#S-VHS Deck?
7 messages in this thread
I need to spend some bucks on a new S-VHS deck for a conference room. Once
in a blue moon, I'd like to use it to render a 3DS file, but only
occasionally. It's been a year since I've done any animation (right after
3DS came out), and I haven't kept up with what's out there. I'd like to
keep it under $2K, and I know that won't get me very much, but it'll be
mostly used for playback. I know NEC came out with that PC-VCR, and I saw
where Selectra took a Panasonic AG1960 and put a RS-232 interface on it,
but I'm not up to speed on whether either of these will work with 3DS.
Would I need a Diaquest controller as well, or is there a driver for one of
these decks?
Perhaps another deck entirely is the way to go? Any advice would be
appreciated!
Terry,
$2k won't cut it for a frame-accurate deck for animation. $5-6k is
more doable, and you'd need to add either a Diaquest, similar video
controller, or perhaps one of the software-only control packages. Decks
around the $2k range are reasonably frame-accurate for retrieval (play),
but tend to be only accurate to within 2-5 frames. I understand that
Future Video makes a controller to run many such low-end decks, but best
would be probably + or – 1 frames (you asked for 50, you get 49, 50 or 51).
Of course, 3D Studio does not support such controllers directly, but you
can usually load up the frame buffer, and trigger through other software or
batch files. Frankly, I can't see anyone spending $4k extra when they
mostly just want to do is play tapes in a conference room.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Well, I'd like to not spend the extra $4K either for mostly playing tapes.
I spent $90K in there last year for some pretty nice stuff, and now I've
got another $35K to spend in the next couple of weeks (end of the year kind
of thing <grin>). Most of that is going toward a high end camera, but I
have a $2-3K left over and am thinking about replacing the standard VHS
deck in there. The PC has got one of those VGA Producer cards in it, so
over time, I thought I'd gradually get it set up to simply record a few
animations. A Targa+ card is on my list also. Any other advice along
these lines? I know you're the expert! I remember talking to you a few
times last year. Thanks again!
Terry,
Well, if you're just going to run stuff in real-time through the
Magni, then get a good ($1k) S-VHS deck. No need for the NEC-VCR for that.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
I have been considering the Magni Producer to create animations
from 3DS. In conjunction with a $1K S-VHS, what resolution, colors
and overall performance should I expect?
I have been using 3DS to recreate accident investigations and would
like to record them to video tape. Any suggestions?
Just tossing in my two cents: If you eventually want frame-by-frame
capability you might consider a JVC BR-S811U S-VHS deck. They are
currently selling for around $3700 and work quite well for frame-by-frame
recording (they are frame accurate and have a solid transport).
Charles Brush