#Help for video recording
12 messages in this thread
Hello everybody, hello from Spain.
This is my first connection with any forum, almost my first connection
with Compuserve. In fact, i became a member just to make some questions
in your forum before spending a lot of money in software and hardware.
I work in a local TV here, in Spain, with computer graphics. We have
an IRIS with TDI Software, Chyron Infinit!, a PC with an ATVista card
and an ABEKAS Frame Buffer. It is like a broadcast quality "RAM Video".
I have seen 3DS2 and AniPro, and training for a few months. Now i can
earn money enough to buy my home 3D equipment making animations at home.
I feel this is the moment to invest in soft+hard.
I have been playing in a 486DX33 with an old SVGA. Ani Pro framing
is good at 320x200x256, but it is too slow when using any higher
resolution. Until now, if i wanted to record Hi-res/Hi-color flics on
video id need a frame-to frame video recorder, like a Betacam, that i
can not afford, but may be the fastest 486 with the fastest RAM and the
fastest VLB SVGA can play 640x480x256 flics at REAL 25 frames/second
with Aniplay. Then i would only need a video SVHS PAL output card to
record flics Real-time. I imagine a PAL SVHS (Y/C) video card with four
sockets:
SVGA IN to get signal from the VLB SVGA Card
SVGA OUT to connect the computers monitor
SVHS OUT to send computers graphics to the video.
SVHS IN conected to video or camera that would allows me to:
1) Digitize still images from a Video or camera to make bitmaps
for backgrounds and material textures.
2) Make luminance Key and insert 3D flics onto real video motion
images. This is very important for me.
May be there is not so fast computers, or that video card does not
exist and i am dreaming science-fiction tales.
I have heard about two new videos, a Hi8 SONY EVO9650P and the
SVHS Sanyo CVR-S950, both can record a single frame and come with
built-in controller. With that video card i imagine and one of
these videos i could choose if want to record real-time with
Ani Pro for low cost presentations or render to video with
hi-res hi-color when i need it.
I could keep on making questions, but i bet you experts do guess
them before i write.
Something more: Can i buy 3DStudio and Ani Pro directly from Autodesk?
Which and how much is the latest release?
I am sorry for this endless message, and for my poor english.
If everything goes on all right ill try to be an active member of this
amazing forum. Reading public messages i felt i have a lot of new
friends here.
Glad to meet you.
welcome to the forum. That's a lot of questions! It sounds like you
have some very good equipment at the TV station. Maybe you can use it
for your own projects at night.
Anyway, a truevision targa+ or a Matrox Illuminator Pro will do most
of what you said. The targa+ is probably the most suitable because it
works with animator pro and will allow chroma-keying of animations
over a video input and recording to video out in realtime. VL-bus
cards may give you the speed you want, but this depends on the amount
of movement between each frame. Animator pro uses "delta" compression
which only saves the change from one frame to the next. This is what
affects playback speed.
You might also be interested in some of the motion-JPEG cards that are
being released now. These will give you 24-bit playback, full-screen
(720×486), at 30 frames per second (25 PAL) or 60 fields per second
(50 PAL). The quality is much, much better than animator pro can do.
Great! That was exactly what i wanted to know.
But now i can not live without more information about those
motion-JPEG cards. Dont konw absolutely nothing about them but i
feel they are just made for me. What do they do? What are they
compatible with? …
Something more: Reading your answer it seems i can use Ani Pro and
Aniplay directly to Targa. Please confirm it to me.
And last: Can i buy 3DS2 (or 3) and Ani Pro directly from Autodesk?
If i can not, do you know where is the best offer with Ship to
Europe? Even more, if i decide to buy a new computer and Targa (And
maybe that JPEG) with the software i need, can i order it in CServe
and have it in Spain? I ask you this because i have found the
electronic Mall has not many offers of computers, cards or tablets.
That is all. Thank you, Martin. I keep waiting…
the JPEG cards convert targa files into compressed JPEG files (10:1 to
30:1 compression), this allows them to be compressed/decompressed
fast enough to play full-screen, full-colour, full speed animations.
Some names of products are: Matrox MAX, DPS Personal Animation
Recorder, Fast Forward Bandit etc. I think the Matrox will do luma
and chroma keying, I am not sure about the others. The Matrox should
be available in a PAL version and in Spain, but I don't know about
the others.
Animator Pro will work with the targa+ (not the old targa) but it is
only 256 colours and doesn't have great anti-aliasing and titling
features. If you want high-quality titling, with scrolling and
transitions a better package is called Inscriber and it works very
well with the targa+ 64.
I don't know if you can buy 3d Studio and a PC in America. My
suggestion is to find a dealer in Spain, in your city.
Thank you, Martin.
You helped me more than dozens of phone calls and faxes to meny
vendors in Spain and even in America. Spain is a good country to live
in, but not to buy technology. I will go shopping in London. I will
send a brief report to you when i have every machine working.
I'm happy to be able to help.
yes, London is always nice for shopping. I live there for 2 years (I'm English,
but live in Southern California at the moment).
Hello again, Martin.
This message is to complete one i have just sent to you.
Your answer takes me to the right way. But i am not satisfied. I am going to
tell you what do i exactly want to do, and then maybe you can help me better.
I just wish to be able to record good presentations that should include still
or motion backgrounds, multi-sized text (crawling, rolling, flashing, etc.),
wipes, pushes, ADO effects, etc, and of course, 3D elements to make them became
professional. 3DS is perfect for the 3D animations. But perhaps there are
presentations programs that would
fit my needings better than Ani Pro. Do you remember IBMs Storyboard (1983)?.
There must be something similar but with a 1993 copyright.
I realize i am asking for a lot of information, but i do really need your
advice as soon as possible. I have a good costumer waiting for
presentations! He is going to pay this equipment if satisfied.
Thank you again.
Ignacio,
As Martin Foster suggested, Inscriber would be an excellent product for
you to record real-time presentations. It handles wipes, crawls, scrolls, some
sprite animation, as well as text and logo creation and edge effects (drop
shadow, glow, gradients, etc.). It will run on the Targa+ 16/32 PAL version
(same memory as on the Targa+ 64, but that board is NTSC only). Inscriber also
runs in PAL on ET4000-chip VGA, Matrox Illuminator 16 & Pro, Truevision
ATVista, and the Interlace VMAXX 10. A version is probably forthcoming for the
Truevision TrueVista Pro-EISA (DVR technology).
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Thank you for your info. I am amazed with you all. I shall send you
a brief report of activity whe the machines come and work all right.
Our UK office may be able to help you as well.
Schreiber Europe
Fordbrook Business Center
Marlborough Road
Pewsey Wiltshire, U.K.
44 (0) 672 62040