Nate Stephens
Forum Replies Created
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Bob,
You need to ask Shane, our MXO specialist…. but I am pretty sure the Matrox MXO which you would plug into the DVi monitor port does real time HD to SD conversion. That MXO SD you could plug into a DV deck….
Good question
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David,,
So do you still love your Dell 2408 monitors… I am budgeting right now for my summer upgrade.. So if you have a moment, here is a couple questions..
After googling Dell 2408, I am amazed that they have 3000 to 1 contrast and generally better spec than the ACD… You purchased two Dells.
1) Are you planning on using one of the Dells for color correction / broadcast monitoring? Or do you have a HD broadcast monitoring solution already. If so what??
2) The best price I have found on the Dells is about $610 each, did you find a discounter?
3) Would you know if the Dell (timeline) and the JVC DT-24L1U (color correction) make a good match?
Thanks
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“. MOST problems are generally at emergency status by the time the cow is consulted ”
Isn’t this the times when you are supposed to call your VAR,,, oops they are out of business….
And this is why we love our pasture…. Yep there are a lot of COW pies on the ground to avoid, but if you don’t wait to the “emergency situations” to visit the barn yard, you might know the answers to your problems before they appear on your machine. And I am sure that Ron L. and crew will appreciate all the more daily visitors to the farm..
It is a new world out there, and it ain’t perfect yet…
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I agree Walter, it will be very tough..
But if I settle on a 2.8 MacPro that saves $1,600 over (my preferred) 3.2 MacPro. The FCP and CS3 upgrades should be just under 2k, Internal raid at $100 per 500gb Hard drive.. Jeremy mention 8gb ram at $350.. which makes the monitors the wild card..
I am waiting to the middle of June to see if Apple makes any big announcements. If not, I might go with a refurb on the MacPro and maybe the ACD… I have a lot of web searching for the best prices and a couple days of serious number crunching ahead…..
But hey it is fun,,, and if we can make that CEO look and sound intelligent for 20 minutes, we all ready know how to do the impossible.. right…..
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“So why do you need upconversion?”
My main client has a Betacam SP based animated Logo that goes in all their TV spots.. As of today that is the only reason…
Considering their logo is over black, I have thought maybe I could export it as animation and then uprez and doctor it in Photoshop, or maybe the new Boris uprez plugin or even compressor. I have read where the Kona 3 and the Terranx (sp) are the best for uprezing. This is a seven second animated logo, so how critical does it have to be??? Good question… only the eyes will tell.. The logo does have edges and diagonal edges but no circles or ovals. So it would be nice to keep the edges from going too soft or aliasing..
At this point in time a Kona 3 purchase to uprez a 7 second animation is a little over kill. I apologize if I left you with the impression that Uprez was a critical need.
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“What do you NEED to do?”
What I need is a winning Lotto ticket…. but since that is not going to happen, what my goal for the summer is..Is to be HD compliant by mid July.
Our HD will be all P2 based… we will ship HD via FTP, DVD-rom, Blue Ray or Hard drive.
So I need to upgrade (not throw away) my G4/Cinewave edit suite, with a new MacPro that has 2 monitors for the timeline and Browser and a third monitor for HD color correction..
I will test your Kona codec (thank you) on my MBP to make sure it translates Cinewave files correctly with out Kona card. If it does I will keep the G4/Cinewave to digitize and master SD video.
I will have about 8K to accomplish a P2 HD edit upgrade, that has to include the Blue Ray burner, Adobe CS3, FCP upgrade, MacPro, ram, hard drives – raid, monitors and “Broadcast” HD Monitoring.
I am not trying to build the perfect HD in-out suite. I am trying to put together the “minimum” components that I can add to as more revenue becomes available.
My clients do not sit thru the edits. They never even visit. They do not care how I do it, just so I do it for a reasonable fee and it looks great.. It is just video,,, magic right 🙂
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Jeremy,
If I buy the Kona, then I need a HD deck to master to, Panny 1400 =19K or Sony HDcam 1800=25K…. No deck – back to the dub house… There has to be another avenue to monitor Broadcast HD .. besides the Kona (there is one 1400 deck rental in town at $500 per day)
HPX500, My clients want to see the large cameras, not the little toy cameras (that do a damn good job) … An SD lens on the HPX500 should work for the near term, or I can rent locally a HD lens for those fussy clients.. (HPX500 has a 2K rebate till 6/30/08)
I sell, write, shoot and edit my projects. I do not have clients that just have me edit, unless it is fix-ups of their crap.. and I do not have clients that I just shoot for. I do turnkey video production. I am lucky if my clients can write a paragraph, about what they have to see and hear in their video productions… And yes they are all college graduates in upper level corporate, Government and University jobs… that were told to do a video.
I am not east or west coast.. I am a small 2 person shop (plus day hires) in the midwest. It is tuff having to wear so many hats. I dream about Ad and PR Agencies coming in with scripts and storyboards all ready to shoot and edit…. Not in this town,,,, they go to the west coast, for the sand, sun and babes,,, and the very good (cut throat) production community out there.. 😉
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Joe,
Your Blog URL does not link…
I look forward to reading your white paper, especially how you mastered Blue Ray and P2.
How does the 3000 compare to Red, have you had a chance to compare them… They are both about the same pricing when you include lenses and extras..
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” your first job should really pay for it. ”
And your guaranteed low interest rate on the credit card will never go up,,,
such statements might be true if you live and work in an area that is growing very fast with lots of video work…. My town is not in one of those regions…
I like what I have heard about the Kona 3 card, it was on my upgrade list, till the summer client cut my budget by 15K.. The Kona 3 is aprox $3k with the Component to SDI another grand/.. I have the old Cinewave/G4 to digitize SD video. All HD mastering to tape will be contracted to a dub house.. So the Kona card is really just an over priced monitoring card at this time.. All HD ingest is P2 cards. If I can get another big job with a big downpayment this summer, sure the Kona is back on the list…. But I am not going to buy it with the credit card, on the hopes that my interest rates stay below 10% and the economy doesn’t tank after the elections..
I am being forced to be very frugal, if I am to accomplish my goal of being HD compliant for the fall TV spot season. It is a good exercise to force yourself to do every now and then. Is it fun, not really.. can it be done…. maybe…..
I think there is a lot of collective experience here on the Cow. With the help of this herd, I am confidant that I will have a working MacPro HD edit solution… the question is, at what price and is it bug free..
Frugal HD, not cheap or stupid or blow the bank HD… All Mooos are encouraged because I Know some old bull, or young calf have found themselves a thick bunch of HD clover.
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“Just trying to save you money”
I appreciate the thought. And that is one of my targets.. Everything in the HD upgrade from cash flow… NO CREDIT CARDS ALLOWED…
Products that I can repurpose later like the MXO, works with MacPro and Laptop have that extra value.
My target is uprez and cross convert or the Kona 3. but not right now .. The Kona Lhe is a PCIe card correct and great for Betacam and SD input… and this is were I need to google..Kona LHe
My targets are not to purchase anything that is not a bullseye or a device that can be repurposed for field / laptop use.. I have a lot of wonderful gear all SD, all in working condition (AB roll betacam) that is rotting from no use… So I am very aware of investing in gear that has a limited life span in our projected workflow, which is all P2…
The trick is to purchase the right gear,,, that works together,, as advertised and meets the maximum requirements at the least price…
It can be dangerous, risky, and lonely, being your own VAR / edit room designer… But that is the value of these Cow discussions.. And I do appreciate the experienced input from the herd…
And someday maybe I will syndicate an Edit room Makeover show… “Flip that Edit Suite”
Think we can get Bob Zelin to quest star,,, “get those IT people out of here, they don’t know video” 😉Thanks for your thoughts Jeremy,,