Dr. Dropout at NAB had a workflow using the JH-3 HDCAM deck downconverting to DVCAM and then over firewire into Vegas. If you can get the footage to a drive, you'll be able to work with the native files in Vegas. With the JH-3 and DVCAM, you're using Vegas as an offline editor.

Really cool though.. from aquisition to ouput, all of it was Sony gear..

mike

so, essentially what you're saying is that Vegas can't edit the photage.

I mean, it has to be downconverted for vegas to handle it right?

what would you suggest using the resulting EDL with?

Vegas CAN edit the footage. However no matter what you edit on you need to factor in the HUGE amount of processing required at that resolution. It's much easier to edit a DV proxy first. As far as I know the only system that can run CineAlta footage out in real time is Sony's XPRI.
There's a few systems that claim they can do it but they only work with 10 bit downconversions. To handle the original 12 bit video everything has to be able to handle monsterous amounts of data in real time.

yeah, perhaps VEgas can edit it, but how would you even get it onto the timeline? Without degrading the quality of the original photage?

Look into the Bluefish cards, I believe they come with a capture utility.
Do you have any concept though of just what your budget needs to be?
You'll be looking at high end SAN disk arrays feeding into a mobo via PCI-X or PCI Express.
You would be FAR better of editing proxies and then taking the project into a HiDef suite, way way cheaper going down that path and a lot less grief.
Like I said as far as I know the Sony XPRI is the only system that can cope with true uncompressed HD. FCP claims it can but again its only 10 not 12 bit res. And we're not talking an out of the box G5 either just to do that.

A few factoids:

HDCAM is not uncompressed in any flavor.

HDCAM of the Cinealta variety is an 8 bit format.

XPRI (shipping version) is an HDCAM-native, 8bit editing environment.

HDCAM SR, the new ultra-high end flavor of HDCAM, is 12 bit RGB.

Vegas 5 cannot capture HDCAM native footage via SDTI or any other method. Vegas 5 CAN capture Cinealta HDCAM footage downconverted to DVCAM using a plain vanilla 1394 connection, which is either built in or an option on every HDCAM deck. No special anything needed for capture/edit of 1394 downconvert- same exact rig as for DV. If you shot your HDCAM original in 24p (as many if not most people do), Vegas can track the original 24p timecode, you can cut on a 24p Vegas timeline, you can deliver a 24p DVD (which looks GREAT by the way, yes from DVCAM source), you can export an AVID-ready 24p EDL or you can export an XML project for online finishing in Sony XPRI. We've worked closely with the XPRI team on this interchange feature, which will debut with XPRI 7.0 (July '04). It works well and is a great workflow option for you independent/quality-concious film makers out there. Think of it: HDCAM> Vegas>XPRI>HD Master/Film-out. All ready to go NOW.

Last but not least, you can do your entire movie soundtrack in Vegas, the way YOU want it, at minimal cost. If you need OMF or whatever to finish your audio elsewhere, then EDL Convert Pro is a couple hundred bucks and can transform a .veg file to just about every other DAW's project format with no headaches.

"you can cut on a 24p Vegas timeline, you can deliver a 24p DVD (which looks GREAT by the way, yes from DVCAM source), "

I think most people would be surprised just how good this looks due to great aquisition. Lots of direct to video films are done this way, shot on HiDef, downconverted, cut and output at DV25...

mike

You are right Cheno as usual- but don't forget you can entirely bypass rendering to DV25 at the end and go right to MPEG-2 for DVD or render to the BF or BMD codecs and output SD or HD SDI- doesn't get much cleaner than SDI.

yeah.. I meant to say Mpeg2..... ugh... I type to fast...

SonyEPM,
excellent info there, cleared up a lot in my mind. It'd be nice if we were to hear a lot more about what's going on in the skunkworks, not that too many of us likely to be working with such high end kit anytime soon but at least knwoing that this can be done and done using Vegas would help us hold our heads up even higher.

Actually, I'll be making a substantial HD investment in the next few months, and I'm just getting some background info. I'd prefer to use Vegas, as I use it it for my SD editing right now.

However, it sounds as though the photage has to be downconverted before it can be edited on the vegas timeline.

I suppose the question is, what is the difference between sony cinealta HDcam and DVcam? Would the loss in quality be a real issue. Please don't be ambiguous in your responses. Obviously this question is dependant upon the prespectives of those answering it. This is precisely why I'm asking...

The buyer is interested in creating an entirely digital environment with the capability of producing a film look. From my prespective the 24 progressive frames seems to accomplish this even in lower end equipment like the Panasonic AGDVX100a. The added vertical resolution and absence of interlaced artifacts makes a huge difference. The HDWF900's 1080x1920 resolution will be an even greater leap.

What is effected in the down conversion process from HDcam to DVcam? Will there be any visual artifacts? These are the questions that I need to have answered before I move forward.

Does anyone know where I can find more info on the XPRI system?

HAs Sony managed to incorporate any of VEgas' great architecture into the XPRI system or will it be like greek to me?

Does anyone here know if the Kona 2 HD card works with Vegas 5?

I've done a little more research and it has become clear that t here is no way my computer can handle HD effectively, so I'll be upgrading a great deal of hardware as well.