Alessandro Machi
Forum Replies Created
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Analog generally doesn’t have compression, otherwise it would be digital. However, analog has bandwidth issues.
Dollar cost wise, DV is a superior value to analog, but not quality wise. It’s just that to get that extra bit of quality from analog requires tapes that are five times as big, cameras that are bigger, more power consumption, bigger tripods (although that is not necessarily a bad thing as camera pans and tilts are super fluid as a result), and so on down the line. However, the bigger cameras do allow for bigger chip sizes to be used, which diminishes flatness issues that come up with smaller chip sized dv cameras.
Going betacam sp to uncompressed makes sense if someone has a ton of computing power and memory to handle that size work flow. Plus, not all software programs work as well in an uncompressed world as they do in a compressed one.
That is why I think the DV-50 codec is the perfect compromise for betacam sp source tapes.
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There may be other issues at play here.
The betacam sp format usually meant either a 2/3 inch chip camera or a 1/2 chip camera, with NO COMPRESSION. The result is a slightly less flat picture than DV sometimes delivers.
The betacam sp cameras also have built in 7.5 IRE, so there usually is less crushing of the lower end gray scale than you may end up with by doing all of your conversions.
People still like Betacam sp because it’s just a more direct system. You shoot it, it looks right, and then you finish. Why not make some Betacam sp owners happy in your area and hire them, then encode your footage in a DV 50 codec, and do your thing?
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So I am starting my own litttle post production facilty (with a small budget) for a few TV shows. Till now all of them were sent to tv stations on Beta tapes.
Since I have to buy a Betacam VTR for the TV shows & its quite an investment to buy one, i just wanted to know what is the future of this format?
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I don’t exactly understand your question. It sounds like you are already doing the shows? I’m curious how you are already delivering the shows without a betacam sp deck.
I would suggest if you have a weekly show or two that you are already producing and will be delivering content via betacam sp you can probably justify purchasing a betacam sp deck if the shows will last at least another 2 months. You can always resell the deck if you decide later on you don’t need it.
Everybody should understand how a betacam sp deck works because it may actually be the last video deck that practices such time honored rituals as super accurate EE functionality along with RS-422 and even video proc amp adjustability via a remote for the 1800. Once you learn about EE, you will be better equipped to deal with all the inconsistent guidelines you will see coming at you at an increasing pace from the digital world.
The one flaw the 1800 does have is the audio LED’s tend to be unresponsive to dynamic audio levels. You can be peaking on an 1800 without having the LED hit the red when there are very short bursts of loud sound. Ideally, you should consider also picking up a player only betacam sp such as a PVW-2600 so that you can check the dubs made in your UVW-1800.
Having said all of that, you really have to decide what is the “brains” of your editing operation. If your NLE editing system does not talk to a betacam sp deck for both inputting and outputting signal, that could be reason enough to avoid dealing with betacam sp even though it could limit your market.