March 2005 Archives
Avid Technology has announced future compatibility in the Avid Xpress HD software with the HDV format. Currently version 5.0 supports DVCPro 50, and DVCPro 100, and version 5.1 will support the new HDV format as well.
No official news from Apple in regards to any upgrades to Final Cut Pro, although rumors run high about possible upgrade features.
Both Avid and Apple plans to releases upgrades to their video editing products at NAB in Las Vegas.
A comparison of Final Cut Pro HD and Avid Xpress HD is available to help new users decide which software product may be best.
Both Avid and Final Cut Pro have news ways of dealing with 24P footage.
When it doubt, always use advanced pull down mode within the DV Camera. This mode makes it easier for the software to calculate the original 24 frames when recording your material from mini-dv tape.
Currently Final Cut Pro 4.5 HD supports both normal and advanced pull-down methods. The current version of Avid Xpress Pro HD does not. However, plans to incorporate both methods into Avid Press Pro 5.1 HD has been announced.
If your system is experience dropped frames when recording 24P material, it may be because you did not shoot in the 24P advanced mode, this requiring extra processing power to perform the conversion.
One last note. Most prosumer cameras use the term 24P. However, 24P is not really an option available to the mini-dv format. It is actually 23.976. This is important, because in order to stay in sync with 48K audio, you must shoot at 23.976, NOT 24P. Don’t worry, if you are shooting in the mini-dv format, you won’t have a choice. It will automatically record at 23.976, even though the settings may say 24P.
If you are using a high-end HD camera, such as DVCPro HD, it is important to take note of whether you are shooting at 24P, or 23.976P. DO NOT shoot at 24P unless you are recording your audio as a separate source and you have the ability to speed up your audio .1%. Some professional DAT machines allow you to record audio at 47094kHZ which would stay in sync with video recorded at 24P.
iDVD 4.0 does not allow you to burn a DVD using an external DVD Burner. However, a hack exsists that unlocks a hidden menu that allows iDVD 4.0 to recognize external burners. It also allows you to create an image file of the DVD.
With an image file you could also use Toast to burn a DVD on an external DVD burner.
For those of you who have upgraded to iLife 5.0, the new iDVD 5.0 does allow you to create disk images of your DVD, without having to utilize a hack.
