-
“Affordable” HD scope…hear me out!
In my fantasy world, I would like a true HD external vectorscope/waveform solution…that’s not the price of a small car. Here’s what I propose:
1) Get an old G5 capable of running a basic Decklink card ($1500-2000)
2) Find a used HD card online ($500-750)
3) Purchase ScopeBox HD ($700)
…then use this rig to monitor the HD-SDI output of my Final Cut Pro suite. That’s basically a monitor for ~$2500-$3500!
Any weak spots in this idea?
-
7 Replies
-
Don’t see why not…. just takes up a lot more space and gear than a nice little scope. But I hear ya on those prices… they’re not cheap
-
[Bob Roberts] ”
…then use this rig to monitor the HD-SDI output of my Final Cut Pro suite. That’s basically a monitor for ~$2500-$3500!”Well, NOT an HD monitor, but the HD scopes at least. You’d still need a monitor to see the actual HD color space.
But I like that idea you have.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
The Panasonic BT-LH2600W is working great for me… most projects are broadcast @ NTSC spec even if they originated in HD… so I was looking for a switchable NTSC/HD scope… eventho the Panny monitor has a waveform monitor built in.
Hi-Def and 2K Online Finishing
Compositing, Motion Graphics
Hollywood, Ca -
Final Cut Pro’s scopes are not bad at all, we use them all the time. Quite accurate actually.
And of course, if Apple rolls in the Final Touch scopes with FCP 6, then you’ll have fully accurate scopes right in the app.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi
-
I too use the scopes in FCP. For HD work as well. Quite accurate after the FCP 5.1 update.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
That’s funny. I do the same exact thing. But I use FCP’s scopes. We have a digitize box/server/dumping ground Mac with a Blackmagic card in it. I just patch in the SDI and I’ve got external scopes.
You’d be surprised what kind of nifty things you can do with a spare computer and a Blackmagic card. I know a guy who spent $8k on some product that inputs SDI, encodes it to Windows Media, and streams it on the Internet in real-time for client viewing. With a Decklink SD ($299), a spare PC ($500), and WireCast software ($500), you end up with the same exact thing for $1300. And you can choose Quicktime, MP4, Windows Media – whatever you want.
And if you’re geeky enough, you can skip buying WireCast and just create a DirectShow graph.
Sean
-
And if you need external scopes, putting old fashioned scopes on an SD downconvert gives you all the information most people want to know. A lot more resolution than you’ll get in current FCP scopes anyway.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up