Basicly, if you want full quality, go uncompressed. RAID storage is there, workstation hardware is there. Leave the comprssed stuff to Win/Mac users with their FinalCutPro-type software. Real users want DigiBeta and an Onyx3000 running Discreet Inferno or IFX Piranha.).
I co-own a small production studio, and am one of those Mac users with FinalCutPro-type software, and I've seen this attitude before. I edit a weekly TV show that is shot on BetaSP, and edited in Final Cut Pro. With properly calibrated equipment I have seen NO difference in quality between video edited on Inferno or Avid and video edited on FCP.
Yes, when I capture video onto my Mac it gets compressed, but it's still 1 Gig per 5 minutes, and it looks as good as the source Beta tape. I've done complex composting and effects on it and it comes out beautifully. The only downside is that it has to be captured in real-time, then dumped back to tape in real-time.
If you read the forums at sites like 2-pop you'll see that most people are unimpressed with the quality jump from modern digitized (and compressed) video to fully uncompressed video and RAID storage. The show I edit is done on about $20,000 worth of hardware (half of which is the BetaSP deck) and (as far as I can tell) is indistinguishable from video edited on $100,000 Avid system.
I don't mean to be belligerent about this, but this argument always reminds me of the vinyl vs. CD debates. It's really splitting hairs. Compressed video doesn't just mean Realplayer 56k streams. The abilities of those operating the equipment has as much to do with the quality of the output as the hardware you're using.
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I co-own a small production studio, and am one of those Mac users with FinalCutPro-type software, and I've seen this attitude before. I edit a weekly TV show that is shot on BetaSP, and edited in Final Cut Pro. With properly calibrated equipment I have seen NO difference in quality between video edited on Inferno or Avid and video edited on FCP.
Yes, when I capture video onto my Mac it gets compressed, but it's still 1 Gig per 5 minutes, and it looks as good as the source Beta tape. I've done complex composting and effects on it and it comes out beautifully. The only downside is that it has to be captured in real-time, then dumped back to tape in real-time.
If you read the forums at sites like 2-pop you'll see that most people are unimpressed with the quality jump from modern digitized (and compressed) video to fully uncompressed video and RAID storage. The show I edit is done on about $20,000 worth of hardware (half of which is the BetaSP deck) and (as far as I can tell) is indistinguishable from video edited on $100,000 Avid system.
I don't mean to be belligerent about this, but this argument always reminds me of the vinyl vs. CD debates. It's really splitting hairs. Compressed video doesn't just mean Realplayer 56k streams. The abilities of those operating the equipment has as much to do with the quality of the output as the hardware you're using.