12-07-2011, 11:38 PM
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Originally Posted by jmossersr
1) Storage - need to consume less! following the import, my typical 4.5-5Gb raw files typically expand to 35-45Gb in .mov files (that amount of space has been killing me as i now have 2 ext HD units (both WD) one 3Tb and one combo 6Tb unit. I was hoping to find a way to save them in their raw format following creation of a DVD for editing at a later date if i decide to do so - any suggestions? I was originally hoping to get FCE or FCP and use it to do that, but it doesn't appear that's an option;
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Editing with an edit codec takes a lot of space - this is pretty much unavoidable to maintain as much quality as possible. There are some edit tools that will edit AVCHD natively, but I am not a big fan of editing a distribution codec as the H.264 in the AVCHD container is highly compressed and using multiple AVCHD streams or even just a few generations can create quality loss. If you'd prefer to edit the native files (which would take less space, but you would have to be careful how many generations you create of your video to prevent potentially significant degradation) I've read that Adobe Premiere (possibly elements, but I don't know) will edit native AVCHD.
Usually for my capture work, I use a Panasonic HMC40, Log and Transfer with FCP onto my spool drive. Depending on which machine I'm working on (iMac at work or MacPro at home) has a dramatic effect on the amount of time it takes to import footage.
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2) Data Xfer - need more speed! My MBP 2011-Mar 15" 2.0 GHz i7 quad w/8Gb memory works reasonably well, but moving Gbs of data to my WD ext drives is painful. I use a USB 2.0 connection to my WD 3Tb drive, and have recently purchased a 6Tb WD quad interface (USB 2.0, FW400/800 and eSATA), and i have it connected via FW 800. Since Apple decided to remove the card slot from the 13/15" MBP's, i'm left with the Thunderbolt option, but the storage is $$$ ($200/300 per Tb) on the LaCie drives. I have found an option for a Tunderbolt to eSATA via card-slot adapter thru Sonnet Technologies - Creativity Stored Here? which will bump me from the 800 Mbps to 1.5/3.0 Gbps ... however it's $150 for the ext card slot device, $50 for the TB cable and $20/25 for the eSATA card (ouch!)...any other thoughts?
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Well, I know it seems expensive, but it's a lot cheaper then getting a thunderbolt drive array. As I mentioned in the earlier paragraph, my speed on import is dependent on several things. CPU and HD throughput are my biggest issues at work. At work I use an older iMac (2GHz C2D, 2Gig ram) and my spool drive is a USB 2.0 drive and ~1 hr of footage takes 2-3 hrs to import (which includes importing, transcoding to edit codec and saving to the external). At home, I have a Mac Pro (2.8GHz 2x quad xeon, 8 gig ram) and my spool drive is one of the internal SATA drives, 1hr of footage usually takes significantly less then 1 hr to import.
Another thing that may improve your speed - if your camera is recording to SDHC card - is to get a high speed card reader and take the card out of the camera and put it in the reader. Many (not all mind you) camcorders tend to be much slower transferring data over USB cable then a decent/good quality card reader.
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3) Encoding/Production - need to accelerate! The amount of time it takes to import/convert the raw files to usable files appears to be 3/4 to almost full time of the video. I have checked out accellerators, and found the external USB Elgato turbo.264 HD that runs approximately $100 which from review appears to accelerate the process somewhere between importing my raw files from my Canon Vixia to the final iDVD creation, but not exactly sure where...somewhere. Any thoughts or experience with this?
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I have never used the turbo.264 product so I can't comment on it intelligently. It may help you, but I can't confirm it. I don't know if their software will interface or function when importing into iMovie or if their software can convert directly into AIC for iMovie.
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4) FCE/FCP - should i cough-up the $$$ and move from iMovie to one of these? I put in floating arrows in my kids highlight videos that i create, do some basic editing (check out example posts in youtube under jmossersr)... have started using the replay, slow motion, speed-up, flash and other 'basic' editing and it appears i have used what iMovie offers and it's 'ok'...what am i missing and is it worth the upgrade?
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The current FCP (FCPX) is not much more money then FCE with arguably more features. Although I don't use FCPX (I use the older FCP7 and FCP6 that were part of FCS box sets), from what I've read it would offer many tools that you could use. But, it is a LOT of money to just edit home movies. Before layout out the cash for FCPX, I'd suggest getting the trial version to see if it will work for you. See:
Apple - Final Cut Pro X - Trial
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5) 1080p/HD Videos - want better quality playback! So - i have noticed that while i record in 1080p, produce in 1080p (media browser), i cannot cut a DVD in HD/1080p unless i get a BluRay burner...it appears that OWC has some nice ext units ranging from $125/$200 - any thought/other options are does that just about do it for my options for viewing on my TV in 1080p from a completed disk?
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You won't be able to cut a bluray anyway with iDVD - it doesn't support bluray. You would need a separate authoring tool to handle bluray discs (or even creating an AVCHD DVD). Plus you need a bluray burner to burn a bluray disc. Apple is a bit behind the times in terms of quality bluray tools. FCPX can export to bluray (or AVCHD DVD) or you can use toast with the HD plugin and author a bluray or AVCHD DVD.
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6) Toast??? - what else is needed to burn/produce in 1080p/HD? It appears that i'll need Toast Pro (approx $100) or additional SW to actually burn in the BluRay format, as the drive itself and accompanying sw won't be enough...so, is my total bill/invoice need both the ext BluRay burner AND a Toast-like application?
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No matter what system (whether it be Mac or PC) to burn a bluray disc, you would need a bluray burner. DVD burners can't burn a bluray disc. DVD drives can burn AVCHD DVD discs (basically HD video on a DVD, but you can't store too much as DVDs just don't have near as much space as a bluray disc does).
A valid question is do you want/need a disc copy? Unless you want to store them like that or give copies to other people, you may want to consider just exporting to an MP4 that you can play back on other devices (including PS3's). Just things to think about before you outlay some serious cash - I know I don't have a bluray burner (not that I wouldn't love one if I had the spare cash), usually I burn regular DVDs, AVCHD DVD's (if the content is short enough) or just render out to files that I can play back on other devices or stream to my ATV2.