Vegas - NX5 - AVCHD - SD for Edit?

Grazie wrote on 6/7/2010, 10:19 PM

OK, and reading the other truly informative thread, I have just done some further reading and the penny just dropped fr me in as much as this camera - SONY NX5 (apologies Leslie I meant the NX5, not just the X5 - correct?) - can simultaneously record to SD and HD on each of the 2 record devices - yes? In which case I would download and edit in SD and then swap out to the HD media? Would that be an option for me? Or would it be just better to transcode to something within Vegas?

Apologies if this is just a plain stupid observation/thought but I really would like to nail this HD upgrade path.

The NX5 appears to have all I want - except for saving that assurance of an on-the-shelf tape-backup option.

Grazie

Comments

ushere wrote on 6/7/2010, 10:40 PM

apologise for what grazie!?

there's so many serial numbers / acronyms / and plain old part numbers that sound similar it's just as well we're all pretty much well versed in knowing what someone else 'means', even when they don't know themselves ;-)

can't speak from experience of the (n)x5 - but i can see where you're coming from....

for me, a tape on the shelf is the equivalent of money in the bank. true, since i also record to cf nowadays i haven't bothered with the tape (other than spot checking during rewind), but i have (mistakenly) erased some video files from a hard drive, spent hours looking through the 20 or so hd's i have with material on them (yes, i've downloaded whereisit, but that means i actually have to 'scan' all my material first before it's 'at my fingertips'), and had a old maxtor ex hd cark it when turned on after not being used for 3 years.

as for your sd + hd simultaneously - i know i can record hd to tape and sd to card, however, i'm not sure about the other way around - not that i'd want to anyway. i find editing hd pretty easy on my i7/920/6gb/win7/64/vegas9e/64 (now there's a bunch of numbers!) that i wouldn't think to bother with anything else - and of course - i can spit out anything the client cares for when finished.

i get some avchd stuff in occasionally, which, for simple stuff, i edit directly on the tl without hassle, however, if it's going to take some cc'ing, fx'ing, or the like, i usually transcode to mxf.

i believe you get more battery life out of the nx, but that would be obvious not having to run a tape transport, but with a 970 battery i'm good for a few hours, and with 4 of them....

i know exactly what you're going through - you have my sympathy.

and if i buy it today, tomorrow they'll bring out a full size cmos with all the trappings for the same price......

oi vey, decisions, decisions, decisions....

Grazie wrote on 6/8/2010, 12:28 AM

> oi vey - indeed . . . .

There are some additional features. The NX5 does have full 422 out through an SDI portal. Well not a major concern for me, but I'd like to think I could do studio CK with a bit more clarity. PLUS the FLASH unit is located on the side of the NX5 - I believe this is not the case with the X5?

Also, Leslie, do you know of any SONY/"other" wide adaptor PLUS a tele I could twist on?

The form factor is just very close to my aging XM2 that I think it would suit me.

http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowContent.action?articlesection=5&site=biz_en_GB&contentId=1237478237111Here's a review by Nigel Cooper[/link] that brings a real "hands-on" no-nonsense angle to using the NX5.

Grazie

farss wrote on 6/8/2010, 12:45 AM

My main concern would be if the SD mpeg-2 that the optional Cf card recorder would be as easy to edit as SD DV.
The next concern would be if the SD recorded by the unit would be frame accurate with what the camera recorded to AVCHD. As Vegas doesn't do matchback to timecode you'd be relying on both units going in and out of record at exactly the same frame. They may well do but something I strongly urge you to TEST THOROUGHLY.

All the options regarding using DIs have been done to death previously here.
From my own experience the whole 'tapeless' thing isn't all its cracked up to be, at least not with XDCAM EX. By the time I dump cards, back them up and convert to MXF capturing tape don't seem so slow. If I had to render proxies I'd be calling "TAXI !"

The other issue not to overlook is how all this sits with your shooting style, workflow and mindset. HDDs are dirt cheap but you've still got to shuffel the data around. You've got to be able to find files easily. You have to be pretty rigorous. Not everyone has someone else to do this on a shoot or an assistant editor. On the other hand maybe you're totally organised and none of this will faze you in the least. The most important thing I feel is to not to let your creativity become the slave of process.

Bob.

ushere wrote on 6/8/2010, 2:05 AM

Also, Leslie, do you know of any SONY/"other" wide adaptor PLUS a tele I could twist on?

funnily enough i was doing the same sort of thinking when i bought my z5 :-)

now, after a few shoots, covering my usual territory - horses, interviews, srt-up's, (no chroma-key so far). i can say the following:

a. apparently if you want a wa, the sony one looks to be the best (adam wilt did a great review of it)

b. having used it in nearly every conceivable location i'm likely to come across, i neither need a wa (a fish eye might be fun), nor a tele - but then again, the z5 has a 20x lens - which tracking galloping horses in paddocks is adequate - and given my new sachtler, as smooth as silk.

c. investing in a decent mb was money well spent. not only for a rotating cpl which certainly brings a natural 'punch' to outdoor scenes, but nd's and grads as well (as if i'm really THAT interested in dof ;-))

d. i would hazard a guess that with a 'good' wa (and perhaps a mb?), you'll find the camera even less well balanced and a pig to hold on hand held shots - let alone running out of sliding plate on tripod.....

bob's comments are really well worth looking into - my work flow is much faster than when i was tape only - that said, if there wasn't a tape i could see myself spending a lot of time 'backing-up' stuff to hd's (not really THAT fast when you're moving 5/6 hrs of material), and when i do have to transcode avchd, that too is time consuming....

and as bob pointed out

[i]The other issue not to overlook is how all this sits with your shooting style, workflow and mindset. HDDs are dirt cheap but you've still got to shuffle the data around. You've got to be able to find files easily. You have to be pretty rigorous. Not everyone has someone else to do this on a shoot or an assistant editor[i/]

i consider myself organised (many would say anal), but as i wrote before, finding stuff on hd's is NO fun at all. a well documented label on a tape speaks volumes....

my only wish is for scenalyser to work with m2t!!!

Grazie wrote on 6/8/2010, 3:22 AM

Truly very helpful L.

I'm am organised, but I do rely heavily on Media Manager. I bet I could arrange separate MM Libraries for each Hard drive I slot into my SNAP caddie. Now that would be interesting?

Best regards

Grazie

farss wrote on 6/8/2010, 5:39 AM

I can (again) highly recommend WhereIsIt?

As Leslie says you do have to remember to keep the catalog up to date but aside from that one of the best applications I've bought and unlike MM it does catalog everything. Another possibly useful feature is there's a free reader only version that doesn't need to be installed so you can carry a copy of your catalog(s) and the app on a thumb drive to use on any PC in the field.

Bob.