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Make My Own HDCAMs?
Hello all… I have a completed 96min. indie feature sitting on my system, about 70GB in DVCPROHD 1080 23.98 format, stereo.
We have a screening coming up at a theatre with HDCAM 23.98psf deck as only HD playback option. Original camera tapes are HDCAM but for this preview we are not recapturing/remastering in HDCAM.
A facility will take my QT file and make HDCAM tape for about 800 bucks, including stock. A clone for b/u is another 500 bucks or so.
If I’m brave enough and rented an HDCAM recorder for 24 hours, could I do the dub myself as per this basic flow–
Mac’s Kona 2 HD-SDI and AES audio outputs to deck, deck’s HD-SDI output to HDLink to 23″ Cinema Display for monitor and playback proofing.
What is my greatest risk here, other than operator error?
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6 Replies
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Since you have a Kona card, and since you can always call upon the nice folks at AJA tech support for assistance, your only real problem might be setup on the Sony deck. Make certain the rental house knows what you’re doing, and maybe even that they set the deck up for you. SDI makes things pretty easy, since audio and video are piped in on one cable. I say go for it…
DRW
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Post-production Supervisor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles -
If you don’t mind sweating all the setup of a deck you are not familiar with…it might be worth it. On the other hand, I can’t imagine that the deck is cheap rental…
Jeremy
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David, very true about Kona support, they have been there when I needed them. And thanks for the reminder that audio too travels through the SDI. Even though I’ve never output to an HD deck, I did capture all the clips through the Kona from an HDCAM player and it worked great.
Jeremy, that is the key, that I can get some set-up help. The 24-hour deck rental (and some strong coffee) would be a bit cheaper than the facility’s QT-to-HDCAM plus a b/u clone HDCAM. Another advantage of the deck is I’d be able to check the entire 96-minute program of each cassette, not just a spot-check in their machine room. SInce there won’t be time for run-through at the theatre, it’d be great to know it’s all there and pretty.
Thanks to you both for the quick response!
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It sounds like the post house is giving you a pretty good deal. If you plan on renting the deck yourself you’ll find that a HDCAM recorder costs about $700-$800/day to rent. Throw in an HD tape at $75, the fact that you’ve never even done this, and probable screw ups that ruin your screening and I say that gets mighty expensive.
Michael Alberts
Ambidextrous Productions, Inc. -
Michael, you have a point or two there. Although the post house will be upwards of 1200 bucks for the transfer, clone back-up, stock, etc., for the rental I didn’t figure in the painful insurance fee.
We’re leaning towards the calmer, less risky solution of a post house, the screening day looms.
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That is a great decision, Tareco, Inc.
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