studio question...

Jourabchi

Jourabchi

Well-known member
Fellas,
We run a small 3/4 camera studio for training purposes and are only upgraded cameras at the moment with a budget of around $3500 per camera, 4 cameras total...

would you reccomend going with the 100b or something else, we dont use the tape transports on the cameras, since most is live broadcast to the classrooms....i wouldnt mind finding something with no transport but that is nearly impossible in our price range....

any suggestions?
 
What sort of technical requirements do you have?

Do you need 16:9 or 4:3 - or switchable?

Do you need Genlockable cameras? - Or does your video mixer have internal synchronization?

How about CCU/RCU for remote camera control?

Tally lights? does your video-mixer support them? What sort of a system is it?

How about camera controls? Do you need Zoom and Focus controls that can mount to your tripod handles?

What other related needs do you have? Do your camera operators need Return Feed switching to their monitors? What communication system do you use? How about teleprompters?

And what sort of camera mounts to you have? If they are balanced pedestals, then camera weight matters.


I guess a good question to cover many of these things would be: What cameras and how are you using now?

- Mikko
 
yeah the studio is a joke, it always has been, the guys over there now, seem to be affraid of upgrading, but i am pusing ot get a newtek toaster system in there soon, if money is available...

the current set up is so jimmy rigged it isnt funny at all, its actually embarassing, i dont know how they have gotten away with it for so long...

the current setup...
vx2000
some sony digital8 camera
2 old school VHS cameras....
yeah VHS...

i cant even begin to tell you how they have the signals routed, since its so riged up...

im trying to bring some uniformity to them, by starting with some decent cameras....and doing away with VHS as whole...but these guys feel like, if they get no complaints then there is no worry, if it aint broke dont fix it...

well to me it looks broke...the quality is straight butt, but since its a different department then my normal day to day job, i havent had much say, but im putting something together anyway....

the idea of the studio...

2 new casters in our studio
2 reporters in the classroom

all fed into a busted mixer that u have to switch over 2 different ways to get it to output to the 5 classrooms...

they use powerpoint and a video overlay to put up bugs and graphics...when i 1st saw that i laughed and was like WHAT AM I DOING HERE....

i dont know it needs a complete overhaul...
so any ideas to start with would be great...
 
Well to start with.. Don't diss powerpoint, I've been using it for on-air graphics on a budget for 8 years now. It works great!

Ok, I know the level you are at. I would recomend getting some DVX100b cameras - they have ports for cost effective manual studio controls when time allows.
Get 3 for now, save your budget for other stuff. The VX2000 will work fine as a 4th camera.

I'm not a big fan of the VT - it does to a lot - which is good for schools. But it's so complex that student's often don't really understand much about what it's actually doing. It's also known to crash whenever it feels like. I'd never trust one for anything live, especially not outside an educational environment. Through a Tricaster may be just the ticket for you.

I would recomend investing in proper production hardware as your budget allows, this allows you to grow as the needs grow.

In addition to the DVX's I'd recomend a Panasonic AW-SW350 video mixer. It's a simple 5-input mixer that has full synchronization so it works properly. It's got tally support so that you can build a simple LED tally light system around it to mount to your studio cameras.
The 5 inputs are useful for example for 3 cameras in studio and 2 VCRs for playing tapes into the show. It also has a built in one-channel keyer that can either use input 5, or USB control to run graphics - keying out black - yes, powerpoint is the tool for this!
No chroma key or other special effects though - which could be an issue, though it's not really that necessary unless you want to do something like "weather" .. but a separate keyer can be found for that pretty cheap on e-bay.

Spend a bit of money and get a proper com system. A Clear-com "Cue Com" is a good system on a budget. "Portacom" is another good brand.

You'll need at least 2 monitors (program and preview) - though of course a monitor for each camera is nice to (so ideally 7 total, but you can do with less to begin with)

You will need a separate audio mixer - which isn't a job for the video mixer anyway - I'd recomend a Mackie 1402VLZ-PRO, though you can get by with something smaller too.

You can work with VHS or Hi8 decks for now - when you can afford it, get a couple of Sony DV-Walkman clam-shell VCRs for insert playback. A 3rd for DV deck for recording would be good too.

A couple of wired Sony ECM-44B microphones for your hosts are worth having too.

Once you get all that lot in place you can start looking forwards to other stuff. For a student news show, then Teleprompters are a pretty worth wile investment - you can build a simple but effective system very cheaply.
Then of course stuff like more microphones, some decent lighting, etc... But that's a way down the road.

3 good cameras.
A good video mixer with tally control
A good audio mixer and microphones
A proper communication system
Throw in a bit of cable, some monitors, and a couple of decks and you are up and running. Upgrade your decks when you can and then start polishing it from there with stuff like prompters and studio controls for the cameras.

- Mikko
 
yeah we have a 1402 already and an older pansonic 3 source video mixer, telepromter, and some wired lapels and sm58s for the classrooms...its kind of thow together situation that has accumulated so much garbage over the years...

i appreciate your input now i just have to run it by the guys...and see if they are willing to make a move upwards into the year 2007...

vhs is killing my eyes...
 
3 source mixer? Hmm, the AW-SW300(?) perhaps?

And you have prompters and a 1402 too .. that's a pretty good start.

You'd be amazed how good it can look with just a good old cleaning too! :)

Some up to date cameras and a proper com system should be your priorities.

- Mikko
 
Miko has asked all the right questions you should ask about a traditional studio. I just have a couple of quick ones, what about robotic cameras such as the EVID 100 and EVID 170?
What type of training do you do that would require a 'traditional studio type' set up. I have recently rented the NewTek and it is great easy to use and output to a variety of media.
It is not very cost effecient these days to crew most training environments. Much easier most of the time to direct and cut , have one person on the cameras and another on lights and audio or some arrangement like that.
 
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