capturing from HDV camcorder possible?

[rolexconfuse]

I got a HDV camcorder not to long ago and my workflow involves recording to minDV tape then from there capture to computer via Firewire or component cable using FCP or premiere pro.

And recently I was wondering if it's possible to capture the live HD feed from the camera to my computer via component/firewire capture card if I'm using FCP or Premiere pro. Basically by passing the miniDV tape completely and going directly from the sensor to my pc/mac?

If it's possible would any video card work or would i need on that supports HD streams?

[edDV]

...

If it's possible would any video card work or would i need on that supports HD streams?

Is the Idea to capture HD or SD? I'm confused.

If you want an uncompressed HD stream (SMPTE 292 approx 1.485 Gbps) the Black Magic and AJA cards will do what you want from the component analog or HDMI camcorder ports. You will need a fast heafty RAID to capture at that rate.
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hd/

Most HDV camcorders provide live HDV format over the IEEE-1394 port. This is often used to record to an external hard disk device like the Firestore FS4.

[rolexconfuse]

for HD streams only

[rolexconfuse]

TO go about capturing live HDV format over the IEEE-1394 port of my HDV camcorder i assume I woul still need an Aja or Black magic card correct? Or would I only need a basic firewire card and a editing program?

If i do need on of those cards which of the Aja cards or black magic card do i need?

[edDV]

TO go about capturing live HDV format over the IEEE-1394 port of my HDV camcorder i assume I woul still need an Aja or Black magic card correct? Or would I only need a basic firewire card and a editing program?

If i do need on of those cards which of the Aja cards or black magic card do i need?

If you want HDV it will be there on the IEEE-1394 port (with correct camcorder settings) but you need to verify the software will cap the live stream. It is a software issue with FCP and PPro. I don't have either here to test.

The Firestore FS4 will do it no problem without a computer.

[rolexconfuse]

Oh my fault I was wrong in my question, I meant capture uncompressed HD stream from firewire port. I assume this isn't possible?

If I'm not mistaken isn't Live HDV capture the same as capturing from minidv tape? I don't believe you can capture compress HD directly to right?

[edDV]

Oh my fault I was wrong in my question, I meant capture uncompressed HD stream from firewire port. I assume this isn't possible?

If I'm not mistaken isn't Live HDV capture the same as capturing from minidv tape? I don't believe you can capture compress HD directly to right?

Uncompressed HD capture is not possible over Firewire because data rates exceed 1Gb/s. You would need to build a system capable of working with uncompressed HD which is very expensive.

HDV camcorders compress to a 25Mb/s MPeg2 stream. DV camcorders compress to a 25Mb/s DV format stream. They are different. Many applications can handle a 480i DV stream. HDV requires specialized software. That is why you pay the big bucks for FCP or Premiere Pro 2.

[rolexconfuse]

I know that HDV is a format used to record compressed HDTV video onto standard DV media.

So i'm a little confused when you say live HDV capture over firewire. My impression of "live HDV capture" was always transferring already compressed HD footage that's been capture on DV tape over to a pc using FCP or Premier. I don't believe it was possible to have direct HDV capture to a pc via firewire and bypass recording to dv tape completely. I mean is this possible?

I know that FCP and Premiere offers uncompress HD as a format for capture but the question is would the equipment have to offer the ability to output in uncompress HD as well?

[edDV]

I know that HDV is a format used to record compressed HDTV video onto standard DV media.

So i'm a little confused when you say live HDV capture over firewire. My impression of "live HDV capture" was always transferring already compressed HD footage that's been capture on DV tape over to a pc using FCP or Premier. I don't believe it was possible to have direct HDV capture to a pc via firewire and bypass recording to dv tape completely. I mean is this possible?

I know that FCP and Premiere offers uncompress HD as a format for capture but the question is would the equipment have to offer the ability to output in uncompress HD as well?

HDV is encoded in realtime hardware at the camcorder. What I am saying is live recording is possible and done every day to specialized external hard disk recorders like the FS4. What I can't confirm is whether FCP or Premiere Pro 2 can record the direct stream without transport device control. It is possible but you will have to ask them if they support it.

[rolexconfuse]

I get it now, so basically if the software supports direct HDV capturing then I should have no problems doing it.

But then how can one capture uncompress from a HDV camcorder via a black magic/aja HD capture card? Since HDV happens in real time you would have to disable or turn off HDV compression. And if the camcorder doesn't have an option to choose uncompress HD output would the cards be able to bypass the HDV compression?

[edDV]

I get it now, so basically if the software supports direct HDV capturing then I should have no problems doing it.

But then how can one capture uncompress from a HDV camcorder via a black magic/aja HD capture card? Since HDV happens in real time you would have to disable or turn off HDV compression. And if the camcorder doesn't have an option to choose uncompress HD output would the cards be able to bypass the HDV compression?

Some HDV camcorders offer 1080i monitoring out over analog component or HDMI connections. The controversy by camcorder model is whether the component output originates before or after the hardware HDV encoder. If before, quality could be a bit better. The cost of capturing uncompressed is ~50x higher data rate and ~650GB/hr. That would require a 3-5 drive RAID zero.

[rolexconfuse]

I'll check the canon HV10, i don't think it offers 1080i monitoring over component.

As for the hardware, that i do have.

I'm sorry for this but maybe you can clear up a little bit more for me lol

1080i monitoring out over hdmi/component is needed to record live HDV, this i got and understand

So to do uncompress HD I assume you would also need 1080i monitoring out correct?

Now if this is correct how do you by pass HDV compression since it's builtin the camcorder and done in real time?

[edDV]

I'll check the canon HV10, i don't think it offers 1080i monitoring over component.

As for the hardware, that i do have.

I'm sorry for this but maybe you can clear up a little bit more for me lol

1080i monitoring out over hdmi/component is needed to record live HDV, this i got and understand

So to do uncompress HD I assume you would also need 1080i monitoring out correct?

Now if this is correct how do you by pass HDV compression since it's builtin the camcorder and done in real time?

The HD10 won't have any advantage uncompressed. It is Canon's lowest end single sensor model. Compressed HDV only transfers through the IEEE-1394 cable. HDV is MPeg2 with 25Mb/s data rate and can be captured to a single drive.

Both FCP and Premiere Pro 2 can capture HDV over IEEE-1394. The only question I can't answer is if can they accept the "live" HDV stream. If you have these programs try it yourself.

[rolexconfuse]

thanks for all the help