sah1510 Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Wondering if some of you could help me out here... I am doing some research into video/graphics vision mixing hardware. I need a solution to 'mix' or 'cut' between realtime live video and some simple graphical element (like a lower-third title or full title). I have done a lot of google-ing but there's just some of all this video jargon I just don't understand. Thankyou in advace! Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 If it's all video (i.e. composite, SVideo or Y/C, RGB etc) then a 'simple' Vision mixer, through to a full scale production mixer will do the job, depending on what the job is... It gets complicated when you try and mix the video sources with 'Data' or computer graphics with the video. Due to the difference in resolutions the video either needs to be 'Scaled' up to meet the data resolution, or the data 'Scanned' down to meet the video resolutions. Useful link here Scanning down Data looses detail. Scaling up the video can introduce artefacts and can't increase the quality, but it can allow you to mix Powerpoint with video. With reference to what we do, we generally aim to scale the video up. Using a good scaler with the right settings can go a long way. That way if it's mixed with PowerPoint, the detail and text remains crisp. That said there are gigs where we are predominantly running video (say three cameras and DVD) and they want to get PowerPoint in, so we'd scale the PPT down. Again Horses for courses, and dependant on the clients budget/quality ratio. So, the question is what are your sources in terms of their output? And also what terms are causing confusion? If you throw some in I'm sure we'd be more than happy to help explain them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sah1510 Posted November 16, 2007 Author Share Posted November 16, 2007 Wow, thanks! It would be an output to a small / medium projector, not too sure of exact details but I can find out soon enough if you need them. If, like you say, inserting data is realy going to 'confuse' things then I am probly better leaving it out. That said, in terms of cost, what price range am I looking at to inclue 'data'? does it increase the price terrably. That's all I'm looking into for the moment so any other information wuold be brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 It is largely a budget issue. For example - the Edirol V440 has more than what you need 4 SD (composite) inputs, 4 HD (component/data/etc) inputs, chroma key (which makes title-ing easy), various mix patterns (which allows half&half etc) as well as the ability to do a separate SD (composite) mix (great for doing records where you just want camera and maybe DVD) - but it is certainly not cheap. When you add a scalling to the mix, the price seems to jump exponentially. That said, if you are buying new - these days HD mixers are the majority of the market place, and SD mixers are becoming a rareity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sah1510 Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 Thanks, I have been looking into people like Edirol and NewTek and I was amazed at the sort of things that these peices of kit could do. I was also amazed at the prices, I was expecting something like £1,000 for something simple not £4,000+ (then again, TriCaster isn't exactly simple!) If I was to look for a second hand SD mixer would the prices go down considerably? Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgye Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Second hand Panasonic MX-50 mixers come up regularly on ebay (professional video section) and sell at around £800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Alternatively SD wise you can get a Edirol V4 new for around £700, which will have a similar set of features to an MX-50. Certainly worth looking at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunk_1984 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Alternatively SD wise you can get a Edirol V4 new for around £700 :) http://www.globalmediapro.com/do/product/1278 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sah1510 Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 Are things like an overlay of a lower third possible in the Edirol V4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 You could do the lower third as a key/wipe. I don't think you could then cut smoothly below it however, but for the price you may be able to daisy chain two and do it that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sah1510 Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 You could do the lower third as a key/wipe. I don't think you could then cut smoothly below it however, but for the price you may be able to daisy chain two and do it that way. ... not meaning to seem rude and ungreatful, but what does all that mean?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Either key it, luma or chroma, where you remove a particular brightness or colour (often green - hence greenscreen) in the foreground image, and replace it with the background. Or wipe i.e. show the top 2/3 of one image, and the bottom third of the titles. However due to technical limitations of that mixer, any cuts you then made on the other bus (the background image) probably wouldn't be smooth. So either don't cut the background while the title is up, or use one mixer to do the cameras, then plug the output of that mixer into another one, along with any graphics, and use the second mixer to add graphics titles. This second one will be downstream of the first, so anything you do on it will affect whatever is coming out of the first and will always be on top of it. Hope that makes sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sah1510 Posted December 2, 2007 Author Share Posted December 2, 2007 ahh, right - all makes sence now! Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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