Hi gang,

I have just purchased a HVX200, a FireStore, and a cheap laptop for storage (250 GB); and am looking into where to go from here.

I come from the writing and directing end of the industry and have rented this camera for previous shoots at the behest of my cinematorapher. So, now I have made the purchase, I have some catch-up learning to do.

On previous shoots, my DP and editor handled capturing on a laptop via firewire on the set, and although I tried to look over their shoulders whenever I wasn't having to explain to an actor what their motivation was for being dead in the scene, I didn't get as much of a chance to pick their brains as I would have liked.

So, on the laptop I need to have a program for capturing purposes, right? I am assuming this means Final Cut Pro (and/or Avid) or is there some other way of doing this?

Do I need to do anything special in the FireStore to fascilitate the editing (i.e. a particular file type, etc.)?

If I did not have a program for "capturing" on the laptop and used the FireStore for that purpose, can I simply transfer the contents of the FireStore to the laptop's hard drive for storage, and then transfer it to another (desktop) computer later for editing? Or, do I have to go directly from the FireStore into a computer with a "capture" program?

Thanks in advance for all your advice.

Perry

Yeah your going to need a program, maybe a firestore would have done you good justice. You can definitely get a wealth of advice from two more places:

www.dvxuser.com

and

www.dvinfo.net

A lot of experienced users on those two sites.

If you are capturing to a computer, then I suspect your DP was using a Mac and Final Cut Pro. The HVX200 outputs DVCPROHD if you are using the high definition mode. And, you need software that will handle the Panasonic-specific MXF format. Apple converts MXF into its own format for editing. The Firestore just plugs in and captures the video. Then, you copy it over to the computer for editing. The Firestore is the way to go for most mobility and ease of capture.