Need some expert advice on Converters

Hi,

I work for a company that does live broadcasts for a professional soccer team.

I am the in house videographer/editor whose job it is to film team interviews/edit them for broadcast during the preshow/halftime/postshow. Along with that I sometimes have to do small short features highlighting the team/activities they do and certain players. Everything is shot on HD but the production mobile that we use is SD and uses the EVS system. (There is an option that we will use a HD truck once in a while)

Now at this point I input the footage into the EVS by burning a dvd and they pull the footage off of that way. I could get the footage ingested via SDI as well and this is the way I would like to move to instead of the dvd or buying an insanely overly priced EVS fee. Not only do I want to ingest footage in I'd like to be able to get footage out of the Production mobile and that's through BetacamSP or through an SDI source. We are using a canopus ADVC110 for live recording to a Macbook pro but it's SD only and the best that I can tell it only outputs 4x3. We shoot 16x9.

Besides the canopus, I am using a Macbook pro 17" (mid 2009 version) for ingesting a live recording of the game for archival purposes.

So here are some options I am considering. Some cost more than others but anyones opinion on this would be great on any of the options or others that I haven't thought of.

Option #1 - buying a HDMi to HD/SDI and a HD/SDI to HDMI converter (like the blackmagic's Broadcast Converter - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... ONVBR_B..., a MinidisplayPort with USB audio to HDMI adapter so I can then use the Macbook pro that I currently have. Total price ~ $945 + $45 = $1000

Option #2 - buying a separate HDMi to HD/SDI and a separate HD/SDI to HDMI converter (like the blackmagic's mini converters, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6 ... CONVMBHS... ) , a MinidisplayPort with USB audio to HDMI adapter so I can then use the Macbook pro that I currently have. Total price ~ $280 x 2 +$45 = $605


Option #3 - buying a newer Macbook pro with thunderbolt and then getting a converter powered/using thunderbolt (like blackmagic's Ultrastudio - http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/ultrastudio/
Total price - $1800 + $470 = $2780


Option #4 - buy the blackmagic hyperdeck shuttle - use this as the converter seeing as this has hdmi in/out and hd-sdi in/out (I'm assuming one can use this as a converter as well - please correct me if I'm wrong) - total price - $330 + $350 (480gig SDD card) = $680.



Now the price difference is all over the place but that's not my main concern. If ease of use and longevity is better than the price at the moment great but if one can get the same job done for a few years by only spending 1/3rd of the price then that's even better.

So please any thoughts and ideas would be really appreciated at this point. If you need to ask more questions please do.

Btw this purchase is not immediate but has to be done in the next 3-4mths.

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob,

Personally I'd go for option 3. Give you all the capabilities of the broadcast converter or the mini converters as well as covers the live capture option.

Broadcast converter is good (have used it) but it is 1RU so need to get a roadcase to transport it easily.

Mini convertors (currently use HDMI to SDI) are good, but is a pain with 2

Both of these you need a converter between your mac and these converters; too many parts.

Hyperdeck, would still need a hard drive caddy to conenct to your laptop, unless captured live onto your laptop. Again need a roadcase for easy transport. (Make sure you get the right SSD, only a few are certified for use with hyperdeck)

ADVC110 can do 16x9, depends on the settings on the device and your software

Also for both the Ultrastudio and Hyperdeck, also need to purchase a lightning cable

Hi Daniel,


Thanks for your input.

With the ADVC110 I have only been able to get 4x3 out of it. I've been using iMovie to capture the live footage and even though I make sure the settings are 16x9 all I get is a squished 4x3 variant. I have found it very frustrating and haven't been able to find the exact problem behind it. If it's able to do 16x9 then there is a problem on the software side. Do you happen to know of any mac compatible software that will record live capture for testing purposes?

Thanks

Rob

Hi Rob,

I do know that imovie can be a bit funny and I don't have a huge amount of experience with it. There is a DIP switch on the 110.

You can try quicktime. It does have a capture capability. I haven't used it for a while using this method

In terms of a free capture, not sure!

I used the 110 (and 300) with FCP7, which could capture live, unlike X.

The other program I've used is Sportsocde, which is not free. But you can usually get a free trial. They've just updated their software and website. The trial was usually on their site, but may have to ask them for one. May be a program worth looking at for your work anyhow! http://www.sportstec.com/
In a previous life, I worked at an elite sporting team who used it; as does every other club in the competition. (Every club in the Australian Football League but also 1/2 of the NBA clubs, Manchester United, NZ rugby to name a few of their clients) You can basically tag items on the fly during capture; on the mac itself or via iphone/ipad app.

Sportscode can actually capture from BM through thunderbolt or PCI cards for the macpro. Can also capture through Firewire for the canopus. For the mac machines that had firewire that is!

Not sure I really answered your question but hope this helps.

Just remembered, could also try Telestream's Wirecast. http://www.telestream.net/wirecast/overview.htm

Haven't used it myself, but it does have a free trial

Also http://softronmedia.com/products/movierecorder.html Does have a demo version

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your help. I will certainly look into Sportscode and your other links as well. Much appreciated. Luckily I don't have to make a quick decision on this as I have a few months to research.

Cheers,

Rob

I've used the 110 without incident to capture 16x9 material into MacBook for editing or live streaming. The DIP switches are for audio and setup, so don't futz with those.

If you're capturing to FCP 7, just make sure you do DV-NTSC anamorphic (Or DV-PAL anamorphic) and that will set the flag properly for playback. Even if you miss this step, its a simple matter in post to stretch back out to widescreen. Afterall - there's nothing special about 16x9 - the amount of pixels are the same, its just a matter of their ratio. The 110 has no scaling to stretch or crop, so no worries there.

I'd take the HDMI out of the equation as much as possible, you're only asking for trouble in a live remote situation.

Agree with the laptop upgrade and moving toward TBolt. Then, you could do the TBolt out for playback and TBolt in for capture all via SDI.

If you have the luxury of time, see what the Hyperdeck Studio Pro will do. You might be able to get that to record, playback and computer interface all in one unit. But, until it ships, won't know final capabilities.