Recording HD-SDI in a reasonable manner

[karlp]

So I am searching for a good, relatively affordable way to record HDSDI.

In my quest I have heard rumors that LifeChurch is switching over to a rack of Xserves with Kona cards and a piece of software called VirtualVTR Pro http://www.virtualvtr.com/

This makes a channel of HD-SDI recording about 10K with timecode, which is completely reasonable for this application. I need 5 channels total.

Is anyone here doing something like this? I need a reasonable way (<12000$ /channel) to record some HD cams. If I can't find a good way to do this I will "simply" down convert to SD and record it on Sony DR1000A's. Timecode is a must, analog audio option preferred, although I can do it with AES if needed.

Any thoughts? Anyone know someone at LifeChurch that could clue us/me in on VirtualVTR, particularly how they/you plan to deal with Codecs?

Thanks,

Karl P

[karlp]

I don't know if this might be worth looking at?

http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVCHDM1/index.php

Is HDV a viable recording format? or do I need to stick with something like DVCPRO HD?

Karl P

[cjlowe]

What if you did the recording in software, capturing the signal with something like:
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hd/
or
http://www.aja.com/html/products_Io.html

?

[cjlowe]

Blah, I just re-read your post and that's exactly what you're thinking of doing. Sorry.

[Nathan J]

Here's a blog outlining a big upgrade they did. I'd think you email their office (info@lifechurch.tv) and ask them to refer you to .... Bobby Gruenewald

[tofferking]

We installed a couple copies of VirtualVTR at our university as a cheaper route to DDR playback. We use it more for playback than for recording. Some of the HD-SDI cards (Blackmagic, etc) come with basic software for recording and playback if you don't need too many bells and whistles.

[Aaronv54]

We're starting to use AJA's VTR Xchange program to capture another feed for one of the editors to take with him on an external hard drive immediately after the service and it is working well so far.

Also there are plenty of HDV decks that record HD-SDI and timecode:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-vid...oduct-HVR1500/

the list is around $8k

[sadlerjon]

I've also been looking at this and found that Movie Recorder from Softron costs about the same ($1095/copy for Movie Recorder vs. $999/copy for Virtual VTR) but supports capture from two hd-sdi ports at the same time (for peppy Intel Mac's) potentially reducing the cost per channel.

I also found bug.tv's CLASS-R injest platform, but haven't been able to find any pricing information... Guess I'll have to give them a call.

[tofferking]

About the Sony deck mentioned... the HVR-1500 doesn't actually have HD-SDI in (I was all excited when I first saw it until I realized it was missing a pretty key thing). You can only get HD in through firewire. They did update the deck in the newer HVR-1500A, which does have HD-SDI in.

[Aaronv54]

Ah sorry my bad!

Here's the link to that deck:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-vid...duct-HVR1500A/

It's only $8300 so not that much of a jump

[sadlerjon]

Just got a quote from bug.tv... The price is quite a bit more than the solutions from Softron and Gallery. It looks like we'll be trying Softron with two cards in two different servers...

[rlahoda]

telestream.net/pipeline/overview.htm

Check out the Pipeline HD. 2 channels of HD pre-encoded to your choice of format then sent to a computer for you to put on your hard drive. You can even set it to do a "scheduled" recording where it will start recording at a specific time, create a file the size and length of the finished product filled with grey frames then replace the frames as it captures the video. Doing this, you can actually edit live while it's capturing the video!

I think it's around $10k each, so that means about $5k per channel.