will mac book and/or mac book pro play high definition (hd) video?

[robfilms]

will the new intel mac books and/or mac book pros play high definition (hd) video shot from a high definition video camera (panasonic hvx200 or canon xh a1)

thanks in advance

be well

rob

[mikebw]

You may find some answers here: http://www.barefeats.com

[Gareth]

Given that my PowerBook G4/1.67 will play back 720/24p files from an HVX200, I certainly hope the MacBook Pro will too. Can't remember if I've loaded any 1080i footage.

Note the bigger problem (with the HVX200 at least) is that it only records HD to P2 PC Cards (SD can go to tape), and the MacBook Pro has an incompatible ExpressCard slot (and nothing on the MacBook), so I'm not sure how you'd load your files. The USB based P2 store is flakely on the Mac, in my limited experience. Never looked into it further since I have a PC Card slot on my PowerBook.

[chas_m]

My BlackBook plays back HD video no problem. You can, of course, check it out for yourself:

1. Go to nearest Apple seller.
2. Download HD movie trailer from apple.com
3. Play it on their demo machine.

[loveshine]

Do you just want to play it or do you want to edit it?
I have a Sony Z1U 1080i HDV and I can use Final Cut Pro to edit on my MacBook but if I had it to do again, I would absolutely get a MacBook Pro. FCP is crippled and will not play the full frame Desktop Cinema mode on the MacBook. Apple say's it's because of the lack of a video card.

[robfilms]

gareth-

i do a lot of studio work/mostly talking heads and was thinking of recording directly to an intel imac 20" hard drive. was wondering what u thought of the hvx200? the images i've seen are great but i have not been able to incorporate the p2 into my workflow. thoughts?

chas-

your suggestion is a very good one (and i apologize that i didn't think of that!) i will be in manhattan later this week and will do the download at the soho store and report back.

loveshine-

i'm seriously looking at the new canon xh-a1 to shoot hdv which i would then drop into a fcp timeline. your comments about the macbook are much appreciated. i wonder if the video card issue would also apply to the more current mac book c2d? if so, i imagine the mac book pro is the only way to go for both portability and full frame final cut. i wonder if an imac c2d 20" is a possibility. thoughts?

thanks in advance to all who shared their experiences.

be well

rob

[loveshine]

rob,

Keep in mind that an HD downloaded movie trailer from Apple will be H.264 (Mpeg 4).

You will want to get video that is in the exact same codec as the camera(s) you are looking at. HDV codec or DVCproHD codec.

The Canon records 1080i HDV (interlaced) like the other hdv cameras with the cool exception that is also has it's own 24F frame rate which essentially gives you a resultant 24p (progressive) using HDV.

The HVX200 records using the DVCPro HD codec. (60i,30p or 24p if you are at 1080 & 60p,30p or 24p if you are at 720).
As far as the newer MacBook or iBook I have not checked out their performance. I assume they are intentionally crippling the capabilites so we need to buy Pro machines for the Pro apps.

You might also want to check out the brand new Sony V1U CMOS camera. The only downside is that Final Cut doesn't yet support it's 24p mode but it will soon.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Playing trailers from the Apple site is fine and dandy but I have serious misgivings about the regular MacBook playing 1080p off either a HD-DVD or BL-DVD when a new Core Duo PC is maxed out when using a Radeon X1600.

[chas_m]

I'm sure Filliam is right ... playing 720p or 1080i video is one thing, but full 1080p? I doubt the MacBook can handle it w/o dropping frames. Heck, if someone told me the 1080i was dropping frames occasionally I'd believe it.

PS. for those watching HD movie trailers on the MacBook, download the Ratatouille (upcoming Pixar) trailer. This looks FABULOUS and is a great eye-popping demo of HD for the unwashed.