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Cheapest way out to monitor for HDV
Anybody know the cheapest way out to a monitor using FCP 5 and editing in HDV.
Thanks in advance creativecow’s
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7 Replies
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Probably buying a used Kona LH…
Stuart Ferreyra
Timecode Multimedia
President
Santa Monica, CA 90025
https://www.timecodemultimedia.com -
That would be the Matrox MXO and Apple 23″ Cinema Display. The MXO is $995, and the Apple monitor is $899…so under $2000. And not only can you monitor, you get broadcast quality monitoring, and the ability to output to other tape formats via SDI, Component and Composite.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
[Shane Ross] ” the Apple monitor is $899″
You could get the Panasonic 42″ plasma that many of us use for just $865 now at http://www.visualapex.com . However, you’d have to buy a stand for it, which costs and addition $195.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Post-production Supervisor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles -
[David Roth Weiss] “You could get the Panasonic 42″ plasma that many of us use”
DO you use it as a reference monitor for clients, or as a color correction monitor? Because the MXO/ACD combination is meant for color correction on a budget.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
[Shane Ross] “DO you use it as a reference monitor for clients, or as a color correction monitor? Because the MXO/ACD combination is meant for color correction on a budget.”
Shane,
Let me answer by first asking the bigger question: Is any monitor other than a true broadcast CRT or one of the new and very expensive so-called broadcast LCDs really any better than a good Pany plasma?
My own answer is as follows:
In the hands of someone who has done this a long time and who knows how to use a waveform/vectorscope, a good plasma can suffice for many/most, but not all projects. After all, a “reference monitor” is simply a display that, at best, approximates known color values and provides visual cues sufficient to indicate proper color treatment and balance to an operator.
Every room, every monitor, every set of eyeballs has its own aberrations, and so, much of the color grading process, beyond legal color considerations, really comes down to a judgement call. So, except where perfect color matching is mission critical, as in matching IBM blue, etc., pretty darned good color grading can be accomplished on a good plasma monitor.
Of course, as with any color grading, it always helps to have a good engineer with good skills and a good set of eyeballs. And, even a good engineer must get to know the qualities of the hardware he or she is using. In the case of Pany plasmas for instance, they have a particular sensitivity to reds. Once you know that you quickly learn to del with it or ignore it as the case may be.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Post-production Supervisor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles -
[Shane Ross]
“That would be the Matrox MXO and Apple 23″ Cinema Display. The MXO is $995, and the Apple monitor is $899…so under $2000. And not only can you monitor, you get broadcast quality monitoring, and the ability to output to other tape formats via SDI, Component and Composite.”Shane,
A couple questions for you. So the apple 23″ alone at Cinema Display is not good enough? What are you not seeing that requires a Matrox MXO box as a middle man?
Does the Matrox MXO actually turn the LCD Apple 23″ into a TV monitor? I know I’ve had some footage taken at 29.97 FPS mixed in with 24p footage, and on the LCD it looks fine but when I burn a DVD and watch the footage on my TV it looks much worse than it did on the LCD screen of my Mac Book Pro, especially because it looks like nasty documentary video.
So what’s the Matrox MXO box really doing and can’t I just get a LCD/Plasma TV and set it was my external playback monitor?
Thanks for the lesson to come and I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions,
Will Keir
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If you have an HD monitor/TV w/HDMI you could get the Blackmagic Intensity card ($250). I don’t know good it would be for color work, though. The card can also transcode to DVCPro HD on capture (assuming your camera/deck has HDMI) if you don’t want to deal w/HDV in post.
-A
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