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HD Broadcast monitor and card advice needed
Hi all,
I need your advice if you have a moment. We don’t normally grade in house, but we’ve got a large production coming up and they want to do this here. As a result we are going to need to hire/ purchase both a monitor and a card. The production is all going to be shot in HD, edited in FCP (no black magic/ kona gfx card yet) and I’m looking for a monitor 20′ or above. Could you please suggest a monitor and card which you think is probably the best. We need to future proof ourselves a little bit, so willing to spend that little bit extra if needed. Totally new territory for me here, so advice really appreciated.
Cheers in advance
PS: Its a Mac Pro, 8 x 2.26, 8GB Ram, Raid 0 with an ATI Radeon HD 4870 running in dual screen
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving isn’t the sport for you.
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13 Replies
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Depends on your budget. A proper grading monitor for broadcast etc. will run you $15,000+. Something like a JVC 24″ monitor (equivalent to grade 2 for normal editing) around $4,000. A lot of post houses use Pioneer Pro Plasmas.
What is the final use, what is the format?
You will certainly need a Matrox, AJA or Blackmagic video card. Other than that, a great deal is down to a proper enviroment for grading, and properly calibrated monitoring.
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Hi,
Yes its for a grade, or should I say color correction for on-line. I’ve been looking around and there aren’t really many to rent. From what I can deduce the Matrox has a question mark over its head regarding quality, the black magic is rumoured not to have a calibration utility so its AJA. So far I’m thinking…
The AJA 3G and Sony PMD-2451W combo if we are going to buy. Total cost before VAT is potentially £4,200
I’ll look at Pioneer now you mention it though.
Cheers – you have no idea how useful this is
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving isn’t the sport for you.
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Sorry: and the final format.
Its basically a series that was intended for web (hence not having this already) but the client are now saying they want to put it on TV. So it needs to hit broadcast standard.
Cheers
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving isn’t the sport for you.
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Pioneer Pro Plasmas:
Could only really find the 50 inch one (they don’t have ANY listed on the european Pioneer site?) which is way too big for us I think. Something around 24 would be much better for us I feel.
Cheers though
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving isn’t the sport for you.
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Whatever is your final delivery format (Broadcast, web, DVD,.) Color Grading must be done with the same kind of Pro monitors: monitors that can be fully adjusted according to Video Standards.
Web Video video codecs are YUV, so you need to grade on a Pro Video monitor.
The monitor that people around prefer are the FSI (https://www.flandersscientific.com).
Without hesitation that the one I would buy, if on my budget.
rafael -
[James Miller] “From what I can deduce the Matrox has a question mark over its head regarding quality”
You deduce wrong. The quality it gets is equal to what I get with Kona and Decklink.
[James Miller] ” the black magic is rumoured not to have a calibration utility so its AJA. “
The AJA doesn’t have a calibration utility either. Only Matrox does.
Take into account EVERYTHING you want to be able to do. The AJA Kona 3 doesn’t have analog inputs, so if you want to capture from analog sources, you need to buy an adapter for this for $1000. Or, you can go with the Kona LHi that does have those, but that only does 8 channels of embedded SDI audio…and no 2K or 3D. Or you can get the BMD Extreme 3D that has analog inputs and outputs, and 16 channels of embedded audio. Or the Matrox MXO2 that has four analog audio outs, analog in and out, and 16 channels of audio.
You need to make a list of what you need the capture card to do, and then look for the card that does what you want.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[James Miller] ” The production is all going to be shot in HD, edited in FCP”
Just to INSIST in what Shane points, if you are working in any file based HD format, you simply DON’T NEED any IO card.
Tape based HD formats, as DVCProHD or HDV, are captured through FW.
If I’m not wrong, with the only HD format you’d need an IO it would be HDCAM.
rafael -
[Rafael Amador] “Tape based HD formats, as DVCProHD or HDV, are captured through FW.”
They can be or they can be captured through capture cards. This allows you the flexibility to properly convert these formats to ProRes for example.
[Rafael Amador] “If I’m not wrong, with the only HD format you’d need an IO it would be HDCAM.”
D5 would be another.
The other BIG advantage of the capture card is of course confidence monitoring to a broadcast monitor.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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Flanders Scientific makes high quality color reference monitors at the lowest prices I’ve seen. We run the FSI 1760W, 1770W and 2460W monitors here. They are simply outstanding and you can trust them for color correction and critical color viewing.
For a capture card, depending on your needs, you’ll probably do well with an AJA Kona LHi.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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