Mark Maness
Forum Replies Created
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Hey gang… Let me say that I am not upset at the products that I have. I am very satisfied with them (excpet the audio crackle that pops up every once in a while and yes, I have checked my sync setting, its always on FreeRun and it never changes according to the Control Panel). My whole beef here has been that I researched this for a long time and asked AJA before, during, and after NAB about the future products. They couldn’t and would’t tell me if anything cool was about to come out.
Let me say that AJA products are rock solid, not perfect but what is. I am very happy with the Kona2 and the IO LA. I have every input and output available to use, but at a cost of over $3000 instead of being able to spend $1700 and fulfilled our needs just the same. Yeah, I know…. you can’t wait for the future beacuse you’ll never get anything done. Its just the principle here that bothers me.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
Yes, Tony… I did all these things at NAB this year. AJA was very tight lipped about anything. They wouldn’t even comment about anything exciting coming in the future. Oh, yeah, I waited until May to order my system. Yeah, its a fully blown system with a Kona2 and an IO LA but I sure could have saved some money on this IF I had known something about the future of AJA – just a little tip would have been nice. I don’t expect AJA to say that they have a new card that will do HD and SD on the same card but just some little thing like just wait a couple of months and I think you might just see something that will suit your needs better and cheaper. My Sony rep does this all the time. No secrets are slipped out, he just says if you can wait a little bit I think you’ll like this.
I think the thing that bothers me is that we all work for the same goal. All of us here on the cow try to help each other out and that’s an awesome resource. But the companies that we work with on a regular basis should also be helping us out, since we are the people buying their products. Like I said, I don’t expect for secrets to be told, just a little warning that something cool is in the near future.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
My sincerest appologies…. I had to vent my frustrations a little. I understand the business and I did attend NAB this past year. It was very informational but AJA would not speak of anything in the near future. They were very tight lipped. Yeah, I do understand that they have to keep secrects to keep competetors from stealing their ideas for that item comes to market.
But when you are a future customer, sales people can say something like, “I can’t say whats comming up exactly but I think it will fill your needs much better than they are now, so keep an eye out on us.” You know, some sort of warning. I get it all the time from other companies, such as Sony. My Sony rep told us about XDCAM before it was announced without telling us. He just said we have something new that I think will be perfect for you guys if you just wait a couple of months.
It just really bothers me that I spent over $3,000 on equipment that mostly fills my needs when I could have been warned and only spent about $2,000 for my exact need.
Oh yeah…. can you explain how the Kona2 accelerates HDV when AJA doesn’t have a codec for it? I have to gerry rig my setup to work with the Kona2 for viewing purposes but it doesn’t help at all with the number of streams I can use and real time effects. I have the biggest baddest Mac there is and I can only do one stream of HDV video. But now I can do up to 4 streams of 10-bit Uncompressed HD with the Kona2.
By the way. Great job of the “Good Eats” program, Walter! Its my favorite show on the food network.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
Thanks guys…. I just invested in a Kona2 just two months ago and recently purchased an IO LA to handle the analog video. I am pissed that I was not warned that something was comming up in the real near future. I also use HDV and NOW have no real way of using it efficiently. The Kona HL with the breakout box is exactly what I needed. I have sunk about three thousand into all I have to find out that I could have waited two more months and got the Kona HL for less.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
Click on your Motion tab in the Viewer window. Is the images full screen? If ther are, look to see the Center is anything other than 0, 0. Sometimes, it might say 0, 1 or 0, -1. These will make your images and graphics look like crap. Just set it to 0, 0. OR if it already is, then set it to 0, 1 or 0, -1. You might even try 2. Try it, you have nothing to lose except a render file.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
That’s easy…. if you want to crunch numbers, a PC will do. If you want to do video or digital photography, a Mac is best. So, PCs are perfect for math like Excel and complex games, but video has to be done on a Mac. PCs cannot compete with a Mac when it comes to video.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
I’m with you, brother… I had the same issue with a DVCAM machine that we had once. I remember you have to open the Edit to Tape window and then drag and drop your timeline onto whatever process you wish to do. Trying to use it as it was intended never work correctly under FCP 4.5 HD. But you should be able to use Print to Video. Let me ask…. is your deck set to regen timecode? If not, that will stop the deck cold in its tracks.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
You are getting into something very sticky around here. HDV. HDV is totally fine IF you are working in HDV only AND you’d better have a G5 dual 2.7 Mac to do this. Yes, the firewire does work but there is way to view unless you have a Kona2 or Blackmagic HD card installed and there are bugs on Print to Video feature.
My best opinion is to digitize all your footage using SDI video. That means you’ll need an HDV firewire to SDI converter such as the Convergent Video one or the Miranda box. Both are kinda pricey but the output will be much more managable.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
Well, you’re going to have problems no matter what you do. Anytime you mix NTSC and PAL, you’ll have problems with frame rates. PAL video will have a filmic look to it since its 25 fps. I would suggest if you want all the video to look the same is to purchase a film look plugin say from someone like Graeme Nattress at http://www.nattress.com. He even has a converter that can properly convert PAL to NTSC and back if you wish.
Now, the HD footage… I suggest that you downconvert it to match your DV footage. But keep in mind, there is no way that the DV footage is going to match your HD footage. One other thing you might want to consider is what codec to use. I’d pick DVCPRO50 and digitize everything SDI if you have it, otherwise, component video. This will give you the best bang for the buck.
Good Luck!
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions -
I, too, have troubles with this.
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions