Ok, someone teach this old dog a new trick.......... What board, BoB, hardware, software, etc. do I use to get Betacam SP component into my computer. I've been downloading betacam SP content from my UVW-1600 to my DSR-11 DVCAM deck, then inputing via firewire. I'm sure I'm doing myself a dis-service as the component hook up from my PVM-8044 looks outstanding in comparision! Anyone?

1- What editing system are you using?

2- (kind of unrelated) On the return route, watch out for 7.5IRE setup if going through the DSR11.
It may put digital black level at 0IRE instead of 7.5IRE.

3- If you use Premiere Pro or Vegas, Blackmagic sells capture cards for those editing systems.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/sd/

Premiere Pro may have also bluefish?, axio?, digisuite?.
Avid has Mojo.

I have also the Pinnacle DV500 (?) BoB that was with my Premiere 6.5. (Although I only use it now for the firewire in/out)

Thanks, I will look into the hardware listed

Wow, That BlackMagic is the perfect link! Thanks Glenn. Cheers. ("Just what the doctor ordered!" haha)

You also probably need a RAID to capture onto.

2 SATA or ATA drives using software RAID should work. Or if you motherboard has Intel's ICH5 or ICH6 RAID, you can use that too.
Some of the other RAID controllers that come on motherboards may not work that well (or corrupt your data), so you may want to do a little research on that.

Hey Glenn. Funny you shouldmention the IRE on the DSR-11. I just got word that the final DVD I created (playback thru the DSR-11) was blown out. Why is that? I bumped the gamma table up to 1.2 to correct it.

I am currently running RAID 0 (stripped) - two 250 SATA Seagate's. I've got 5 hard drives on my system totaling somewhere around 1.2 terabytes.

Hey Glenn. Funny you shouldmention the IRE on the DSR-11. I just got word that the final DVD I created (playback thru the DSR-11) was blown out. Why is that? I bumped the gamma table up to 1.2 to correct it.

I'm not sure I understand you. You mastered onto a DVD?

How are you viewing the DVD?

2- If you're making a DVD, make sure your black and white levels are correct. In Premiere Pro, I believe whites should be at 100 and blacks at 0 on the Premiere Pro waveform monitor (not to be confused with a hardware/external waveform monitor, which usually analog levels).

Some DVD players will clip anything outside 0-100 (Ppro waveform monitor units). Most/all DVD players put digital black level at 7.5IRE, which is correct. Anything below 0 (Ppro waveform) will end up below 7.5IRE and will not show up.

You probably shouldn't put out things brighter than 100 (Ppro waveform), because some DVD players will clip things. Use a broadcast safe/color filters to compress illegal colors into legal range.

3- The 7.5IRE issue happens when you use the digital-->analog converters on the DSR11.

What the standards are:
7.5IRE is analog black level
A Y' value of 16 is digital black level for 8-bit digital video formats. In Premiere pro, this is probably "0" on the waveform monitor.

The DSR11 doesn't follow standards.
It puts 16 (Y', digital) at 0 IRE instead of 7.5IRE. So proper digital black level ends up too low, which means your image gets clipped in the dark areas and is slightly darker.


I am currently running RAID 0 (stripped) - two 250 SATA Seagate's.
That should be good.

Just be sure to check the compatibility requirements for the card you want... it may need a particular kind of PCI slot (or not).