HDV to SD conversion

[Empty V]

FCP is certainly a killer app for the Mac. No doubt. However, I can do just about as much in Vegas though I won't say it's as easy. The Achilles heel of Vegas is camera support, but since nearly everyone is shooting Sony underwater, it's a no brainer.

I gotta say that if I was ever gonna edit on a PC Avid is choice #1 (only because I know it somewhat, but always need help troubleshooting it, and own a system) and Vegas is #2. As much as I dislike Sony, Vegas is a decent program and with version 6 they really made a step forward. I think version 6 was when they came out with the option to have the conforming timeline where you can drop any filetype into it and it will automatically conform to whatever it is set to. Please correct me if I'm wrong with that because Apple got that from someone and put it in their last release. I still don't think it is as flexible and user friendly as FCP though. I guess every program has it's benefits and faults. Some of avid's biggest faults are that's it's hideous to look at and a real pain to figure out. But once you get used to it, it starts to kind of almost partially make a little bit of some kind of sense

I'm really hoping that soon another camera company will make their way into the consumer u/w market and blow sony out of the water. I'm so not a fan. $499 isn't bad if you already own a PC. But if you need a new computer and are looking for something that will enable you to edit video in a consumer and professional capacity and that will last for many many years, buying an Apple has it's advantage. I've got an old Powerbook G4 Titanium from 2000 that's still runs great. To this day I will use it on location to make quick edits in FCP and really rough composites in After Effects, if that's not a testament of solid craftsmanship I don't know what is. So you have to look at it as more than a one time software purchase it's an investment that will most likely(and I say most likely because nothing is for certain with any computer/software manufacturer) outlast many many generations of PCs. Plus the support is outstanding. I had a freak failure on my 3.5 year old G5 Desktop that I purchased for about $3K and within a week they replaced it with top of the line $4,500 setup at no charge. I know this isn't thread wasn't supposed to be about this but the last thing I'll say is that don't forget you're not just paying for the hardware, you're paying for a much more stable operating systems, and no one is going to deny that. No Viruses, no crashes, just smooth computer goodness. I've had about 5 friends move over in the past few months from PC to Apple and they're all going nuts over it.

So back to DV and HDV conversion, I say use compressor if you've got an apple and FCP.

Billy

 

[sharksdelight]

I've been using FCP since its inception and the learning curve has dropped dramatically since then. Before FC, there was the exorbitantly expensive Avid system and, I believe, a very quirky and problematic Premier Pro for PC users. Most editing was linear then, often with Videonics mixers, generators and controllers which were never frame accurate. Today there are several PC only NLEs that really do a commendable job, however, I will stick to my Mac. Not that Mac does not have its issues as well. My new MacBook Pro shipped with Leopard and I have not had problems but I haven't installed Leopard into my dual core Mac Pro because of all the issues it has raised. I do disagree with Billy however that editing SD footage was difficult. Compared to shooting with HDV, SD was a dream.
Steve