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Coming from Aurora IgniterX
I’ve been working with Aurora’s IgniterX on G4 but am about to get a MacPro, so I’m shopping for new video card. I see some people from Aurora board over here. Would you mind saying why you went with AJA Kona rather than Black Magic? Video quality? I see the Kona cards are more expensive.
I don’t work with HD, but it seems a little crazy to buy just for SD now. With IgniterX, I send DV in as uncompressed component and also work with still photos with multiple layers of audio. (Maybe I should think about working with the still photos in HD? Have to look into monitoring issues. . .can’t afford expensive new monitor.)
Thanks,
Kat -
5 Replies
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[Kat] “Would you mind saying why you went with AJA Kona rather than Black Magic? Video quality? I see the Kona cards are more expensive.”
I tested both products and found the AJA products just worked better. They are also heavily used in broadcast work like the Super Bowl, World Series and NASCAR so that tells me the equipment is made to high broadcast standards and it’s very reliable. AJA also has a very close relationship with the Apple FCP team thus they are usually the first out with updates to support the latest FCP versions and the latest Apple hardware.
Yes, the AJA products are more expensive, but this is definitely one case of you get what you pay for. The Tech Support alone is worth the extra cost of the product. We run a Kona 2 suite and two Kona 3 suites and we also have an Io LA that moves around as needed.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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[Kat] ” Would you mind saying why you went with AJA Kona rather than Black Magic? Video quality? I see the Kona cards are more expensive.”
it was a quality and performance for me. All of the AJA cards do things like up and down conversion in hardware, something that is only available on certain models of the BMD products. As Walter said, the AJA hardware works in real LIVE television every week, something that is just not possible to the same degree of speed and accuracy when not done in hardware.
and I will also mention tech support, hands down the best there is.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows -
Ditto,
Coming from Aurora, this was easily the smartest and best move. The support is worth the price of admission. This company is also always improving their products and have a very diverse product line on Mac and XP platforms.
In short. Amazing!
David
Peace and Love 🙂
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Wow – what great recommendations. Thanks Walter, Gary, and David. Makes my decision easy. (Just have to ponder the SD/HD issue. . .)
Kat
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Kat,
If you are coming from the Pipe Studio, then you most likely should be looking at the LHe or LH lines.
David
Peace and Love 🙂
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