[Sam Mattern]

Brad,

Thank you for your insight. If I understand you correctly, I’d basically just do the multitrack audio recording plus word clock, then dump the video into the system afterwards, using the word clock to sync the two. Here is a little bit more information about what we’re doing now and what we’re trying to accomplish.

We are currently shooting to DV tape with simultaneous write to DVD with a Sony MC-5. Most of our clients just want simple DVD of the proceedings that we’re recording for them. It makes archive and backup simple — a tape on the wall, a DVD in a case. However I know that standard DVs are going the way of the dodo because it’s hard to find a camera that supports them anymore.

This multitrack with simultaneous video record would take over as our simultaneous backup, while providing some benefit over our current setup. We probably edit 1% of what we shoot and what we do edit is for trial purposes. One attorney objects overtop a witness’s answer, the judge overrules the objection, and they want us to magically remove the objection. With multitrack audio, we’d be able to accomplish that feat.

So all of that to say, we want to walk away with two full recordings, one on the camera, and another a second device. I was planning a rackmounted setup of a multitrack mixer firewired to a rackmounted recording computer. I was hoping to hook the camera up to that machine as well and have some software magically record it all together. Doing music recording as a hobby and having used a multitrack DAW setup for a few years now, I thought “Surely there must be a software that does this and records video as well.”

Since we’ll use the multitrack version so infrequently, I don’t want it to be a huge process every time. Was hoping to start a new “project” in some software, arm the track, and record away. Plus, since this is legal work, I really need a simultaneous backup.

Sorry for the novel and I appreciate the advise.

-Sam

[Sam Mattern]

Thanks for this. I’ve been noticing the same thing. I get a digest of new posts in the Flash Forum, but when I log in I cannot see some of them. Hopefully that little check box resolved the issue for me.

-Sam

[Sam Mattern]

First of all, Daniel, thanks for suggesting SUPER. You’re completely right about the website, as it took me nearly 3 minutes to find the link for the download. My advice to everyone…don’t give up. Actually, to save everyone the time:
https://www.erightsoft.info/GetFile.php?SUPERsetup.exe

This product does as advertised: “does for FREE what other encoders CAN’T do for money”. I couldn’t find an area to change the output location. It puts it in C:\Program Files\eRightSoft\SUPER\OutPut
It automatically names the file the same as the VOB, so one must be diligent not to blow over the file when doing a second dvd. It took about real time to convert. The end product was really good; better than other programs they charge for. The artifacts were blocky, but only present during considerable amounts of on-camera motion. The audio stayed in perfectly in sync.

At the same time, I had downloaded TMPGEnc. The GUI was much nicer than SUPER. This is truly a superior product, mostly in the user experience, as it should be for being $100 more. It has some really sweet features, the coolest being a frame view beneath the main playback window in edit mode. It scrolls thumbnails of the frames under the main playback window during playback…WICKED! I wish VideoRedo had this feature! Anyways, the batch is nice, conversion is real time, and the final product was nearly indistinguishable from SUPER. That’s how good SUPER was. However, in a side by side of the final MPG’s, TMPEnc artifacts were less noticeable/blocky (I cued them to the same place in the video).

Price isn’t really a factor, as we need something that will work well, and we’re willing to pay for it. That said, TMPEnc is right for us. For anyone not wanting to drop $100, SUPER is as close as you’re gonna get, and it’s completely free! Don’t bother with any of those $30-$40 programs, they suck: the final MPG is not 352×240 (although that’s what you selected) among other random things they don’t do right.

I’m still open to suggestions! Thanks everyone!