Format for Broadcast Use
 

hi all,

ok so there's many indie projects (esp reality/docos) which have been shot on the mini DV format & have been broadcast on TV.

now most TV stations require it to be in the 16:9 format & submitted on digital betacam.

so what is the "usual" process in terms of editting & post production to get the output onto digital betacam?

is it basically, shoot 16:9 on your camera, load mini DV tapes via firewire onto your PC/Mac, edit using prem/vegas/fcp/canopus etc, colour correct, etc then output final presentation onto digital betacam (hire digital beat deck for the day)

But does the digital betacam deck have firewire input? or is there another method to do this?

No digibeta decks that I am aware of have firewire input. This leaves you with a few options. You can go out to DVCam with a deck as simple as a DSR-11 and have it dubbed to digibeta or, use the analog out of the NLE/deck you have into a rental digibeta, use S-Video or component if available for better quality transfer.

And last, the expensive route. If you are going to do a lot of this work, you might want to look into a conversion device that can go directly from Fireware DV25 to SDI and go into a digibeta that way. Best possible signal transfer.

There are folks like Laird Telemedia making these boxes. Like this one:
http://www.lairdtelemedia.com/Produc...&search=0&off=

This is your best quality bet. And as a bonus, you can rent out your new DV to DigiBeta conversion setup and make extra cash doing DV, DVCam, DVCPro dubs to DigiBeta...

Good luck.

Sean McHenry

g'day Sean,
thanks for the reply...

so you think the DV25-SDI convertor box is the best option? (in terms of quality)

If you're using a PC and Vegas as your NLE, BlackMagic Design's Decklink cards provide direct output and deck control to DigiBeta SDI decks.

The best is not necessairly the Laird product. It was the only one I could think of at the time. There are others but beware of PCI and other card slot devices in that they need STABLE drivers that will 100% work on your particular PC. I would opt for an exterior device if it is available for your needs. I don't want to rely on drivers being updated by folks that may not have an interest in keeping them updated with bug fixes and new features.

I have used various cards in my life such as the venerable old AV Master Analog capture cards. Excellent cards. I think they would still be in use today - if they had kept up with their drivers. Same for Pinnacle and the DC series, etc.

Anyway, take a look at specs and google for online comparrisons, etc. While I will not say I don't like Black Magic cards, I just know we have had a few minor issue with the boards we have here. YMMV and they are an option.

Happy hunting.

Sean McHenry