[Bob Zelin]

there are countless inexpensive ways to do this. Edirol makes a cheap set of speakers that have SPDIF inputs, as does Behringer (the MS series, which are CHEAP !). You can also get stand alone SDPIF to analog converters from many companies that are inexpensive, including the Midiman Flying Cow, and M-Audio has even a cheaper one now for about $200 – but the 2 speaker brands I mentioned will be even cheaper than these converters !

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

In your Kona 2 Control Panel, simply switch (on the Digital Out tab) the secondary format to 525, instead of 1080, and it will become a downconverted SDI output instead of a second HD-SDI output. Plug the second output into the SDI input of your waveform monitor, and away you go !

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

What is your set up Bob?

Perhaps we can all learn a thing or two?

David

The type of system that I usually setup for most companies is almost identical to what Steve Covello describes. I usually start with Middle Atlantic racks. Each rack contains a Powerware PW5125 or APC Smart UPS 1500 on the bottom. Video patch bays are Canare 242U-DVJAW, which handle everything thru HDSDI, and are the least expensive video bays on the market that can handle HD. Audio patch bays are ADC PPA1 series solder point bays (long frame 1/4″, but I often get requests for Bantam, where I use the PPB series). I bring all RS422 points up to a CAT 5e coupler patch bay, either from TecNec or ADC. The Tecnec model that is reliable is the PB8-R4R4. Firewire 400 bays are Tecnec 8XFW 16XFW, which too have been reliable. I have not tried the new ADC firewire patch bays. I have been using Gefen KVM extenders. For new MAC G5’s with the dual DVI ports, I use the Gefen CAT 5 5000 HD, which works very well. I realize that there are cheaper KVM’s on the market, like Hall Research, etc., but I have had good luck with the Gefen series.

For drives, I have stopped using Lacie FW800 drives, in favor of G-Tech and StorCase. For SATA, I have found that Firmtek Seritek (with Hitachi drives) and the Sonnet Tempo X eSATA 8 port have been reliable. For SCSI array’s, the combo of a HUGE U320RX with an ATTO UL4D is unbeatable. I am not an Apple XServe fan.

For monitoring, I have been using AJA HDP HD-SDI converters with either Sony SDM-P234b or Apple Cinema 23″ monitors, even though I LOVE the “old”
Sony PVM-20L5/1.

For those looking for routers, I have also found that Sigma Electronics offers an excellent value vs. performance. Their SDI routers handle the embedded audio as well. I have not yet tried the Blackmagic Videohub, but I am anxious to do so. I have certainly used Kramer (also sold under Ocean Matrix and Comprehensive Video) routers, which certainly work, but
I don’t have the confidence in this line compared to Sigma.

And what’s the moral of all of this nonsense here – ITS COMPLEX AND EXPENSIVE to build a nice editing facility – you just don’t stick a firewire cable in the back of a G5, and say “I’m in the TV business”.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

Steve –
you are doing NOTHING wrong here – but you obviously have a standard central machine room, with audio patch bays, video patch bays, a Firewire 400 patch bay, as well as a Sigma router, and KVM’s for EACH of your edit systems. You probably have all of this mounted in several racks, with UPS’s on everything.

My whole point was this is NOT a simple system. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that building a facility is as simple as one firewire cable. If you and Walter have chosen to use Firewire as your I/O for your FCP HD systems, instead of HD-SDI via your Kona 2, then God bless you – that’s not my choice, but I absolutely don’t want to give anyone the impression that building a multi room facility, such as yours, is as simple as a couple of G5’s and a firewire cable, that you drag a VTR around from room to room. Your model of a central machine room, with centralized patching and normalized connections to the most commonly used devices in both HDSDI, SDI, component, and composite is the correct model.
And it requires LOTS of wires, lots of equipment. Not just a single firewire cable.

With all of that said (and with your obvious investment), I am still surprised that you don’t use HD SDI to go into your Kona 2, since you obviously have the patch system already in place.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

The idea of constantly crawling on the floor and disconnecting cabling does seem pretty silly (unless you in fact have a Firewire patch bay) and you have your equipment centralized in a machine room, where you can run your multiple MAC G5 CPU’s to a FW400 bay, and patch the single HD VTR (like the HD1200) into these VTR’s. I can only assume that users like Walter own a Firewire 400 interface device, like an AJA I/O or I/O LA, and must disconnect the AJA box to hookup the HD1200 (or other FW400 devices) when he wants to use them. If you own the gear, and no one else is using it, I guess this is what happens, but when you are in a multi user enviornment, bringing everything to bays (or a router) just makes sense. If you have 2 or more FCP HD systems, and are sharing a single HD1200, then you either have Gefen (for example) KVM extenders for your CPU’s to keep the firewire legnth short for the HD VTR, or you pick up the deck each time, and bring it from room to room, recabling each time you want to use it.

Please don’t give the misconception that you simply buy one TecNec $120 firewire patch bay, and you are done. Multi room use of equipment requires all kinds of stuff.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

Hi – I will put my 2 cents in, in a different light.
If you are incorporating this into a facility, into a machine room, there is no question – you are going to use HD SDI, and not firewire, just like every other professional does
in a facility enviornment. If you are a home user, and want to get away with low costs, just stick your firewire cable in, and away you go. But this approach does not work in larger enviornments, where you must share a single HD VTR between several FCP HD edit suites, as well as dubbing, etc (as well as use of other VTR’s with your FCP HD system).
You will never see a professional facility using anything other than HDSDI, with RS422 control. If you are a news reporter in the field, or a student,or on a very low budget,
firewire will work for you.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

First, using the SDI BNC outputs from the Panasonic deck, I am unable to control the deck from Final Cut (RS422 controller is connected, deck in remote).

REPLY – go into Audio/Video settings/ – 4th tab is VTR control – are you set for RS422 control – it’s so much easier to just select an EASY SETUP rather than doing each setup (do you know what I am talking about? ).

I also can’t figure out whether the Final Cut audio/video settings I need are the DV50 ones, or AJA Kona2: 525-29.97, or something other than those. Again, I’m working in SD not HD, but using DVCPro50 format.

REPLY – again – use the EASY SETUP – you have to match your compression setting in the A/V setting with the Sequence settings compression – if you don’t want to deal with this, just use the easy setups.

Second, I can’t get the embedded audio to come through Final Cut Pro using the SDI BNC connection (I managed to capture by manually controlling deck and using “capture now”)

REPLY – go to the Kona Control Panel (not in the FCP program), and select EMBEDDED AUDIO – it defaults to AES/EBU from the factory setup.

If I use the firewire connection from the Panasonic deck to the computer, I can control the deck and capture both video and audio. BUT, the video capture creates a stutter/freeze frame every 30 seconds. I used the Firewire setting for this in the audio/video settings control area. (Would the firewire obviate the need for Kona 2?)

REPLY – you have not stated what compression ratio you are working at, and you have not stated what drive arrays you are working at. For FW, you must work at DV25 resolution – not 8 bit uncompressed.

SUMMARY –
1) hire someone to help you learn this setup.
2) use the easy setups to avoid all the audio/video settings aggrivation (you will still have to go into the Kona control panel to set SDI Audio).

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

Thanks Jerry, but as you can see on the last line of “requirements”, it states the PC requirements with the different versions of Microsoft OS that it works with. I would hate to start randomly ordering $79 SATA PCMCIA cards, only to have to send them all back. It would be nice to find one that simply even suggested “Mac compatible”.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

Hi Greg –
AJA makes dedicated SD to HD upconverters in their broadcast series. These are dedicated hardware cards that go into a frame. Other companies, like Leitch, make products like this too. I have NO IDEA if the quality of the dedicated SD to HD upconverters from AJA are better (or are any different)
from what you get with the Kona 2. If you call AJA on Monday to find out, please let me know.

Bob Zelin

ps – it’s called the AJA RJ10UC.

[Bob Zelin]

Teranex was absorbed by another company. I believe that Teranex is no longer in Orlando – they were on Sand Lake Road and OBT Greg ! – about 3 mintues from you. But they ain’t there now, and they NEVER rented anything from their manufacturing plant.

Bob Zelin (in Orlando, with Greg).