calibrate to different devices.

Heavy duty, high end post people I've spoken to say that while AJA is clear about their device as a utility, not critical-grade, adaptor, the HDLink's look up tables and 24p smoothing are not up to snuff for serious, high end film calibrated work. I don't know enough to say definitively. The film calibration folks I've spoken to say 3D LUTs are necessary for film work, and HDLink doesn't offer that.

The Doremi box, at about $2000, handles 24p much more smoothly. Don't know how/what it's doing, but in the demo I saw it looked tons better. Also offered some scaling options that I'd SOMETIMES want to use.

At the highest end, eCinema Systems offers a new 23" LCD monitor and converter/LUT box that will do proper 24p handling, stay extremely well calibrated, and let you load industry standard 3D LUTs (Kodak's) into it. But it's expensive! $6000 for the LCD panel, $6K to $12K for the converter box (depending on LUT capabilities).

This last is in lieu of the $25,000 to $35,000 Sony 24p capable CRT, so it's not as expensive as the alternatives.

What I recommend is to use an HDLink (or HDP) connected to a 23" computer LCD to see all the pixel for pixel detail of your HD image, then use the Kona2/DeckLink HD's ability to do a realtime downconvert to SD on the analog outputs, so that you can connect a standard definition component monitor (hopefully professional grade, otherwise you're inaccurate again) to evaluate critical color/do color correction.

Q: What's better, the AJA Kona2 or BlackMagic Design DeckLink HD Pro Dual Link?

A: AAAAAAAAHH! I get asked this all the time, and it's hard to answer. On paper, the specs are virtually identical, and it's not until you get into the very fine nitty gritty of workflows can you find a practical difference at this point. Especially with both companies about to rev their drivers for Final Cut Pro 5 to include support for native HDV playthrough and other new features, it's pointless to say this week.

My advice to anyone about to buy is to wait and see how they work with FCP 5 in a few weeks.

I've been using both successfully for some period of time in my own studio, I don't have a definitive, for-everyone answer to give, because I don't have one. It gets into the nitty gritty of how you want to work and what you're trying to do before I can give an answer I'd call meaningful rather than "I dunno - they're both nice - pick one."

FireWire 800 - don't I need that for HD?

A: No video format needs to travel over FireWire 800, aka 1394b to capture from the camera or deck. The existing FireWire based formats (DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, DVCAM, DVCPRO HD, HDV, ProHD) CAN be captured via a FireWire 800 port (1394b), it just reverts to a FireWire 400 (1394a) compatible mode. No, it does NOT make the video look any better. At all. Not even a little bit. You're probably better off connecting the camera to a regular FireWire 400 port anyway.

STORAGE, on the other hand, can take advantage of FireWire 800, since it's faster than FireWire 400. For HD purposes, FireWire 800 is useful for compressed HD playback and storage, but not uncompressed. You can store uncompressed HD on a FireWire 800 drive, but no FireWire solution of any sort is fast enough for uncompressed HD (with the exception of 720p24 footage, and then only maybe). FireWire 800 RAID boxes are an attractive option for storage, either for mirroring (RAID 1, but be careful of throughput limitations) or RAID 3 or 5 (for fault tolerant online editing storage). Beware bus contention issues - the FireWire 800 and 400 buses, even on G5's are really all just one bus. There can be issues of trying to capture from a FireWire camera to a FireWire drive. I had trouble last year with a Panasonic AJ-HD1200A deck (that's the DVCPRO HD deck with FireWire) until I disconnected ALL other FireWire devices from the G5. Then and only then did it work.

Q: OK then, what about storage for uncompressed HD?

A: I've written tons about this. Use the Google bar at top of page to search.

In general, a few gotchas:

1.) The raw data rate of the video stream is NOT how much throughput you need. You need more. 20-35% more.

2.) Raw throughput isn't the only metric to be concerned about. Can the drive system as a whole (the drives, the RAID controller if there is one, the bus the data travels over, the drivers for the card, the card itself, etc.) SUSTAIN the throughput you need? Some tests showed that stuff that appeared to work would consistently drop frames every 15 to 20 minutes...even if it was just a couple o frames every 15 minutes. For a broadcast shop, this is unacceptable. For starving indies, perhaps something they are willing to work around (so long as FCP is configured to warn them).

3.) Seek speeds matter, too, especially if you want to do multiple streams of video. "But I'm not doing any picture in picture or any of that broadcast crap for my movie!" you say. Ah, yes. But you want to do a cross dissolve I'm sure. That takes dual stream capability from the drive system for realtime performance (if the software/hardware supports it for that codec anyway).

4.) Along the lines of multi-stream editing, you can't just divide the throughput by the bandwidth per stream and assume it'll do that many. Lots of reasons, including seek times and cache sizes, but it doesn't.

5.) Test, test, test. Don't assume a given configuration will work unless you've seen it work, or someone you trust has done the exact same thing. At the very least, if buying an unproven/untested configuration, buy from a vendor that gives you a no quibbling money back guarantee.

SATA RAID is the low cost solution, but it's all RAID 0 at this point so be careful, and have backups, or some kind of strategy. At the moment, I like the Firmtek 1VE4 4 port cards or Sonnet Tempo X eSATA 8 port cards, with the Seagate 7200.8 line of drives. But I need to test before swearing off on those for uncompressed HD usage. To learn more, use the Google bar at top of page and search for SATA RAID, backup strategies, RAID 0, stuff like that. Apple's XServe RAID works for 4:2:2 work (needs two of'em for 4:4:4 work), Huge & Medea also make uncompressed HD capable stuff. As a practical matter, HDCAM and Varicam tape formats only record 8 bits/channel of information, so about 150ish MB/sec is as much as you REQUIRE to capture those formats. However, you might want to capture in 10 bit so you have more lattitude in color correction. Then you need 200ish MB/sec for 10 bit 1080i60 4:2:2. For those with the luxury of 4:4:4 work, 1080p24 10 bit 4:4:4 RGB is 190 MB/sec of raw data throughput, something in the 230-250 MB/sec range is necessary for the required overhead. In theory, 237 MB/sec would be the maximum HD data rate - 1080i60 10 bit 4:4:4 RGB - but nobody's using that realistically. 4:4:4 is pretty much strictly for the film world, and that's 24p.


==============================


End of FAQ. For now. Now must get breakfast, excuse me lunch, it's 1pm and I started this at 9am.

NOT FINDING WHAT YOU WANT? NO LINKS TO ARTICLES RELEVANT? USE THE COMMENTS FIELD BELOW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT'S MISSING OR WHAT SHOULD BE LINKED, AND I'LL TRY TO PUT IT IN THERE. This is intended to be the general purpose FAQ, though.