Need your Help on Video Mixer advice

[ANNON]

Yes, the 3rd camera will be used as a tape machine. Is it possible and where to connect the 3rd camera using SE500. Thanks.

[waynehoskins]

Program Output. There look to be a couple of Program Output holes on the back of the thing; if yours are all full, you may need to DA your program to the tape-machine camera and to wherever else it goes.

[ANNON]

Thanks so much waynehoskins.

I will try that and post an update here. God bless.

[Tenderman]

DISTRIBUTION AMP



You don't need a Dist. amp for a longer run. Distribution amps are usually a 1:1 ratio so you won't gain anything. They do make signal boosters, but I routinely do 100' runs. I have a 150'cable that I occasionally use. You do want to use the DA to split the signal like you are saying. On the audio, if you can get a feed from the house board, that would be great. Usually there is an unused aux send or bus. I like to set up my own mix for the recorded video signal or CCTV feed. It will be different than the live feed if it is done right. Another thing to look into is ADK 51 series large diaphragm condenser mikes. They are amazing for the price. You can find them at Pro AudioToys for $159. I use them for all of my field work, for drama, dance, music etc., for ambient sound and/or my main mix.' Another excellent investment is a set of Bose QC2 headphones. That way you know what's goiing into the mix, without hearing the extraneous noises. The DA I referenced is on MCMELECTRONICS. I haven't been on long enoungh to post links, but you can find it on their website. You can probably find it cheaper somewhere else. It is a Cable Electronics AV-400SV. Google CE Labs AV 400 SV.

[ANNON]

Thanks so much Tenderman, I want to clarify some question

>A friend told me that to be able to get a good video signal, (using a amp or converter or whatever called) I need to use a amp if I was using a 100 feet svideo cable.

>What can you say about AJA converter?

>WHich one is better a svideo cable or bnc cable?

>We will do a live concert using SE500, 2 Camera and a Laptop. It's a livefeed to a big projector screen. We will add a 3rd camera to act as a tape machine. Is it best to get a audio from the mixer? right, If so do I need to use an audio converter?

>Aside from 3rd camera to act as a recorderis there any way to use a computer or recorder to record a livefeed?

>I was using Rode NT shotgun, just wonderin' what is the difference using ADK 51 Condenser mike?

>It is better if you can post a link.

Thanks so much. Gbu!

[waynehoskins]

Aja makes good stuff.

The cable itself, proper BNC cable is far superior to S-Video cable. The signal that's put on S-video cable is slightly better, but the cable is far worse. I wouldn't see much advantage at all to S-Video; in fact, I can think of more times where it's worse.

For recording, sure, you can use a computer with an appropriate capture device, or a tape machine, to record. In fact, I'd go to computer or tape before resorting to using a camcorder as a tape machine.

[sien]

I'll chip in on these two questions.

>We will add a 3rd camera to act as a tape machine. Is it best to get audio from the mixer? right, If so do I need to use an audio converter?

Yes it's best to get audio from the audio mixer.
It depends on how you're sending the audio signal to the 3rd camera/tape machine.
Are you using rca cables to the 3rd camera/tape machine? You might have to use adaptors from the outputs of the audio mixer,

>Aside from 3rd camera to act as a recorder is there any way to use a computer or recorder to record a livefeed?

Yup, you could probably connect a DVD recorder to the video mixer outputs.

[Tenderman]

You can get a little better signal with an amp; however, it is not necessary. We do good results. You do have to get good quality cables. L-com, MCM, B&H photo all have good quality cables. A good 100' S-video cable will cost upwards of $100, but it is still cheaper than putting a booster in the line. You can also run into oversaturation, ghosting and other issues with multiple cables in a path, which is what you would have with a booster in the line.
The difference between BNC and S-video signal, basically speaking, is in the resolution. With BNC (composite) you will see a pronounced jaggedness around edges of objects that have high contrast with surrounding images; i.e., inserted text, a black suit sleeve against a light colored background, etc. This becomes more pronounced when viewed on larger screens. 'BNC' cable is supposed to be 75 ohm impedance. If you want to learn more information about what cables are best quality, Belden has good information. A good S-vdieo cable going through a good S-video path is always superior video quality to composite. If you down-convert from S-video to composite and then go back you have lost the advantage of S-video. As far as the AJA, I haven't personally used that product. What we use is a Tview gold scan converter to go from VGA to Y/C or composite.
We use Grass Valley ADVC Canopus AD converters to convert the analog signal to firewire, then capture on a laptop or desktop computer. It works out great for field work, because the laptop capture screen doubles as a preview monitor, and you can plug in headphones to monitor the audio. You will need a quality video editor. Sony, Adobe and Avid make good editors that can capture video.
The difference between the shotgun and the ADK 51 is primarily the pick-up pattern. The shotgun is very directional, and has a very bright sound. They are best suited for miking of percussive things like cymbals, snare drum, etc.. The large diaphragm condensers are good for vocals, ensemble instrumental or vocals and general ambient miking in larger rooms. For close miking either a sony ECM55 lapel or Shure SM58 is best for vocals and a Shure SM57 is best for instrument miking. The ADKs aren't near as directional, so you don't have near the off-axis coloration of the sound or dB roll-off as with a shotgun.

Good Luck!

[Tenderman]

A little left out in the previous post: "We do use 50-150' S-video cables and have much better than results than with composite. Most studios that haven't switched to digital use dual-BNC S-video. They also have impedance matching equipment and broadcast engineers to tweak everything. Dual BNC has better, more durable connections than the standard 4 pin mini-DIN S-video. Just a side note, BNC does not necessarily mean composite. BNC is a name for a particular coax connector that is used in everything from radio to data to video and everything in between. composite is a term for a particular video format. S-video is another name for Y/C, or Luminance and Chrominance. In S-video, they break the signal into separate luminance and chrominance signals. In a later version, moving towards higher definition, they went to different splitting and recombining of the video signal such as Y,PB,PR which makes for even better signal, provided the entire path is of the same format. Hope that clarifies the differences and terminology a little.