Upgrading Advice

[Alex 3D]

We're planning on getting two new Quad-Intels and FCS 2 upgrades. We currently have old Kona video cards and Sony NTSC monitors. I'm guessing we'll have to dump our old Konas since the Intels have different slots.

In a nutshell, our workflow is shoot on HVX-200 (DVCPro50), mix in some running footage from BetaSP, do what we need in FCS/3D and output back to BetaSP for the local TV/cable stations. These are spots for car dealerships.

Eventually we'll be shooting HD with the HVX, but not yet. I'm looking for advice on which video/capture cards to get. I see several products from DeckLink BlackMagic and some from AJA Kona.

I don't need to overboard but don't want to sell myself short either. :dankk2:

[grinner]

why is your current set up not working for your currnt workflow?
Local car spots do not require much overhead on your part. They go with the lowest bid, not the best work. If wanting tobreak out of that workflow, I'd see a need to upgrade but if trying to nessl more in local car spots, you should spend more on your beta sp deck than your nle.

[Alex 3D]

Thanks for the reply Grinner. Actually, we make the spots for all the stores that we own-around 18. So I'm like an in-house agency. There is no bidding. We need to make every spot look great. We like to think our local car spots are better. You can see some here: http://www.koonsmarketing.com/ads/television/

Our workflow does work, BUT, after upgrading my home system to a quad-core and seeing the amazing speed-up in rendering, we can save many hours just by upgrading the Macs. I don't want to buy new capture cards, but I know I have to. I only need to capture because the car manufacturers don't supply footage in a digital format.

Our deck is a Sony UVW-1800, not digital but a workhorse.

A typical FCP render for a :30 spot can be from 25 to 45 min at full quality (we use a lot of layers/effects). That same spot on the quad-core is 7 min.

Anyway...

[grinner]

I hear ya.
you'll be able to get into a very capable set up for less than 15k a pop.
No need to ditch your 1800 or aything. Like you said, it's a workhorse and it's paid for.
Look at the back of every modern post magazine. Thats yer card, man. Easy, affordable, very very capable. I wish I would have saved 45k on my adrenaline and gone this way.