V4hd

[Jerry Hofmann]

Probably works OK, but won’t work with RED 2k or larger… gotta figure a lot of the industry will be working with some sort of digital cinema in the next few years. I’d go for a Kona 3 if you need I/O now and have a tower.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here

8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO, CD’s

[Gary Adcock]

[Mark Griesbauer] “Does anyone know about the V4HD? Any thoughts?”

Like why do they not use smart outputs like most video Mfg’s.

That ProRes is encoded based on the CPU power available in the V4HD, while the IoHD was designed in conjunction with Apple to be their specified ProRes solution.

Go search the IoHD forum for complete lists of differences, since that is better suited than this Kona forum, since comparing a FW based tool to the top PCIe Video card on the market is not really fair for you.

If you are thinking about shooting RED, there is not really another choice.

No CPU based tool is going to be able to compete, since the workflow will need to have real hardware based solutions to handle formats up to 9K in the future of the RED product line.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

Inside look at the IoHD
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/adcock_gary/AJAIOHD.php

[Bob Zelin]

I have a client with the V3HD. They own 3 Kona 3’s, and when AJA had a popping problem with the DVCProHD format for a while, they got angry and bought the V3HD. They have since purchased additional Kona 3’s.

With that said, the V3HD works fine (for DVCProHD – the V4HD does other resolutions as well). What I have found is that all the professional solutions today (Blackmagic, Matrox, MOTU and AJA) have become “commodity” items – they all work – they all do the job. A lot of decisions are based either on price, or SUPPORT. I had an issue with the MOTU V3HD recently, but was disappointed that I could not call anyone at MOTU. Out of desperation, I wound up emailing them, and they were very polite and responsive, but I was disappointed that I could not make a phone call to them.

Are you trying to save some money ? If this is your “decision maker”, I guess the Matrox MXO2 is much cheaper than the I/O HD or the V4HD, but I have not tried it. I am sure it works fine, but Matrox support historically has been terrible. Without knowing anything about the V4HD, if I had a gun to my head, and had to choose between the Matrox and the V4HD, I would probably choose the MOTU based on my support experience. And with all of that said – I would probably choose Blackmagic over MOTU or Matrox. But of course, almost every installation I do is AJA ONLY.

Price should not be your only consideration. You are not saving $10,000 or even $5000. If you are serious about the V4HD, I urge you to try to contact tech support, and see how responsive they are to you. Remember – there is no MOTU forum on Creative Cow !

Bob Zelin

[Eric Harnden]

According to V4HD.com

“Red One
“If you are shooting with a Red One camera and editing in Final Cut Pro, you may also have chosen to use ProRes as your digital intermediate format. If so, the V4HD provides an economical solution for multi-format monitoring via ProRes. Just choose the V4HD as your output device and go. You can monitor on any connected HD and SD monitors simultaneously.”

So does this translate to just 2K then?

[Eric Harnden]

Also, what exactly does this unit do? Will there be a separate forum for it?

Sorry, also another rookie question: what do any of these devices do? Why would I want a V4HD or a AJA Kona Card?

[Gary Adcock]

[Eric Harnden] “If you are shooting with a Red One camera and editing in Final Cut Pro, you may also have chosen to use ProRes as your digital intermediate format. .”
So does this translate to just 2K then?”

First off this is the Kona forum- you are going to get Kona advice here not for Motu

Secondly – no external device I know of can handle 2K imagery- not even the IoHD can handle 2K remotely. RED uses the Kona 3 cards because they are the industries leader in video capture and playback tools- OEM versions are used by companies like Avid and Autodesk for their award winning product lines

https://www.red.com/cameras/workflow lists the Kona 3 systems as one of the simplest ways to create content out to video tape.

So are you going to go with some hardware that may not work when RED is telling you that they use AJA cards for their workflows.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

Inside look at the IoHD
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/adcock_gary/AJAIOHD.php

[Eric Harnden]

Gary,

Thanks for the response.

As far as this being a AJA forum and not MOTU, yeah I understand. But this happened to be the only post on Creative Cow having to do with this device and it was pretty recent, so I jumped on. I’m sure you know that when people search the Internet and forums, it helps if related info is consolidated.

Since you seem to be affiliated with Creative Cow, maybe you can assist to move this to another forum?

[Gary Adcock]

[Eric Harnden] “Since you seem to be affiliated with Creative Cow, maybe you can assist to move this to another forum?”

Other than my regular posting or the occasional article, I have no affiliation with creative cow whatsoever.
Forum leaders do not have anymore rights or benefits than any other users ( Ron even kicked me off once). We are not paid for our services- the work is strictly pro bono (free)

As for other forums to post in – there are a number of posts on the Motu and Matrox products on the FCP and AE forums which cover a wide range of topics and 3rd party products.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

Inside look at the IoHD
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/adcock_gary/AJAIOHD.php

[Greg Mulvey]

I’ve been using the Matrox MXO and the MXO2 and haven’t had any support issues. They have a very active forum on their site as well as one here at the Cow. You can also call them if you need to talk to someone right away.

Greg

[Ned Soltz]

I as well have been using MXO2 since day one and have also used and reviewed AJA IoHD. I do not have any direct experience with Motu. But I do want to say that Matrox in my experience has been tremendously responsive to tech questions and has positioned MXO2 as a different product from IoHD. I’m certainly not detracting from any product; I’m merely reporting my positive experiences with Matrox.

And, in response to yet another post in the thread– Ban Gary Adcock? Quiet, mild-mannered, un-opinionated, product-neutral Gary?

Ned Soltz