Best I/O card for Final Cut?

[Shane Ross]

Depends what you need IO from and to. The AJA Kona 3 is pretty dang good, but lacks Analog inputs. They have the Kona LHi for those, but then it only does 8 channels of embedded SDI audio. Then there’s the Matrox MXO2 that has SDI and Component, and does 16 channels of embedded audio via SDI. But the Kona 3 upconvert from SD to HD is a tad better. But then there is the Decklink Extreme 3D that’s pretty good…nice clean. But the user interface isn’t as clear as the AJA or Matrox cards.

And…do you want GREAT tech support? Or do you not care about that?

Tell us what you need to do, and then we can tell you what best suits you.

It’s like asking “What’s the best car out there?” There is no single right answer. What works in the city will stink in the rural areas. A Prius gets great gas mileage, but if you are a farmer who needs to haul stuff…well…not so hot.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Bob Zelin]

Isn’t there something for under 50 bucks ? I heard about this Pinnacle Cinewave, that I can get a good deal on ? What do you think of that ?

Bob Zelin

[Shane Ross]

Ooooo…Cinewave! Perfect for high quality SD work. Better get Final Cut Pro 3 though. And upgrade to a G4.

🙂

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Paul Kreuter]

I have a dual monitor display setup and I would be using the I/O card for playing out to an HD Samsung TV. I would also use it to play out or digitize in to various HDCAM, XDCAM, digibeta, beta decks, etc. Would like to find a good top quality solution for it too that plays the nicest with Final Cut. I’d consider myself kinda tech savvy so super handholding tech support isn’t really a requirement just as long as when the whole thing breaks they will stand behind helping me fix it. I also plan on upgrading to the latest Final Cut when it is released if that helps with the recommendation. Thanks for you help!

[Nick Price]

hi paul,
the aja products are great, but a little pricy for my money. Blackmagic seem to be better value. THe Decklink studio for example seems to cover all analogue and HD inputs and outputs, including HDMI, but not including 2k and up. I am about to get a couple…if anyone has something of better value let m eknow before i spend my cash!!

https://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/decklink/models/

cheers
nick

[Tom Matthies]

I am running a similar setup with dual monitors and both a Samsung monitor and an older Sony CRT based monitor for grading. I use the AJA Kona LHi and it does all that I need it to do. Clean and reliable. Digital SDI/HDSDI/analog component/Composite in and out. More expensive than the DeckLink, cheaper than the Kona 3. Good value/performance for a reasonable price and it just works.
Tom

E=MC2+/-2db

[Walter Biscardi]

For me the AJA Kona LHi is the best video card on the market when you factor in price and performance.

All the conversions are realtime and full broadcast quality. We do 720 to 1080 and SD to HD all day long every day for corporate and broadcast projects.

You have both Analog and Digital I/O.

It’s $1500 US

It comes with the best tech support in the business.

We have the Kona 3, Kona 3G and Kona LHi in our 6 suites here and they all perform incredibly well. The LHi brings the best of all worlds together with a great price.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

Blog Twitter Facebook

[Shane Ross]

[Paul Kreuter] “. I also plan on upgrading to the latest Final Cut when it is released if that helps with the recommendation.”

This doesn’t, because we have no idea if FCP X will be compatible with capture cards. Tape capture seems to be the last thing on Apple’s mind…they apparently think the world is going tapeless, period. iMovie lost all ability to capture and output to tape. And the trend seems to be hitting FCP too (this is a big rumor, but from reliable sources).

If you are tech savvy, Decklink offers good cards, I recommend the Decklink Studio or Extreme 3D. AJA is the best of the best, mainly due to world class tech support. I’d recommend the LHi for your needs. And I’m a fan of Matrox, and like how their cards work on laptops and towers. MXO2 LE is a good choice.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Walter Biscardi]

[Shane Ross] “And the trend seems to be hitting FCP too (this is a big rumor, but from reliable sources).”

Yep, it seems you will HAVE to have a Decklink Card or AJA Kona card in order to capture / layback to tape as you will need 3rd party utilities from them in order to complete both of these tasks.

Completely asinine from Apple to drop these functions (if true), but when you have your head in the iCloud you tend to not think that clearly in terms of professional video production.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

Blog Twitter Facebook

[Andy Mees]

As of this moment, Blackmagic Design’s Media Express software looks pretty well positioned to be a good stand in if you need a tape based Log and Capture solution … specifically Media Express 3, which is expected to ship as a free update later this month … and with that in mind I’d suggest that the Blackmagic Decklink Studio option may be a wise choice – as far as I know, no other card vendor has yet announced such a feature rich log and capture solution.