Members Optigon Posted February 21, 2002 Members Share Posted February 21, 2002 Hey, I'm new to the whole videomixing thing, but I -really- wanna do it. What are the best mixers for the low, medium, and high price ranges? Also, do modern digital videomixers use "samples" or something to that effect? Thanks!Optigon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lordgarak Posted February 22, 2002 Members Share Posted February 22, 2002 Are you talking about live switching or editing? For switching the high end stuff is made by grassvally and cost upwards of $50,000. The cheepest switcher is the Videonics MX-1 video mixer at under $1000, then the MXpro under $2000, the panasonic MX-20 $???? and MX-50 $4000. None of these will give you broadcast quality. The cheepest switcher that will output at broadcast quality is the brandnew Video toaster 2. This is a computer based system that starts around $3000 + a computer. This requires a top of the line computer(Athlon XP 1500+ or P4 1.4 Ghz minimun). With the $2000 SX-8 expansion you can live switch over 8 cameras/video sources. This system also has software for titleing, 3d CG, downstream key, editing, etc... Check out the videotoster website www.videotoaster.com I'm currently researching diffrent switching solutions for our community tv station. Right now the video toaster seems to be the best thing out their and it kills alot of birds with one stone. For the price it can't be beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Optigon Posted February 23, 2002 Author Members Share Posted February 23, 2002 Yes! Someone replied! I'm after something more in the way of live video mixing, like video backdrops for concerts and such. Would these suggested things work well for that purpose? Thanks for replying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lordgarak Posted February 23, 2002 Members Share Posted February 23, 2002 Yea any of these systems would work well for that. The MX-1 is maybe alittle too low res, the MXpro might be ok. What are your sources, prerecorded video or live camers? What kind of cameras are you using? Their isn't any good forums anywhere for live video, the best thing I have found is the rec.video.production news group which you can access from google groups. What kind of budget do you have? [This message has been edited by lordgarak (edited February 23, 2002).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Optigon Posted February 24, 2002 Author Members Share Posted February 24, 2002 Originally posted by lordgarak:What are your sources, prerecorded video or live camers? What kind of cameras are you using? I'm hoping to use a combination of both live cameras and prerecorded video What I'd -like- to do would be to have looping clips that I could feed into the mix, but I'm not sure how it's done... Or maybe have a trigger that sets off different clips on command, so the video could change with the music when need be... Or even have digitally accessible pictures to throw up on screen on command... I'm not exactly sure what's available, so those are just the things I'd like to do, but I've no clue where the budget begins to do those kinds of things... What kind of budget do you have? Like I said, I'm not particularly rich or anything, and I'm not sure exactly how much this whole thing costs to begin with, but I'm really interested in doing it, so investing in things over time wouldn't bother me all too greatly... I just completely have no clue where to begin with all this... Like, DJing is rather straight forward, but VJing is a bit more rare and harder to learn about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lordgarak Posted February 24, 2002 Members Share Posted February 24, 2002 The video toaster 2 sounds perfect for your needs. Its $3000 for the base package and if you want to use more than 1 live camera you should get the expansion thats $2000. Also you need pretty much a top of the line computer to run it all which is going to set you back another $2500. Once you get VT 2 you can do just about anything with video your mind can come up with all live or in editing mode. The software bundle includes 3d CG software, titling and 2d image editing software, the video editior software, the live switching software(video mixer), over 300 transistion effects, virtual decks(decks are VTR or video tape recorders in this case) the list goes on.... Check out their website. www.videotoaster.com Don't forget the cameras and the projectors. The projector for this kind of a setup isn't going to be cheep something like $4000. Good cameras for this are going to be well over $2000 each. You may be able to rent the cameras and the projector, that would be the best way to go unless your doing this more than like twice a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Optigon Posted February 24, 2002 Author Members Share Posted February 24, 2002 Ah, looks like I'll be saving up for a while. I dunno whether it'd be suggestable or not, but do you think it'd be a wise idea to just get something like the MX-1 or MX-Pro, then kinda work my way up from there? Kinda like how some DJs start on Geminis, then move their way to Techs. Thanks for all your help, it's very much appreciated. ------------------ OK... WRITE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lordgarak Posted February 28, 2002 Members Share Posted February 28, 2002 The MXpro would be a good place to start. The MX-1's effects ate just too cheezy looking, think 1980's music video. The MXPro should be alot better. You could get away using cheep consumer vhs decks(vcr's) to learn but you really want to get dv decks. To do anything really cool you need a computer. A good tv output card pr scan converter is well over $1000 but you may not need this if you plan to go directly into a projector using rgb video cables(same way you connect a montior). The only problem with this is that besides the video toaster their isn't any software out their that is designed for live use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members waters Posted February 28, 2002 Members Share Posted February 28, 2002 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MagicTime Posted March 2, 2002 Members Share Posted March 2, 2002 take a course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members waters Posted March 3, 2002 Members Share Posted March 3, 2002 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackmaildesigns Posted March 4, 2002 Members Share Posted March 4, 2002 I've learned a lot on these forums. Audio is not my main thing although in the video world (my world) my knowledge of audio has served me well. This may be an area where I can help. All of the answers are right in there own way. I especially like the one that said, "take a course". There really is no substitue for proper training. I know we can say that about anything, but with video, there are just too many variables to expect to wing it successfully. Still, that having been said, modern equipment is getting pretty simple and good so... you could use an MX-1. The quality is fine for presentation S-video, and that's pretty good. The effects ARE dated, but I wouldn't use them much anyway. Concentrate on video feedback and different kinds of feedback/overlay combinations. Also "keying". Try to use effects subtely and sparingly - like reverb. Here's one nobody has mentioned; get an Apple iBook and project the iTunes video generator. If we'd hadd that in the 60's, we wouldn't have needed so many drugs. Also, if you can find one, there was a cool device called a Fairlight CVI (computer video instrument) that did things nothing before or since did. I can't really describe it and I think that's the beauty of it. Tod Rundgren used to use one live as did Laurie Anderson I think. If you are not recording for playback "on=air" your video levels can exceed broadcast standards. That means you can violate all kinds of "rules" and create images that are unexpected. Shop around for used out of date equipment you can get at a bargain for experiments. For example, spinning a camcorder can ruin it, but if it's an old VHS machine with questionable quality, who cares? But it can create some intersting footage as can a "bungee'd" camera. You get the idea. Oh yeah, shoot extreme close ups of everyday things and also body parts. There's some kind of gut level reaction to seeing skin up close, especially when you can't tell what part you're looking at. Then when you have all these pieces, edit them into montages and then mix those live with the people in the crowd. All kinds of surprises in context will take place. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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