4 way live recording

[timtheenchanteruk]

Im looking for a unit to simultaneously record 4 video sources,

3 of these will be cameras, one PC- 2 cameras are only capable of composite, the third S-vid or composite, the PC can give S-vid, composite, VGA or DVI.

 

We are wanting to be able to record the whole show, as it happens, to then edit later for DVD, the hitch is these cameras are also running the Imag, so the unit needs to either be able to throughput these signals to an external mixer, or work as a mixer itself, simple pic in pic, wipes/dissolves required in this aspect.

 

I am aware that this vid would take up quite a bit of HDD space, the show is only on for 2 nights, and each would be approx 3 hrs footage per input, if required I could remove the footage from the unit ready for the next perf (provided it has usb/firewire or similar way of transferring footage to either an external HDD or direct to PC)

 

The cameras we use at present are prosumer cameras, and do not do timecode, one has no drive at all, so as it stands bung a tape in each wouldn't work, also this gives no way of linking the video footage from the PC into this (generated footage/montages that type of thing) the idea behind this being, one recorder, all coded up nicely to import into Vegas

 

any ides on kit, or keywords to google? google can be very useful, but only if you know what it is you are looking for!! my usual suppliers dont go this indepth to A/V so thus far only suggestions is to hire 3 cameras that do timecode, this still doesnt help with the pre-recorded footage though.

 

any help gratefully received.

[Matt Riley]

I'd be thinking about capture cards such as the blackmagic stuff or the matrox mx02 or the £vid mojo system in a rather fast pc. Then capture all the inputs at the same time.

 

To do the live stuff as well, I'd either see if there were two outputs on the cams or use a matrix switcher to feed the two independent systems - one for imag and one for recording.

[dbuckley]

Would this be a job for the Sony Anycast?

 

Alternatively, record on each camera independently, and use a clapper board at the beginning and end. Inport into workstation, and then use the stretch facility in most video edit packages to line up the claps.

[timtheenchanteruk]

hmm, will look into the Anycast, the clapper board wouldnt really work that well, it would mean 4 claps, you wouldnt get both halves on 1 DV cassette. It might look messy with an audience in.

 

might look into HDD cameras too..

[sleepytom]

what kind of budget are you talking about?

what level of quality are you after?

 

The anycast would indeed work for this, but it is annoying to cut on and fairly expensive.

 

I would start off by specing better cameras with timecode support.

 

If it is just SD dvd that your making then I would use sony DSR-570s with Big DV tapes - this would give you 3 hours of continuous recording with common timecode for a very good price.

Next step up the quality chain would be to use CCUs to remote control the cameras and give proper matched shots.

For a little more money you could use a digital head such as the DXC-D50 with triax CCUs - these cameras do not have tapes in the camera, so you would need something to record the SDI feeds from the CCUs (could be the anycast, or you could use separate timecode synced recorders such as dvcam / digibeta decks or XDCam optical disks)

 

The key point though is that if you want the end product to look good then you need good well matched cameras. Hire these and they will support timecode, so you can then record onto whatever you want. Getting a system which will record 4 composite / Svideo feeds at an acceptable quality will cost more than using separate timecode synced recordings.

[timtheenchanteruk]

thanks, a comprehensive reply there, looks like a good set of cameras will be the way to go then...

budget isnt yet set, we usually look at the options, and choose the best we can justify.

 

yes, it is a just SD DVD, not got into HD yet, dont even think I have the storage to cope with that lot.

 

would I be able to pull the footage direct from the camera(ie like consumer cameras, or would I need to hire another unit for that? it would take a couple of days to get 18 hrs of footage into the PC.

 

 

does the anycast require cutting on the unit? I would prefer to pull it onto the PC and edit in Vegas or similar.

[Pete McCrea]

Something like the Sony EX1 or EX3 camera could work- time code in and dual memory slots with the ability to contiuously record across slots means that you could get the timecode and ablity to keep rolling. Memory imports like files from a USB stick, and I imagine should be flawless with Vegas.

 

Our list is £160 a day/camera, so the total rate shouldn't be to bad for three cameras. Do double check when getting quotes that people will include the SxS cards as some places charge extra for them. I'd be more than happy to give you a quote if you wished.

[Peter F]

Taking this thread slightly askew if I may...

 

What would people suggest for recording a single, live composite feed plus stereo audio to a hard drive? Currently none critical shows are being recorded to dvd for archive and reference purposes but it is a far from ideal or reliable medium for me.

 

In my ideal scenario I would be able to record straight to a usb hard drive via my laptop. The laptop would have some sort of software on to allow me to see and hear what is being recorded as a confidence check. It is Windows based.

 

What would you buy to do this?

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[nickjones]

Just ordered myself one of these it hasn't arrived yet, so I can't give you any indication of quality, but for the price it might be worth looking at.

[Russ83]

For composite and S-vid capture I use the Compro C200 although this has now been replaced with the C200+ but any similar USB video capture device should do.

 

Software wise at school we use STOIK Capture which is a free download once you have registered on the website. This has detected everything we've tried to plug into it so far but you just have to watch the aspect ratios if doing wide screen.

 

Tim, would 4 laptops be available to use with a USB capture device and a passive Y splitter for each? At our school we capture DV from the camera straight onto a laptop during the show as the video files then just need copying to the editing machine which saves loads of time compared with capturing tapes.

[sleepytom]

In my ideal scenario I would be able to record straight to a usb hard drive via my laptop. The laptop would have some sort of software on to allow me to see and hear what is being recorded as a confidence check. It is Windows based.

 

What would you buy to do this?

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

I wouldn't get a super cheapo USB capture device as these rely on software codecs and are less reliable than dvd recorders in my experience (lots of dropped frames and occasional completely broken recordings)

I would get an external anaglog to DV converter - this converts composite + audio to a DV stream which you capture via the firewire connector on your laptop. This gives reliable hardware conversion to a DV stream which your computer can deal with easily, and that will be easy to edit in any NLE software. Quality will be better than your current DVDs and ease of use will also be considerably improved.

 

http://www.jigsaw24.com/product-details/x5...video-converter is the kind of thing I'm talking about

[Peter F]

I would get an external anaglog to DV converter - this converts composite + audio to a DV stream which you capture via the firewire connector on your laptop. This gives reliable hardware conversion to a DV stream which your computer can deal with easily, and that will be easy to edit in any NLE software. Quality will be better than your current DVDs and ease of use will also be considerably improved.

 

http://www.jigsaw24.com/product-details/x5...video-converter is the kind of thing I'm talking about

 

Doh!

Perhaps I could use 1 of the several Datavideo DAC-15 (pdf link to manual) that are sat on the shelf. Honestly, I cannot believe the solution has been staring me in the face for about 3 years. I feel a tiny bit daft at this moment.

 

Now, where on earth is the firewire lead that I know I bought ages ago...

[timtheenchanteruk]

Now, where on earth is the firewire lead that I know I bought ages ago...

 

you`ll never find it, firewire-school-hens teeth!!!

 

media always nick mine, they lend em out and never get them back...

[Peter F]

Now, where on earth is the firewire lead that I know I bought ages ago...

 

you`ll never find it, firewire-school-hens teeth!!!

 

media always nick mine, they lend em out and never get them back...

 

Magic cupboard in my kitchen table. First place I looked. If only finding every dongle/usb to serial/memory card/special adapter/magical gizmo I've ever bought was that easy.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[sleepytom]

Magic cupboard in my kitchen table. First place I looked. If only finding every dongle/usb to serial/memory card/special adapter/magical gizmo I've ever bought was that easy.

By any chance are all my USB cables in there? I seem to have hundreds of odd little mini usb / ipod dock / unknown chinese connector cables but a normal usb A-B cable is seeming impossible to find.