Need help! Client is asking me to convert digibeta to....

[phazelee]

At an event this weekend, I will be receiving a highlight reel from a TV company in a digibeta format tape......An editor in South Korea would like it to be in DV .avi file.

How would I do this?
Only a machine would be able to do this kind of conversion right?
Has anyone done this or knows how this is done?
thanks!

 

[mikkowilson]

You need a DigitBeta Deck, and then a way of capturing that SDI signal it outputs - you can either capture through a device with both SDI and Firewire (like a migh/mid rnage DVCAM Deck) or a multiformat media converter, or using a SDi capture card, like the a DeckLink card.

You can get all the gear as rental items, thoguh really, this is probably a job that's simplest done by handing it off to a dub-house to do as they will have all the gear in place for it.

- Mikko

 

[phazelee]

The place that will offer to capture a 5 minute footage from a DIGIbeta tape to a DV avi format is costing me $125!!

Capturing 5 minutes for $125 seems high to me....or is it just me?
I don't know....should i find other places?

 

[John Kary]

Capturing 5 minutes for $125 seems high to me....or is it just me? I don't know....should i find other places?

DigiBeta decks are expensive. $125 might be their hourly-rate for use of the deck. 5 minutes or 60 minutes, lots of places bill that usage as 1 hour.

And why do you have to foot the cost? If you're doing it for somebody else, and it's not your footage, it's not your place to pay to transfer their footage...

 

[Luis Caffesse]

Yeah, its probably not going to get significantly cheaper than that.
I'm with John on this - this shouldn't come out of your pocket.

Explain the situation to the client, and bill them for it.
Or, ship the Digibeta tape to the editor (bill the client for that too) and let him deal with the conversion.