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Sony M25->Sony UVW1800 with timecode? + HD-SDI?
As so often happens, answering one question has raised several others. In this case, a simple timecode issue has raised the question of whether I should move to HD-SDI to ingest all my HDV material.
Back to Square One:
I need to dub a lot of HDV tapes to Beta, and I’d like to preserve the original HDV timecode. My HDV deck is the Sony M25, and the only outputs for timecode are the HDMI and iLink/Firewire ports. My Sony deck is the UVW1800, which has 9-pin RS422 and BNC timecode inputs.
I read Bob Zelin’s COW review of the Convergent Design HD-Connect-MI. The UVW1800 can’t handle its video inputs, but the Convergent Design unit does seem to offer Firewire-RS422 conversion.
Would the HD-Connect-MI make any sense for my system? It seems like overkill for my dubbing job, but if HD-SDI would significantly improve my workflow for FCP, it may be worth it.
I am currently ingesting HDV material two ways: For simple jobs, I use Firewire. For “real” editing, I send the component video signal through the Kona LHe and mix audio through a Mackie mixer.
Thanks very much for your insights.
Bob Cole
Sony M25 HDV deck, Sony UVW 1800 Beta deck, MacPro 2×3 dual core, Kona LHe, internal SATA RAID.
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5 Replies
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Not sure how to solve your timecode dubbing issue, but I can tell you that the difference the Convergent Design box makes is pretty amazing. I captured the same well-lit and shot scene as firewire, component (throug a Blackmagic HD Extreme card), and SDI through the Convergent MI box. Did a 3-way split screen in an 8 bit sequence and was very impressed with the SDI quality. I didn’t realize the detail I was missing by capturing the other ways. Both for DV and HDV.
Good luck with your endeavor!Dan Sparks
Tricom Video
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[Dan Sparks] “SDI through the Convergent MI box.”
We’re talking about the HD-Connect MI, right? How did you play the original tape, from an HDV deck’s HDMI output?
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Yes. We have the Sony HVR-M25U deck and the Convergent MI box. We play out through the HDMI connector to the Convergent MI box to the SDI in on the Blackmagic card.
Dan Sparks
Tricom Video
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Dan,
Although I have not done your test with a split screen, or ingested HDV via SDI, from everything I have read here and elsewhere, find it hard to believe there could be any quality difference at all between SDI and FireWire ingest. How can that be?
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Not being a video engineer, I can’t say how they do it. I just know what I see on the screen. Perhaps someone from Convergent can chime in and explain the process.
Dan Sparks
Tricom Video
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