HMC40: Multiple camera setup

[Ben Amato]

Just purchased a HMC40 for personal use. I love the camera (I had a DVC-30 previously). Actually I had three DVC-30’s. I utilized them for sports and theater at local high schools. I worked with the kids to create DVD’s of their games and performances. The DVD-30 did an excellent job, together with a Videonics MX Pro video mixer. The kids and I had some great times and made some great memories. Now I am thinking about trying to use HMC40’s instead. This seems like a great camera, at a tremendous price point. But I have a couple of questions.

With the DVC-30 we ran s-video to our mixer. I realize we will need a new mixer to do this with the HMC40’s and that may be down the road a bit. (Mixers that handle HD video are a bit pricey.) But I wondered what output would I use to connect these cameras to a mixer, HDMI, Composite or Component? Typically we have some long runs, 150’ and possibly more. Which would be my best bet?

Initially, (before purchasing mixer) I think I am just going to run monitors from each camera to view the shots the kids are taking and prep them for their next shots.Then we will load the video from each camera independently and edit in FCP. Presently, I have monitors that have composite (rca) inputs. What is the best way to handle this?

I hope this wasn’t too confusing. Thanks in advance for your help.

Ben

 

[Brad Neal]

Hmmm... that would really be a stretch to push an HD signal that far. I would say that your best bet would be to try the HDMI route, but I think even HDMI certification stops at 45'. You may be better off forgoing the switcher and take care of that in post.

 

[hazydave]

With the DVC-30 we ran s-video to our mixer. I realize we will need a new mixer to do this with the HMC40’s and that may be down the road a bit. (Mixers that handle HD video are a bit pricey.) But I wondered what output would I use to connect these cameras to a mixer, HDMI, Composite or Component? Typically we have some long runs, 150’ and possibly more. Which would be my best bet?

Given your existing support for SD, you could run the composite out over your existing cabling solution, and it ought to work just as well. I assume you're using some kind of amplifier/driver... a baseband level composite signal wouldn't normally go 150ft.

In the long run, the HDMI cable spec ends at about 45ft, but that's even additionally limited in practice, depending on the cable specifics and the video rates you're using.

There are two long run solutions I know of ... well, three, but going to optical is probably not worth the expense. One way is by adding a cable equalizer, which is an active device that sits near the end of a long HDMI run, and can in theory let you extend the cable run to about 200ft. Another solution is a pair of extenders, which take the HDMI signal and run it over a pair of CAT5e/6/7 cables. You need a transmitter near the camera, a receiver near your mixer. Depending on the design, you get up to 200ft at 1080/60i resolutions, maybe more. Here's an example:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...SET_1_HDMI_Receiver_Transmitter.html#features

HDMI serialized over optical fiber can run hundreds of feet or more. But it can be expensive.

Initially, (before purchasing mixer) I think I am just going to run monitors from each camera to view the shots the kids are taking and prep them for their next shots.Then we will load the video from each camera independently and edit in FCP. Presently, I have monitors that have composite (rca) inputs. What is the best way to handle this?

Until you have a downstream need for HD, don't worry about sending the HD.