I am filming dance competitions in different cities this season. Does anyone have a method of producing HD videos to USBs quickly? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Cameras have SDI out.

Not USB, but SD cards - https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicduplicator4k

One thing that worries me is that it records as H.265 rather than H.264, so what is the playback compatibility in real world for customers?

Thanks

Jeff

I've worked events like that with dvd recorders to produce copies of each dance group on the spot.

The best way to do this would be:
1. Use a camera that records mpeg4 to dual sd cards.
2. After each dance swap out one card and give it to someone tasked with making copies.
3. Either use standalone duplicator or one connected to a laptop . Usb flash drives are more appropriate for distributing video to consumers.

There are only a few seconds between numbers with hundreds of songs over the duration of the competition. The family would not be able to play the videos from a SD card on their TVs or monitors without editing software. I would like to produce the HD videos on to USBs within a few hours during the competition day.
DVDs are almost obsolete. People want to take away the USBs the same day.
I'm wondering what other videographers are doing to get away from the hassle of producing and shipping DVDs. It would be easier to finish the transaction the same day.
Is there a converter box that would make that possible? Thanks.

You can't stream video in the manner you want. I outlined the best method. I'd also make sure that your clients are alright with usb flash delivery. You might be surprised to find out many of the parents still want dvds.

Hi Peter

There is another post in the Weddings and Events forum that might help you. Funny enough Roger Gunkle did a dance recital and supplied DVD's only and had some parents come back to him saying they no longer had a DVD player so a DVD was useless for them. 99% of our shoots are live streamed nowdays but what you could also do is feed the camera into a computer and get some simple switching software as most do have a record to HDD facility. Then you have a HDD copy of the event ...as long as you have an extra hand or an assistant, they can stop and start recording after each song so while new songs are being recorded you can be copying previous ones onto USB's in anticipation of orders on the night. Would customers be needing the whole event or parts of it ? We had a guy over here that did dance recitals and during the interval people would come and buy USB's of the first half of the performance. DVD's would require a bit more processing ... It sounds like what you want for clients is an instant USB which is quite practical if you record to HDD as well.

If you have a Matrox Monarch, which is a streaming product, then you can use it to record to mp4 directly to an SD card. This may be a solution for you.

Andrew

Hi Andrew

I think Peter is trying to get away from SD cards and be able to record to storage where a 2nd operator can churn out USB's for sale while he is filming the next event. On SD card I don't think you can access the card remotely while it's recording but on a laptop HDD it's quite possible to create a new file for each short event so it can be copied to a USB ... Hmmm I wonder if one can get a USB duplicator ..plug in 10 USB's and write to them all at the same time??

The Matrox Monarch also records to either a USB or a network mapped drive. Should give enough options for external access.

Just need someone to stop-start the mp4 recorder function as required, and this too can be done remotely through the web interface control panel.

Andrew

Since you have SDI out, you might look into the BlackMagic Mini Recorder. It's an encoder that connects to a MacBook via TB. It comes with MediaExpress software which can capture H.264 MP4 files, which is the best common denominator for playback on variety of OS.

You could record on the camera for your own archive, or just keep camera in standby. Either way do the capture on the laptop for each performance into a separate file which can quickly be copied off to USB sticks. You could have the USB ready in the time it takes to copy a file.

It's an affordable solution ($137 for hardware) and scales indefinitely.

I have used it for livestreaming, but it is also frequently used in other post production processes.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/892453-REG/Blackmagic_Design_bdlkulsdzminrec_Ultrastudio_Mini_Recorder.html