Switchers

[Tenderman]

Originally Posted by Playing4one

does anyone have experience with the Panasonic WJ-MX50 mixer?

We want to be able to switch between 4 sources and output to dvd/ FCP via a capture device. I know it looks a little older, but I'm sure it could serve the purpose (especially when the are going for around $600 on ebay )

We have 4 mx50 switchers--2 still inuse--in 4 studios. They are a workhorse. One of them had intermittent red oversaturation on one channel, but still worked fine. They are very good for what they are designed for. They do a decent chroma key, luminance key and other key functions. If you want to use the onboard audio mixer, it is usable, but limited. When we upgraded to a Datavideo SE800 for our field unit, I was disappointed in the 800. It has serious ESD issues when used as a DV switcher. I believe we may go with a MX70 for our next upgrade.

[rlahoda]

Another good option that's a little more expensive is the Panasonic AV-HS400. It's HD/SD switchable. It comes with 4 HD/SD SDI inputs and you can get input cards that allow for DVI/VGA, Component, Composite and SDI as well as output cards that do the same. It has a built in multiviewer as well as an AUX output. We have one and it's been awesome!

[rwilliams]

Hi

Just thought I would ring in since I'm new here. I looked all over the place for this product but found no information here on it, so I thought I would mention it. We are a new church, launched 2 weeks ago.

I have figured out a fairly cheep solution for doing video overlay with lyrics and titles.

For the lyric program: OpenSong.. good solid cross platform presentation tool. (Mac,Win,Linux)

Projectors: Two Panasonic SD High contrast/high lumens, that fell in our lap for really cheap.

We have an HXA1 HD camera but since the projectors are SD we don't need an HD mixer... So after a lot of digging I managed to find this..

"PC Text Graphic Video Producer Mixer With Overlay"
Very simple scalar with keying.
(since I don't want to advertise for anyone just goto a search engine in shopping mode and you'll find it.)

$230 USD on average + shipping.

I was hoping to find someone on here who had used one, but looks like I may be the first. I'm going to talk to the pastor and see what he wants, but for a cheap starting solution with a semi professional feel I think it may be a really good find. I think it will get us by until we are ready to do full scale video production.

Since we set up and tear down every weekend this solution is ideal as well since it limits the complexity.

Let me know your thoughts.
God Bless
Ryan

[Rock316]

Ryan ...
Thank you for the reply ...
all new info is good info ...
there are some of us that watch
all the replys so we can stay current
on doing the Lords work
Thank you and God Bless...

David

[rwilliams]

Thank you David and God Bless

[Magus]

Hi Ryan

Curious to know if you acquired the device. If so, how did it work out for you?

I'm very curious because I found the same device today while searching for an inexpensive solution for just fading easily between a live video feed and a PowerPoint show on a PC. Looks like it might be just the ticket.

Thanks... Rick

[rwilliams]

Hi Rick;

I created a new thread for this since I posted this in a really old section.. I have not figured out how to link to another thread yet, the post is in this same area and its called "Low Budget Video Switch and Scalar" it's about three down on the list. I'll respond there

God Bless Ryan

[Karen39]

Hello!

I have a question. I am wondering if you can recommend a good mixer for us. I'll tell you our set up. Right now we're using I believe a mx40. We used to use the videonics mxpro that I really liked.

We have an imac with propresenter. It runs to the mixer. The output goes either to the projectors, or to behind the stage to the camera switcher. They then place our lyrics over the live video feeds. We also put our services live onto our website.

We are looking at switching all of our equipment to hd over the next few years. The reason I liked the videonics mxpro was because we could also plug a dvd player into and play a dvd from there as well as the computer if we needed to. I would love to have that option again.

Can you guys recommend something for us?

Thanks!

Karen

[rlahoda]

Hi Karen,
A couple questions: why is there a separate video switcher back stage? How do the switcher you're looking at and this other switcher interact? Also, what format are you currently running your system on (composite video, component SD, VGA, etc) and do you have room to upgrade any of that to a newer format in preparation for HD? Also, do you prefer to have two switchers running the song lyrics and camera(s) separately? would you prefer to do it all in one?

One switcher i really like is the Panasonic AV-HS400a or the AV-HS450. Both can do SD or HD and both have option boards to allow for different formats. We have a 400 and directly connect two graphics computers via VGA into it as well as a DVD player (internally upconverted to HD in the switcher), HD cameras, HD playback computer and some other stuff. It allows us to put our lyrics keyed over the cameras or full-screen if we want. We're outgrowing it but it's been a great switcher for us to move to HD. It has the ability to bring in (through option boards) composite, component, VGA, DVI, HDMI and output pretty much all of those as well.

Good luck!