Notebook/Laptop for DV Rack/field monitoring?

MH_Stevens wrote on 12/7/2005, 9:59 AM

Having just survived my second major heart surgery I need reward myself with some extravagance. As I like shoot seeing a histogram ( because I get so bored with Sony Levels in Vegas on every scene) I thought I might get a laptop and DV Rack for field monitoring. I live in the sunny world and I'm concerned about just being able to see the screen outdoors and things like how to mount the laptop in relation to the camera and concerned to get a laptop powerful enough to run Vegas too.

Can anyone with DV Rack/Laptop experience give some advice please.

Mike Stevens

Comments

BrianStanding wrote on 12/7/2005, 2:23 PM

I'm really happy with my Sony VAIO GRT-250. It's a somewhat older model, with a P4 2.8Ghz in it. I use it with DV Rack. The screen is very bright, visible in daylight. It has enough horsepower to do some real editing, a built-in iLink port for the DV camcorder, and will let you swap out the DVD-/+R/W drive for a second battery.

On the down side, it's heavy as lead, a huge battery hog (I get maybe 1.5 hours with two batteries loaded) and the screen is VERY susceptible to smudges and difficult to clean. (Vinegar and distilled water seems to work best -- no doubt I'm violating all kinds of warranty limits, but oh, well.) Also, you'll likely need to invest in another hard drive and an external enclosure to capture to. Make sure you get an enclosure that can do either USB 2.0 or Firewire. I've had all kinds of problems with more than one firewire device on the bus and XP SP2. Other folks have reported problems with USB 2.0. So, hedge your bets and get an enclosure that will let you use either.

MH_Stevens wrote on 12/7/2005, 8:51 PM

All I really wanted was the histogram and exposure info. I don't mind capturing to tape. Can the laptop be used as a LCD screen/viewfinder for the camera?

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/7/2005, 11:17 PM

Yes.
Just about anything faster than a 3.02 will be fine, even for HDV. If it's DV only, you'll do fine with a slower system. Once you start capturing to HDD, you'll be addicted since there is no capture time. Even my old K-37 manages HDV fine, and it's a 5400 spin drive.

MH_Stevens wrote on 12/7/2005, 11:28 PM

Thanks Spot. So then all I have to do is use CineForm to convert to the intermeadiary and put it on the timeline? Sounds great.

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/8/2005, 12:31 AM

Yup. Take m2t from DV Rack with HDV powerpak and convert that to CineForm, you're ready to rock. No capture time.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 12/8/2005, 6:41 AM

> Having just survived my second major heart surgery

Ouch! That’s a loooong recovery. Glad to hear you’re over that.

I’m using DV Rack with my old IBM T30 laptop without any problems at all. It’s a Mobile Pentium 1.7Ghz. I bought a cheap ($23) Zonet PCMCIA firewire card. I have an external firewire drive and my camera plugged into the firewire card and I capture without any problems at all. DVRack ROCKS! Prepare to get very addicted. ;-)

~jr

MH_Stevens wrote on 12/8/2005, 12:13 PM

Thanks for your good wishes Johnney. This time has been much better than the first time when I had major complications and was in the hospital for 4 weeks. This tine just 6 days.

My filming is all nature outdoors and remote. Carrying a laptop around might be a task. I only need the HISTOGRAM for the FX1 so I ask if there is simpler way - like a small monitor that will fit to the camera and have a histogram or waveform?

Cheers,
Mike