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Newbie question regarding the Io
Greetings & Happy Thanksgiving …
I’m new and I apologize for my ignorance — I am trying to learn as fast as I can:
I have a dual 2.5 G5 running 5.0.4 FCP. I have a 15-inch TV (not monitor) with component, composite and S-video connections. I also have a basic DVD deck and a VHS deck. I use a Canopus 300 to capture from the two decks as well as to play out from FCP to the TV.
However, everytime I need to capture from either deck I have to fiddle around with the s-video cable as well as settings in FCP (non-controllable device). When I want to play out from FCP through the Canopus, I again have to change the s-video cable. In addition, because the Canopus is essentially a firewire connection there’s a latency issue between the audio and video sync. All this is driving me nuts.
I’m trying to understand if the Aja Io is what I need to be able to capture from the VHS and/or DVD decks and feed out from FCP to the TV without having to mess around with cables, FCP settings, and get rid the latency issues. I just want something I can hook up, works, and I don’t have to crawl behind the equipment everytime I need to do something.
The TV does not have BNC connectors so I’m wondering if I need to purchase an actual reference monitor should the Io turn out to be the correct thing I need (which I’m willing to do). I’ve also looked at Matrox’s MXO, but I don’t think that’s quite what I’m looking for. Prior to the Canopus, I used Director’s Cut, but that thing caused even more grief.
I apologize again for my ignorance regarding how to put together a functional system. I wish I could poke my head over a cubicle wall and ask the guy/gal who does this for a living. Unfortunately, that’s not my world. I’m pretty much surrounded by people just discovering email.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer, or pointing me in the direction of where I can find more information.
Sincerely,
bfg
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3 Replies
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You write –
I’m trying to understand if the Aja Io is what I need to be able to capture from the VHS and/or DVD decks and feed out from FCP to the TV without having to mess around with cables, FCP settings, and get rid the latency issues. I just want something I can hook up, works, and I don’t have to crawl behind the equipment everytime I need to do something.
REPLY –
The AJA I/O will work very well for your application. It has mulitiple inputs, so you can hookup the VHS to the composite video input, and your DVD player to the S-video input. OR, you can hookup the DVD player to the analog component input of the I/O, and hook up the VHS to the S-Video input of the I/O. Once you load the AJA I/O drivers into your MAC, you will simply choose what input you want from the Capture Presets menu. Once you do this, you can create something called an EASY SETUP, which will instantly select between these two sources. You can call one DVD, and one VHS. In the Audio/Video settings menu, you will select “non controllable device”, and one you have one machine “setup” correctly, you will save this as an EASY SETUP, call it DVD (for example), and never have to deal with all these menus ever again.Your TV set will connect to the AJA I/O Composite Video Output, so you can observe your VHS, DVD, or output of your edit system, without having to switch cables. If you say “hey – all I want to do is watch the DVD – do I have to launch FCP?” – the answer is no. AJA gives you the AJA Pro I/O control panel – you can select your input (S-Video, Composite, Component) from this control panel, and it will feed out to your TV.
This will be your problems.
1) You have two audio sources, and only one set of audio inputs for the AJA I/O. You will need a way to get either the VHS or DVD audio into the AJA I/O. Because the AJA I/O uses XLR connectors, your best choice is a small inexpensive audio mixer (like a cheap Behringer) to select which device goes into the audio inputs of your AJA I/O.2) the cable connections on the AJA I/O are all BNC, and the connectors on your DVD, VHS, and TV Set are all RCA. So you will need a BUNCH of BNC-RCA adaptors to get your equipment into the AJA I/O.
Bob Zelin
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This sounds great. Thanks so much for your help. I’ll give this a try and hopefully it’ll work out as well as it sounds. Will the Io allow me to record back to the VHS from FCP? Basically, I edit high school athletes’ recruitment videos, and sometimes college coaches request video on VHS rather than DVD. But it’s okay if Io doesn’t.
Thanks again!
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The AJA I/O has one composite video output, to record back to your VHS machine. But you need to feed your TV set with a video signal as well. So may I suggest that you purchase a small composite video distribution amplifier, so that you can split the video signal (you can’t use a “Y” cord for this) – so you can have one feed going to your TV set, and one feed going to the video input of your VHS machine.
bob Zelin
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