The big advantage with bluray is that you have random access to the files, which means that you do not need to copy to the disk HD to edit, no download time.

EVERYONE who is anyone will be using XDcam or similar in the pro markets, tape is dead. Of course it's really dying and not dead...but it's happening.
Just spent 4 days with a broadcast house that is moving towards, and soon will be tapeless. BluRay is currently the most intelligent standard for this function, and from what I'm hearing from Sony's field guys, the disks aren't that fragile, but it's all hearsay on my part. No experience at all with this media yet.

Yeah but I bet they are quite expensive? Surely to expensive for event/wedding/hobbyists correct?

I really dont know why Vendors never tried to build a camera with a built in hard drive that can be exchanged out with other hard drives. I am not talking about add ons or mounts but actually built into the camera. Would be awesome and save on capture time and if a hard drive fails, just pop another one in there.

This thread is not really staying with the question asked in the topic.. As I understand it, Sony tells people to use Pinnacle to edit XDCam-material shot on a Sony cam..
We've just thrown Pinnacle out because it kept crashing ;)

Bluray disks are $20-30 base on volume, is my understanding. Harddrives generate a lot of EM in operation. A lot of EM can induce noise in the CCD signal processing. HD video band is close to the signal freq. of the disk drive circuitry.

I cannot comment on why they're pushing Pinnacle but given that Vegas cannot edit IMX they have to push something. Bear in mind Sony also give away a cut down version of PP on their VAIOs as well.

Then again the penetration of Vegas is growing dramatically. When I first bought into it not that long ago less than 10% of the people in the industry that I spoke to had heard it, now there's barely anyone who hasn't heard of it and all speak very highly of it.

In all honesty though can anyone imagine the rucus if Sony were bringing out cameras that only Vegas could edit the footage from? Imagine if they had a proprietry deck control protocol that only Vegas / XPRI could use? I'm seeing Panasonic getting closer and closer to Apple for their DVCPRO line, I don't think that bodes well for either of them. No matter how good the format and the edit solution people are naturally suspicious of one stop shops despite all the obvious benefits, just look at all the flack uStuff cops.

Bob.

Thanks everyone for the info. I think Sony tries to get the corporations to require their vendors to use XDCAM as a standard, citing the cost savings for capturing. What about the cost INCREASE due to having to switch from Vegas to a Pinnacle product? Sony is shooting themselves in the foot if they are trying to get us to give up on Vegas just to sell some new technology.

I'm missing your point. Vegas already supports the blu-ray transfers, you won't need to transfer to any other solution. XDCam and Vegas have already shown they can be partners. And I expect that Sony will keep working their customers towards using both, as an end to end Sony solution.

I'm only telling you what I'm hearing from one of my corporate clients. They got the sell from a Sony guy and he told them to use XDCAM and a Pinnacle NLE. I didn't know that Vegas already supported the Blu-ray transfers. If the issue comes up again, I will tell them that. Thanks for the correction.

Spot, can you elaborate on Vegas compatibility? As far as I have been told Vegas can only take the DVCAM stream from XDCAM. If you know different that would be fantastic as I am getting an XDCAM very, very soon!

About the fragility of the XDCAM discs. First off, they are not blu ray but they are based on the same technology. But further to this, all XDCAM discs are permenantly housed in a dust proof case. So there is no chance of stray fingers putting prints all over them or scratching them.

As far as I know this is correct, only the DVCAM stream.
I've heard the same line from the local Sony guys, they were specifically asked if you could use XDCAM with Vegas and the answer was definately not. It's one thing for us here to know this isn't true, it's another thing when Sony themselves don't know it.

But I suspect there's way more significant issues at stake here, only one network down here has put their toe in the water after a lot of financial inducement and they've since taken their toe out of the water and they're not (or can't say) why. I'd imagine it may have more to do with integration into their existing workflow, edit suites etc.

If they were trying to use the IMX like 4:2:2 stream that the camera records then they may have faced significant issues say using that with Avid systems, this may explain why Sony Proffesional are pushing Pinnacle. I'd say if that's the case then they've got a lot of pushing to do, it's one thing to sell a new camera using new technology, telling a network they've got to replace their edit suites as well is quite another.

Much of this is just my idle speculation, certainly if you were looking at this camera for serious ENG use it would pay to talk to someone whose already using it for that purpose, outside of that area and if you only wanted the DVCAM stream then this camera could be an excellent choice, I'm betting Sony will be offering some decent discounts just to get more of them out there.

Bob.

mark30 wrote:
We've just thrown Pinnacle out because it kept crashing ;)

Be advised that the Pinnacle NLE being pushed with XDCAM is not their POS consumer systems. Instead, it's their high-end unit, the Pinnacle Liquid.
Read about the "marriage" of the two in the NAB 2004 press release.

Mike

Heres a question. Why dont we see more of this capability in prosumer type cameras? I would love to get rid of tape and record on discs.

One question about the discs. Are the record once or are they re-recordable?