Best and simplest way to record and project video camera simultaneously

[LeVan Moxley]

I have limited experience with video capture so I am seeking your advice on the best way to accomplish this. I need to be able to send a video camera and a Power Point pc to a projector in a live setting, church service. I currently use a JVC GYDV500 thru firewire to a pc to capture video. I want to upgrade to an HD camera and be able to input into a switcher like a Kramer vp728 so I can switch live between the camera and a pc for power point presentation. I need the switcher to be able to output to a xga projector and I also want to be able to record the output of the switcher onto a computer. Can I capture live thru HDMI like I do thru firewire? I only used the VP728 as an example because I have some experience with this switcher. What kind of switcher should I be looking at? It needs to be seamless when switching between the camera and the power point pc. Should I try and stick with fire wire? What sort of output should I be looking to do from the camera for a live scenario and what kind of output from the switcher to the recording computer? Thanks for your help. Fire away with any questions and I will answer as best I can.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Instead of using a switcher, can't you output the pc live into your PC/Laptop along with your presentation, and then control it from there? A simple Alt+Tab should suffice, wouldn't it?

Maybe I'm pissing the point. Anyway, coming to HD, if you buy a camera that compresses the stream (HDV, AVCHD, H.264, whatever) you will need a card like Matrox/Aja, etc to take in the stream and process it real-time for full display on your projector. A simple firewire-HDMI won't be enough. You might be able to get by it, but I'm assuming your presentation is critical and you can't take any down-time (whatever form that might take, which it will sooner or later).

And using the dual-display option/software that comes with these "cards", you can switch between laptop and projector as if you're switching between two monitors. I hope this helps in some way.