#The ASDG Abekas Driver
11 messages in this thread
Gary,
I noticed that you were quoted in an add.
"I've never seen our work look this good on video before. I'm never going
to use a frame buffer for our demo reels again."
The word never seemed real strong… Am I missing something here.
All I ever here is everyone uses "BETA SP" $9000 w/o drivers and
hardware to connect to it.
Well, I have: 6mo. ago 5,500 used – 3/4" V0-5850 SONY w/ diaquest
card and software (I would love
to sell
it.) 3mo. ago 2,000+ and – another
diaquest card and software/ActionAnimator for BETA SP decks.
This is AWSOME using the AnamaquePC with QUICK PASS. 300
frames in about 10-15minutes. I love this stuff…
This solution "sounds" great, is it really? and how do I get output from
this device to BETA SP which seems to be the standard?
Stephen
Gary's out of town until the beginning of December. I'd recommend you resend
your message at a later date.
– Jack
Steven, GaryY meant what he said, I think, about the quality of video/CGI using
the ASDG/Exabyte/Abekas route. There is just no better way (save maybe HDTV,
but that's not here yet…) to get your animations to video. The whole thing is
digital CCIR 601 until you dub down to a master, BetaSP if you wish.
-Alan Iglesias
Alan,
Do you have any idea of cost, not about the drive and software to get out to
the 8mm tape, but rather, hardware/software to get out to BETA SP.
Stephen
Do you know of anyone who wants to swap a 3/4" umatic w/diaquest and
cables for an ASDG Abekas Driver and Drive <g>?
Gary had access to Digital videotape, using the ASDG driver to
write TGA files to an Exabyte 8mm digital tape deck (often used for
tape backups). No frame buffer is needed, since no analog video
signal is being recorded. This format is then loaded at a service
bureau into an Abekas digital disk system, which then records in
real-time chunks (maybe 30-50 seconds) to whatever video format you'd
like. I think Gary went to D1, then dubbed down to the other
delivery formats. In your case, your Diaquest will control a Betacam
SP deck to record better than the VO-5850. You still need to connect
a frame buffer (such as Targa or Vista) and run the proper video
signal into the deck. For Betacam component output, you would use a
separate transcoder to convert the RGB output of the frame buffer.
My V0-5850 and Diaquest optoin are both rapidly becoming a paper
weight.
I have the diaquest card to output to BETA SP. I really like the
results. I also like, equally as much as the quality, the speed at
which I can send a batch of targa files out to BETA SP. Using
Anamaque PC with the QUICK PASS option, I can output 300 frames of
tga files in about 10-15minutes. To get the same results out to tape
(minus the quality) it would take about 2+ hours.
As for the ASDG, is it fast. Can I get ouput as fast or faster than I
am getting to BETA SP? Also, if I can get output onto this tape,
what am I going to do with it? Does it play back on my VGA screen?
Can I get composit out to a consumerbrand VCR or component out to
BETA SP for the additional cost of cables? Of corse this assumes
that I would already have the ASDG deck $2500/software $500 and a
BETA SP 10,000 to 15,000 <g>. OOPS, I forgot the consumer brand VCR
$150. Or is my only option to use a service as you were describing?
If so, who?
The ASDG software would be for output by service bureau only –
there is no video playback.
Stephen, I too am looking forward to the day when my VO-5850 becomes a paper
weight. NOT! Because I'll probably be too old to do this stuff and paper will
be long since gone anyway. Instead I hope to augment with a realtime animation
recorder. It will do 300 frames out to most forms of video in 10 seconds not
10 minutes, or almost 2 hours as my 5850 will do. Check out the DPS-PAR or the
Bandit before buying. This new technology deserves consideration.
Has anyone heard about the Matrox MAX animation recording solution. I
just requested more information on this product. I am already using the
ILL-Pro frame buffer so I would only need to purchase the Studio-Xpress JPEG
compression board. This solution is supposed to output realtime animation at
broadcast-quality from your hardrive. All processing is done at 4:2:2
digital-component full CCIR-601 resolution, 60 fields per second and user
selectable output quality. I had been looking at the Studio-Xpress along with
the Studio editing suite for a non-linear editing solution. From what I have
heard you can expect Beta-SP or better output quality from the Studio-Xpress
option.
SSH –Graphic Realities–
There are several new technologies for non-linear editimg and real time
animation recording that will be hitting the market early in '94. Question is
do we buy now and be on the cutting edge or wait for the dust to settle, about
June or July for the refinements and lower prices to hit the market. I feel
that by the end of '94 we will have animation output boards as the first choice
and frame accurate tape as a quickly dieing technology. As one who has
suffered through the trials of tape for many years I personally an looking
forward to the day when frame accurate recording can be retired with my MFM
hard drives and tube cameras.
>> Question is do we buy now and be on the cutting edge or wait for the dust to
settle<<
Yes, that has been a real delima when buying any cutting edge equipment. If
you wait a while there will always be better equipment at lower prices. When
do you draw the line and go ahead with a purchase? I also am looking forward
to the day when use my frame accurate VTRs as expensive realtime animation
recorders.