New equipment upgrade questions

[dewknight]

Hello,

I do some work for a local church that is looking to upgrade some of their video equipment. I am very interested in some of the BlackMagic products, and wanted to see if you could give me some equipment recommendations.

Here is their current equipment
datavideo se-900 switcher using sd video
2x sony fx1 (hdrfx1) cameras, runing SD over a cat5 balun to another balun at the switcher
datavideo dn-200 hard drive recorder
30" tv to monitor the se-500 quad output
small audio mixer to send the main feed (separate from the cameras) to the recorder.

The recorder is currently going out and I would really like to move them into HD soon.


I was thinking about the blackmagic television studio and/or production switchers, the hyperdeck studio, converters to send the signal over the existing cat5.

I also want to get an intercom / tally lights set up.

Our cameras have sd, component, firewire, and hdmi outputs. we don't use the sound from the cameras. nothing is sdi or timecode synced.

What do you guys think the best setup for this might be. We may have to make the purchases in two to get all of the equipment we need.

I can and probably will have to run more cat5 for the tally lights and intercom. We would like to use the same style quad preview (or a program / preview with the other cameras listed).

As far as the switcher, we don't use anything other than a basic cut or dissolve. An actual unit would be nice, but if we just use the tv studio with maybe a custom built button for switching, that would work too.

My budget right now is about $10,000. That isn't guaranteed, so the number may change. I may have to pick up some audio equipment with that number as well.

Our end delivery is mainly via YouTube (using final cut pro to edit). Sometimes we deliver on SD DVD.

I don't see us having the budget for timecode synced stuff right now, since that would mostly require all synced equipment in one go if I recall correctly. Just looking for enough info to make the best decision for this church that will allow for full 1080p HD at some point.

 

[Footer]

Have you like looked at a tricaster? Wraps up a switcher, scan converter, and streamer in one package. Will also do the recording and titles/lower 3rds.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[museav]

My usual types of comments....

What is wrong with what they have and is the goal simply new gear or some inproved functionality, performance, usability, etc.? What cabling, conduit, etc. is in place and coudl that affect what may have to be changed or added?

Who is going to install this and is that service and/or any related tools, hardware, etc. accommodated in the budget? Who is going to configure the system, test it and train the user and are there any costs associated there? What about system documentation, system warranty and so on? Some of this may seem unnecessary but as an example, without documentation of the system I've seen techs on field service calls spend much longer trying to figure out how the system is wired and supposed to work than they do actually repairing it and that time then becomes an additional cost for the Church.

How are the cameras mounted and are there to be any changes in that aspect? Are they just switching between two fixed cameras?

Is this purely a recording situation? I see no reference to sources other than the cameras, output for i-mag, etc. but I was also wondering in terms of things like tally as do you expect the pastor to follow tally lights and present to the live camera or more for them to present to the congregation as though the camera were not there and this system to switch as required? And think in terms of not just immediate needs but where they may be heading, no sense to put in a replacement system now and then have to replace it in a couple of years when some other currently envisioned change occurs.

Why is an audio mixer required if all it is sending is the main feed? Or is it actually a separate mix from the house system with some or all inputs split to both the house and recording mixers?