Interesting ideas. Obviously the high end expensive systems are designed to do just this but you are looking at 10's of thousands of dollars.
I'm always interested in coming up with low cost solutions to simulate high production value type of effects. SOOOO here are some suggestions
If you want to do this in real time, then you really have to look at a video
mixer. the type of effects that you want to do, ie 3d effects mean that you need to go with the latest equipment. Obviously the high end studio mixers have this with multiple effects units but at the reasonable
level (under 10 grand) the Panasonic Mx70 with the 3d card should be able to do this and you probably could rent one, you would have your sources could be live or pre recorded you then
cue up the transition
effect and then when you want you execute it. Since you are not looking for all the multiple
screen capabilities of break the
image down to multiple screens
etc you probably would find this solution
practical but not overly cheap.
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webap...emId=68674&catGroupId=37051&surfModel=AG-MX70
It also is possible the the Newtek Tricaster systems might also be able to do this but again you are still looking at about 10 grand by the time you get the software/hardware and the pc to run it.
http://www.newtek.com/tricaster/index.php
On the other
hand IF you could move away from the need for a live feed you might be able to use something like Sony Vegas Video, and have your effects and clips all worked out in
advance, and use the external
monitor facility to project it.
It is a little tricky trying to get it to work all on one
system, So what what I have done is to have two pc's running vegas and have each feed into a video
mixer I use a MX50 but you could use a MX30 which sell for about 700 dollars, you then have your original footage say of the rotating cube running on one
system and then on your other
system you would have the footage that takes your keyed or overlayed or inserted
image and have that cued up.
You take your original footage and have it playing with a loop set up on the time
line so that it keeps looping, you then have your
effect footage set up so that it begins at a position of the cube that you can match to (this is the hard part since one
system cannot really automatically trigger the other) and you then manually start the effects clip playing at the
point where the two images match (does not have to be exact) and at the same time. you use the
mixer to transition over to that feed.
If you only had one pc and no
mixer, it is Possible, but tricky to have all your footage on one time
line you then set up a loop for your original footage so it keeps looping and then when you want the transition, you have a pre rendered transition on the time
line right beginning after your end of the loop you then move your loop
point so that it now covers the transition
effect footage and it plays, and you then stop the playback at the end
point.
It is possible, takes a lot of concentration and playing around but you can get some great effects.
Vegas video sells to schools for under 300 dollars, you would need a decent pc in most cases you best
system is a firewire out to a camcorder and use the camcorder analog output to your display this keeps everything on your desktop off the video
screen and keeps your graphics card and the video out seperate.
I have done this when you want some wild title effects or
introduction clips to show on the projected screens during a live concert, and with concentration and coordination you can do some pretty advanced stuff
The advantage of Vegas is that it will allow you to import and match clips from just about anything. So we have used animations from Maya for instance along with video clips,
power point etc. We have used some of these techniques to simulate a big
network sports type broadcast for player stats
etc. As long as you don't need the feed to be live, it works well. If you need live input to the 3 d effects than you need an
effects engine with your
mixer, and you are pretty much back to the first two options
Sharyn