#Making a Commercial?
10 messages in this thread
I am new to the Amiga Arts forum, so Hello to everyone. :-> I need some help.
I am seriously thinking about making a commercial for my business and have
heard a lot about the Video Toaster. I am a die-hard PC user, but am
interested in buying an Amiga for the production of my commercial(s). Is it
economically feasable to make a commercial using the Amiga or the Toaster. I
would like to have graphics placed over the video, have the same frame appear
several times on screen and other special FX. Is there a better way? I am
thinking of using it in conjunction with two 8mm Camcorders. Is this
realistic? Any help would be appreciated?
Thanks in advance.
JR
Jesus,
Undoubtedly you'll get many answers to your questions… I'd like to give
you the USER ID # of our resident DTV specialist, Frank Vanella:
76527,723. Frank runs a commercial production studio making extensive use
of the Amiga, Toasters, MAC's and PC's. Feel free to post a message
directly to him, here in the forum.
Jesus,
I make commercials every day using the Toaster, as do many cable company
operators I am aware of. There is certainly a lot more than just a Toaster
required to do spots as you describe. You will need a Time Base Corrector for
each of the taped sources you want to use into the Toaster's switcher. I also
recommend that you investigate some other format than 8mm, becuase it is not of
sufficient video quality for broadcast in most instances. I would suggest SVHS
at a minimum, perhaps 3/4Umatic if you intend on making dubs of your originals
to send to the stations. Not all TV stations will have SVHS but nearly all
still have 3/4 Umatic on hand. The prefered format in most areas is Betacam, or
1".
Although I encourage you to continue to investigate the Toaster as a valuable
tool for video production, I wouldn't want you to get the impression that it is
ALL you need to do commercials. You might want to get some back issues of a
magazine called Video Toaster User (available by calling (408) 252-0508). This
magazine has many articles that can answer most all of your questions in much
greater detail, and profiles many who have used the Toaster in applications
such as the one you are looking into.
Frank
Thanks for the reply Frank. I'll start making calls. I appreciate the
suggestions on using the other forms of Video. I thought 8 mm was good enough.
I guess not. I'll start searching for price on equipment and looking at back
issues.
Thanks again.
JR
8mm has the same resolution as standard VHS. HI-8mm is the higher
resolution format, the same as SVHS. They both use Y/C in/out for better
specs.
Jim R. Ollick
Using AP from Bergenfield, NJ
So that means that HI-8mm can be used to make a broadcast quality tape?
JR
"Broadcast Quality" is a relative term. There have been several threads on
this subject, but the only real qualification on whether any particular format
or program is "Broadcast Quality" is whether it is "Broadcast" Some of the
commercials that run on the local cable are undoubtably shot on 8MM and then
dubbed two or three times from there. I've also seen Local access shows that
were shot and edited on high end formats, yet with a group of college students
at the controls, the results (IMHO) were decidedly NOT "Broadcast Quality"
So…if you want to broadcast Hi-8, you can do it, Network news are using it
for Acquisition, Even MTV uses Hi-8 for aquisition on a couple of it's shows
(they then bump it to a High-End Format for Editing). The question is not the
Format then, but the quality of the equipment processing that format. There is
a big diffence between a 3CCD 8,000.00 Camcorder and the 1000.00 variety even
though they both use the same format. The same is true with your VTR's and
TBC's and even your cableing. If you process your video through sub-standard
equipment, you get sub-standard video…regardless of format.
Later, Jim
I get it. Thanks Jim.
JR
>I am seriously thinking about making a commercial for my business and
>have heard a lot about the Video Toaster. I am a die-hard PC user, but am
>interested in buying an Amiga for the production of my commercial(s).
I would look around and try to find a production house that has a Toaster
and pay them to make your commercial. The reason I say this is because
there is alot more to producing a commercial than just buying a Video
Toaster, you can easily spend $10,000 for a basic set-up. This would
include a Amiga, Toaster, TBCs, camera, and SVHs decks.
You could also look for a Amiga User group or Video Toaster group and find
people who could either help you produce them or help you in your
purchase.
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
(Any render time >0 needs acceleration.)
If you are looking for quality and are definitely looking to buy, I suggest
that you take Frank Vanella's advice. Plus – you'll have to learn alot about
the operation of all this equipemnt. I suggest Toaster instructional videos
for this. You see them advertised in the Video Toaster magazine. (Nothing
ventured – nothing gained).
Otherwise, I suggest that you talk with some of the people here about helping
you with your production and not bear the cost and time involved in purchasing
and learning the equipment.
Good luck
Dan – Little Hollywood Video Productions, Inc.