marsonpee Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 Hello I have been presented with the ultimate nightmare AV project (for me anyways), I am designing lights for the show but have to do AV as well. The task is to have a motorised video camera that is pre-programmed to move to certain positions and do various things like zoom etc, over this live feed would be some fake computer code/date/time and other stuff which resembles hi-tech surveilance big brother/1984 style. The issue I have is I don't know where to begin, I guess I would need a motorised camera with suitable software, then another piece of software which has the overlaid images and mixing the live feed with that. Can anybody suggest any solutions such as certain video cards, cameras, software etc? I have looked at one camera which is a Sony EVI-D100P but not sure if this would help? Thanks in advance for any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 On the camera front, have a look at some of the "dome cameras" intended for the CCTV market. Fairly unobtrusive, built-in pan/tilt/zoom, low cost and acceptable quality. Most have simple controllers which can be pre-programmed with half a dozen presets, or control via RS232. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 Many security VCRs have video overlay for time and date, and thus you loop your composite video input through the VCR, and get a stamped video out, even without recording. There are always loads of shagged security VCRs out there, as they mechanically die due to running 24/7 well before the electronics give up. Call a CCTV service house they'll probably give you a few to get them off their hands :) Or, you could look at this: Dontronics video overlay kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampcats Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 the old VTG128 title generators can be picked up for a song on ebay - 16 pages of graphics custom selectable position / size / shade - button selectable or scrolling - ebaying for about a tenner - there is a 228 on ebay at the moment - great old style characters, slightly grainy compared to 'modern' systems (I got one for a tenner for a similar use - text for a live video overlay) the big issue with cctv cameras is quality - you seem to have sorted that one out already by optioning the use of a 460 line camera with integral PTZ - complete with software...good find!! - I'll have to remember that one for a gig I'm doing in August.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 there is a 228 on ebay at the momentTook me a couple of minutes to find it (I must be getting old) so Heres a link to the auction, currently a £1.80 with no reserve... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsonpee Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hey guys, thanks for the information already. One thing I might have not explained properly is the time code/date etc will have to be from the pc or something because they wanted a "cyber" type thing where they wanted some pre-recorded footage along with mission statements etc, they are wanting it to basically look like a high-tec computer on a space ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Simple chroma keying would work - have a computer feed of the text with a solid background which you feed through an el-cheapo chroma key unit, using the video source as the background source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back_ache Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 If the camera takes RS232 it would be fairly easy for a programmer to knock together an app for to control the camera, they could even write an app that allows you to control it via DMX (as you are doing the lighting anyway) Simple chroma keying would work - have a computer feed of the text with a solid background which you feed through an el-cheapo chroma key unit, using the video source as the background source. you could get the same programmer to knock somthing up to do the graphic generation as well, again even controlled via DMX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noiseboy909 Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I would use the DMX version of arkaos. It can handle live mixing of 4 cameras, overlay graphics and do lots more and all be controlled by DMX from your main desk.You'll need a suitable pc or mac and £400 for the software but it'll work. As for the camera movement, do it like others have suggested or simply gaffer it to the side or a mac250 and then control the mac as normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back_ache Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Here's another solution Use a robotic network camera from someone like http://www.axis.com you could then have a simple cat5 cable running to a pc with some straightforward custom software which then runs to the projector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Try talking to E.T.C. or XL Video - they are doing that sort of thing all the time. Many companies are quite generous to industry related courses because they want you to be using their kit when you gave graduated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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