10.0

Using the Panasonic VariCam
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Using the Panasonic VariCam
The Panasonic VariCam
®
(Panasonic AJ-HD1200A) allows the recording of frame rates between
1fps and 60fps. For example, material captured at 24 frames per second and played back at 24
frames per second has no speed change, but the same action captured at 48 frames per second
and played back at 24 frames per second runs at 50% speed (slow motion).
The 720p format is always recording to a progressive 60 (59.94) frame tape format. The camera
achieves the different frame rates by flagging the “true” frames within the 60 frame sequence.
Your Avid editing application detects these flags and captures and stores only these frames.
When the material plays back at the project’s frame rate, the result is either slow or fast motion.
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If you capture audio, it will be out of sync.
To use the VariCam camera with your Avid editing application:
1. Connect the VariCam camera through a 1394 (FireWire) port on your computer.
2. Select a 720p project format.
3. Either select or deselect “Preserve VariCam Frames” in the Capture tool:
t When this option is deselected (the default), your Avid editing application observes the
flags in the video stream and only captures those frames. This type of capture results in
slow or fast motion depending on original recording speed.
t When this option is selected, your Avid editing application captures every frame (all 60
frames), essentially ignoring the flagged frames.