VTR Controlers ?
3 messages in this thread
Indeed, there are other controllers than the ones by Diaquest.
SoftVTR costs $995 and controlls many RS422 and RS232 protocol decks. It is
software only.
Animation Commander, from Brute Force somewhere in Canada costs around $600,
and is hardware/software, similar to some of the Diaquest solutions. I've
heard it's quite good, don't let the low price fool you.
V-LAN, which I'm about to invest in, is a video post production standard
communication protocol. It works similar to LAN (hence the name), though I
can't fill you in on specifics. It is much more expandable than the single
deck controllers that many animators are used to using. A single V-LAN
transmitter can control up to 31 recievers. The Animax costs $1250, the
Express (not out yet) costs $750. The Express is a smaller device and is
apparently not as flexible and expandable as the Animax. There are also
external units available, but they cost more. It seems, to me, that V-LAN is
the way to go. It is produced by Videomedia in San Jose, and you can drop Bill
Stickney (72056,1520) or Larry Rask (don't have his Compuserve #) a line. They
frequent this forum.
Regards,
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
Thanks John for your reply. Do you have additional information for that
SoftVTR, where to purchase it or a contact on Compuserv. ?
I will get in touch with Bill Stickney about V-LAN !
Martin Enthed
I'm afraid I don't have a number for SoftVTR, but Greg Pyros (I believe)
can tell you more about it.
My suggestion (not based on gobs of experience, but a lot of research) is
to go with V-LAN. It is WAY more flexible than any single deck PC
controller. It is used in large post production environments where lots of
decks and controllers and switchers and computers and CG's and etc… have
to talk to each other without getting confused. Not to mention that it's
the controller of choice on SGI machines.
Regards,
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)