Beta Cam Deck and FCP 6

[Colin Mcquillan]

You will need a capture card of some type, unless you rent a deck for ingest that can output VIA firewire. I believe the Sony J-30 is one of these, but double check that!

If you need to lay back to Betacam once complete, you will need an appropriate capture card. Aja, Blackmagic, and Matrox all make various solutions for this.

Colin McQuillan
Van. B.C.

[Shane Ross]

[Colin McQuillan] “rent a deck for ingest that can output VIA firewire. I believe the Sony J-30 is one of these,”

Yes, but that only sends out a DV signal…that is degrading the image. Very noticeably.

You will need a capture card to capture betaSP as uncompressed 8-bit, or better yet, as DV50.

Shane

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

[Ben Northenor]

Thank you so much.. Can you refer me a Capture Card. I am lost… I should add that cost of a capture card into my invoice, correct? Thanks.

[Shane Ross]

[Ben Northenor] “Can you refer me a Capture Card.”

Well, the best out there are the ones from AJA…www.aja.com. I have the Kona 3 and have used the Kona LH in the past with great success. But, being the best they are more expensive…but worth it. The Kona LH will get you what you need, and future proof you for HD capture as well.

A close second is Black-Magic Design Decklink series…www.decklink.com. Decklink Studio is the new card on the block from them…very reasonably priced and does quite a bit.

[Ben Northenor] “I should add that cost of a capture card into my invoice, correct?”

No. If so, then they would own the card. No, this should be part of your equipment rental fee. You might be able to increase the fee, but not by the full amount of the card. This rental fee is what you bill all of your clients to spread the cost around.

For example, a FCP system that is just the computer and monitors might rent for $500/week (just an example here…not a real cost). If you had an FCP system with the computer, monitors and Kona 3 card, because it is capable of doing much more, then you can charge $750/week rental on that. Or a higher daily or hourly rate.

Shane

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

[Colin Mcquillan]

[Shane Ross] “but that only sends out a DV signal…that is degrading the image”

Definitely. Capturing via a proper capture card will always yield far better results.

If your budget wont allow for a capture card, the J-30 is one way to go, and comparatively a very cheap rental. Another would be to take your field tapes and a hard drive to a post house and have them capture the media for you. Expect to pay upwards $200/hour, but deals can be made. Be sure to know exactly what codec you want your media captured to, if you are unsure and you get something a little too weighty for your drives, you may run into performance issues.

By all means though, I would also recommend grabbing a capture card. You can probably find a decent second hand one at a good price for a PCI-X G5 (if thats what you have.)
Having a capture card also gives you the ability to hook up your G5 to a TV monitor.
For you, the Kona-LH has my vote.

Colin McQuillan
Van. B.C.

[Ben Northenor]

Thank you for all your help. I’m trying to start my own business on the side and you have helped me out tremendously!! I think I’ll go with the AJA Kona LH. You said I can still convert HD footage with it? I will also need a small Raid or a couple TB’s. Any suggestions?

[Colin Mcquillan]

[Ben Northenor] “You said I can still convert HD footage with it?”

With the LH you can capture HD, and down covert HD to SD, but not up convert SD to HD

Colin McQuillan
Van. B.C.

[Colin Mcquillan]

[Ben Northenor] ” I think I’ll go with the AJA Kona LH”

Be sure this is the right one, and not the LHe. Which G5 tower do you have? is it PCI-X or PCI-E

Colin McQuillan
Van. B.C.

[Colin Mcquillan]

[Ben Northenor] ” I will also need a small Raid or a couple TB’s. Any suggestions?”

Depends on what codec you will be working with and the type of work you do. If you work in DV-50 then you can get away with adding an extra internal SATA drive, and upgrading to a RAID when it is economically warranted. If you want to work in 8-bit or 10-bit Unc. or do tonnes of multi-stream layering then I’d look at something meatier.

An affordable e-Sata RAID is probably the best way to start out. I’m using a couple G-Speed e-S units, and think they are great. Others will swear by (or at) many other brands. e-Sata raid arrays are very reasonably priced. Start with one of those, then move into a fiber array when your business grows.

Colin McQuillan
Van. B.C.

[Ben Northenor]

I am starting a business of corporate videos and family videos. Is it hard to put an E-Sata drive in? Are there manuals for this? How many extra gigs will an E-Sata drive get me?