A client who purchased a Panasonic HDX900 Camera from us noticed a problem when importing footage from his camera through firewire. He used a FireStore to capture footage on set and then brought it into Final Cut Pro. The problem was that his audio levels seemed completely off. In the field he had set his levels to around -18db and when he brought them into FCP they were significantly lower. He called me wondering what the problem could be and I wasn’t sure either. So I tested the same setup here and had the same problem. My levels were consistently lower despite setting Channels 1 and 2 to a signal generator. After turning off a couple audio channels I discovered the source of the confusion.

…continue reading Final Cut Pro Stereo Downmix Confusion

Today Sony announced a free firmware upgrade to the PMW-EX30 deck. Originally the deck would only record 1080/60i, 1080/50i, or 720/60p signals. With the firmware upgrade you will be able to record 1080 in 23.98 PsF or 30 PsF. This is a great and long awaited enhancement. Now the unit can record the PsF output from the EX3 or EX1 (with 1.11 firmware) or any other PsF HDSDI source. I test our EX30 and was also able to playback 24P material in PsF. This allows quick dubbing (without pulldown) to a tape deck like an HDCAM or HDCAM SR deck.

They have also added the following useful updates:

1, Selection of whether 16; 9 information is embedded on Down-converted SD video outputs or not
(On/Off).
2. All Clip Copy function to copy all the clips from Slot A to B (and vice versa)
3. Down-converted DV output via i.LINK, during the HQ mode playback, as well as SP mode playback.

The upgrade is listed for the following serial numbers: 100,001 to 1,01113. Upgrades are free but must be sent to Sony at users expense.