Remote PTZ

[sleah]

I'm looking at ideas for recording shows - concerts, school plays, assemblies etc.

Something I'd like to look in to is using remote PTZ. Both to supplement a 'normal' manned camera on tripod and ability to do unmanned recording - where PTZ would be used to frame the shot before hand.

To supplement the main camera, it would need to be at least 720, ideally 1080. It would also need to be comparably to some degree with quality to the existing Sony NXCAM.

Nothing worse (to me!) than cutting between the Sony NXCAM and a nasty CCTV camera....

 

I have zero experience with remote cameras so suggestions, opinions and experience would be most welcome.

Don't really want to spend mega bucks, although I guess up to £1k wouldn't be silly considering the main camera is a Sony NXCAM costing similar money.

 

Ulimately I'd like to get a Tricaster, but for now it will probably be recorded using a PC with Premiere or similar with HDMI>USB interface.

 

Cheers.

[Javis]

There are plenty of CCTV type PTZ cameras out there with dedicated controllers however most PTZ cameras will accept the VISCA control protocol to communicate between the camera and controller.

 

I have used the sony BRC H 700 which with the optional cards are 1080p or the panasonic HE 130's however these are far beyond 1k, as will many HD PTZ of this type I am afraid.

 

However a great little camera is the sony EVI D70 (loads on auction sites for cheap) although only SD they are great little units and will accept most VISCA controllers with the correct cable config, and would be a good test for you for little money

 

The black magic H264 recorder may be worth a look to capture it all too as this is relatively in expensive and can accept HD SDI and also composite so is quite flexible little bit of kit.

[timsabre]

Do you need to match with other cameras, if so cctv kit probably won't be good enough and you'll need to spend more than £1k.

Panasonic AW-HE40 is a good semi-pro hd ptz camera, the equivalent of Sony BRC700 but it's £2500... For that you can rack the camera to match others, also the ptz is slow and smooth enough to do in-vision moves. Control by web page or hardware controller.

[sleah]

Thanks for the words of wisdom.

 

Having had a bit more of a look round I see the budget will have to be more around the £3k mark for something sensible. In-vision moves are a likely requirement.

 

The Black Magic device looks rather interesting too.

 

A quick question (well 2) about SDI.

Does the SDI cable also carry audio or do you need a separate audio cable?

Does SDI use coax cables, similar to composite etc? I assume so as it is a BNC connector.

[Yorkie]

A quick question (well 2) about SDI.

Does the SDI cable also carry audio or do you need a separate audio cable?

Does SDI use coax cables, similar to composite etc? I assume so as it is a BNC connector.

It can do.

Yes.

[timsabre]

Having come from the old fuzzy world of composite , HD-SDI is pretty amazing. Unless you are running long distances (>100m) pretty much any old BNC cable seems to work fine with it.

[sleah]

I'm ready to look at bit more seriously at PTZ cameras now. Can anyone suggest or recommend any suppliers in the north west who not just supply such kit but can also offer advice or even demos?

 

I've found www.proav.co.uk who appear to be the business, but their nearest office is a good two hours (probably 3 or 4 knowing the M6..) away.

 

They show Panasonic / Sony / Datavaideo / Lumens cameras that look like they would fit the bit at sensible money (under £2k) but I know nothing about control. I would not want to spend the same again on a flashy do-everything controller when all I really want is control over PTZ!

I'd need to check on mounting options as it could equally well be hung from a lighting bar to on a tripod or even on top of a display case!

[timsabre]

We used provideokit.co.uk in West Yorks for our church PTZ gear (in Hull), and he was very willing to travel to us and demo Panasonic and Datavideo - give him a call. He's only a one man band (I think) but he is a dealer for the major brands and got us good prices and service.

 

As I mentioned above the Panasonic AWHE range of cams are controllable from a web browser if you just need to set and recall a few fixed positions, you do not need their hardware controller. The protocol is fairly easy, I have written a little visual basic app to control ours from a touch screen PC, it also controls our Blackmagic Atem switcher, I would be happy to share if it is any help.

[ninjadingle]

Try RocheAV - they look like box shifters at first glance but do offer a full install service. Just up the road from you...

[sleah]

Thanks folks. Provideokit look promising.

 

I've used Roche before but I don't think they deal with pro kit. I seem to recall asking them for a quote for the NXCAM I have and them telling me they couldn't supply one.

[timsabre]

Regarding mounting both the Datavideo and Panasonic PTZ have a tripod mount on the base and a twist lock mounting plate or will quite happily freestand on any flat surface. To hang from truss you'd have to create something, we have a wooden mounting plate fastened to the twist lock which could have a half coupler fixed to it for truss hanging.

 

The panasonic AWHE40 cameras will run on power over ethernet which is quite convenient for avoiding too many cables. The HDMI version is £500 (20%!) cheaper than the SDI version, we got HDMI cameras and used cheap Amazon HDMI-SDI adaptors to get to SDI which works fine. Datavideo have HDMI and SDI as standard but the camera quality and PTZ smoothness was not as good when I tested them.