Setup for live event

B

brhood

New member
Hi all,

Im posting this as a "Am I going about this the right way!" thread!

I have a job to do which is a 3 camera shoot of a live event, with live switching which will be broadcast on two big screens outside of the venue. I have a DataVideo SE-500 mixer, two 7" 16:9 LCDs and intercom/tally system in place. The three cameras are two Sony FX1s and one Sony PD150.

The cameras will be approx 20m away from the mixer and the screens where the live switching/edit will be broadcast are 40m away from the desk.

I will be connecting the cameras to the mixer via an S-VIDEO to RJ45 balun on the camera end then 20 odd meres of Cat5e cabling to another S-VIDEO to RJ45 balun on the mixer end, then running the signal to the screens via another two S-VIDEO to RJ45 baluns over 40 metres of Cat5e cabling (The SE-500 mixer only has one S-VIDEO out so I will be running into a 1in-4out video splitter)

The live edit from the mixer will also be recorded via a Canopus A-D converter into a MacBook Pro so the client can retain the footage shot.

I chose the S-VIDEO to RJ45 balun running over Cat5 cabling as it was considerably cheaper than having to run DV cable every 10 metres with repeaters and then a DV-to-Analog converter on every camera.

Does this sound like a sensible setup to you guys with regards to retaining quality considering the distances involved. This is the first kind of setup of this size I have handled. 99% of my work is TVC and Promotional DVD filming.

Thanks in advance.
Ben Hood
 
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Sounds like the way I do a lot of my jobs, although I typically don't have that many cameras, but we use twisted-pair transmitters and receivers a lot these days and have had very good luck with them, both from a camera to the switcher and from the switcher out to projectors or large-format LCD monitors.

You don't say what brand of balun you're using, or what your experience level with them is, but they can take a little bit of "dialing in" to get their settings just right. (At least with S-video, you don't have to worry about "skew" like you do with computer signals... :) )

The other option you'd have would be to just run composite video cable; given your distances that would be an option that I've used many times before we had our twisted-pair systems, but I rarely do it now that we have the twisted pair, because 200 feet of twisted pair cable on a spool is so much easier to run (and roll up again after the job) than RG59. :D
 
Thanks for the reply Captain Pierce!

The baluns I have, I just brought down at my local electronic store. Is there a brand you could recommend?

I haven't had much experience with them, other than running tests with my Sony FX1 into my TV over lengths of 10m, 20m and 30m.

Cheers
B.
 
The ones I use are Extron MTP series; for S-Video, there are several transmitter and receiver options, but they're all basically the same other than whether or not they have audio, and whether the audio is on RCA or "captive screw terminals."

The "dialing in" I mention is in regards to those three dials on the front of the receiver for luma gain, chroma gain, and sharpness. Basically, you just tweak those until the picture looks right. :) It's not particularly difficult on these models, but it can take some time to make everything look right, especially with multiple cameras coming in and multiple feeds going out.
 
Thanks again mate, that put's my mind at ease! Now the fun bit of live switching and dealing with three different cameramen! Hopefully the tally system works well!! :)

Cheers
Ben
 
Captain Pierce

I just checked out the Extron baluns and they are powered. The balun's I have are passive (no power).. See below.

Do you see this being a problem over the distance of the run. Up to 40m?

Thanks again
b.
 

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Honestly, I've never used one that wasn't powered, so I can't say. It seems a bit odd to me that you could even do such a thing without power, but I'm hardly an expert. :)

You say you've tested them already at 30 meters, so I guess I'd say, if you're happy with that, and if the specs on the units you have claims that they'll do 40 as well, you should probably be good...
 
The unpowered ones are pretty much just connecting the cables up to the twisted pairs inside the cat5 cable. The powered ones do some fancy amplification and differential pair-ing I think, like a balanced microphone, to send the video further than you could with a passive device.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I have tested the passive ones over some decent Cat5 and I am happy with the quality. At the most, I will be sending the signal maximum 40m... if it comes a time when I need to go further with that I will look into some active transmitters.

The project is a bit of a love job for a community group so really dont want to go out blowing $100s on transmitters.

One thing I couldnt find is a price on those Extron transmitters, can someone give me a ballpark on what to expect dollar wise for when I do need them! :)

Thanks again!

Ben
 
Now that I've thought about it a bit, I suppose that using a passive balun isn't all that much different from using an S-video to dual-BNC breakout cable and running it that way... I guess I'm just not used to thinking of Cat-5 as just another A/V cable. :)

As for pricing on the Extrons... I would suggest going to their website, clicking "contact us," and then using the "contact reseller" link to find a local dealer that can quote you a price. I don't know what Extron's internet pricing policy is, and as an employee of an Extron dealer, I don't want to say anything that could get me in trouble. :D
 
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