Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Hey Mac Users: How Can I Capture HD Video?

This is topic Hey Mac Users: How Can I Capture HD Video? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-30-2006, 10:19 AM:

As some of you know, I recently bought at 20" iMac. The fact that it's an iMac is significant because there are no slots for PCI cards, so anything I get would need to be USB or Firewire based. I'm wondering if there's a way to hook up my HD receiver and record the HD content in its native format. I'm thinking I could then manipulate it with Final Cut HD, and burn it to either Blu Ray or HD-DVD when they become a little more mainstream. But I imagine that I need something to go between the HD receiver and the iMac. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-30-2006, 11:58 AM:

I don't think you can do that with an iMac. You can record HDV video over the firewire, but I don't think the iMac has a USB 2 port to record 19 megabits per second. Search Google perhaps.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-30-2006, 01:36 PM:

The new flat panel iMacs have both USB-2 and FireWire-400.

3 USBs and 2 FW.

If you want to take a video input and import it into the iMac you'll need some kind of bridge/converter.

>>> THIS <<< is just one example that I googled up. I don't know if it fits your needs but it's something for you to look at and make a decision. I'm sure you can find other things that do what you want them to do.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-30-2006, 02:14 PM:

To capture HD digital video in any number of formats like (HDV, DVCPRO-HD, HDCAM, etc.) and do so in a reliable and productive manner one typically needs some sort of expensive accelerator card and possibly a really good external RAID setup.

AJA makes a number of different Mac and Windows compatible cards for capturing HD.
AJA Kona for Macintosh
AJA Xena for Windows

Adobe's new Production Studio supports native HDV capture, but requires use of a card such as the AJA Xena|HS to do it.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 05-31-2006, 04:16 AM:

What outputs does your HD receiver have? DVD-D? HDMI?

You may come up against HDCP problems if you try to capture and record HD material. It's far from clear at the moment exactly what will be allowed with HD broadcast material.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-31-2006, 04:27 AM:

HD is already being broadcast... has been for awhile. No HDMI nonsense.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 05-31-2006, 04:53 AM:

How much broadcast HD material is there available over there now?

Over here you can buy 'HD ready' televisions, but there are no broadcasts yet; I think they're due to start later this year. Most new televisions here, except the very small ones like my 14 inch, have been 16:9 for some years now, so widescreen will be nothing new, but HD will be. Support for HDCP is one of the requirements for the 'HD ready' logo sticker. Exactly how much content protection there will be isn't yet clear, but my guess is that a lot of material will soon be protected; it's the way that everything seems to be going these days. I doubt when things settle down the situation here will be much different to it will be over there.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-31-2006, 06:17 AM:

Sky is currently in the midst of saturation advertising for the HD satellite service it's starting in time for the World Cup. Just think: for only £30 a month (once you've bought your HD telly) you can be treated to pin-sharp footage of English football yobs throwing up in the Alexanderplatz and attempting to start World War Three on the Unter den Linden! [thumbsup]

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-31-2006, 08:42 AM:

I've had Dish Network for years, but since I was in an apartment, I only had room for the one dish on my balcony. That means that I only had about six HD channels. Now, since I'm in a house I put up the second dish, and I get about 25 HD channels, some of which have some pretty cool movies on them. Particularly, the Voom Monster channel, but also HD Net Movies, and Universal HD. I thought it would be cool to record these for viewing later. It sounds like it might be more trouble (money) than it's worth at this early stage though. Maybe I'll just wait for a HD-DVD or Blu Ray recorder.

Thanks for the responses.

Posted by Aaron Haney (Member # 747) on 05-31-2006, 09:11 PM:

It sounds like what you really want is a PVR. Your satellite provider probably offers one.

For people who are getting their HD content via cable, you can ask your provider for a cable box with firewire output. In the US, regulations require them to give you such a box if you ask. Unfortunately, I don't believe any such regulation exists for satellite providers. Once you have a box with firewire output, it is very easy to capture the transport stream. Instructions for doing this with a Mac can be found here.

Also, Elgato makes a line of HD capture devices which can be used with the Mac, although it is doubtful any of them would help you get the HD data directly from the satellite into your computer. Their products tend to be more for caputre of over-the-air signals.