CompuServe Thread

#Exabyte/Abekas Solution

3 messages in this thread
#83769From: Don NellFeb 14, 1994 8:04 PM
To All, I'm considering to buy an Exabyte 8505 tape drive and Abekas Drivers for use with 3D Studio, but when I called the service bureaus offering Abekas/Exabyte transfer services, I got some very confusing price quotes. Some places charged around $200.00 per hour of video, while others charged .25 cents per frame. At 30 frames per second, that $27000 per hour !!! The bureaus that charge by the hour explained that they transferred the Exabyte tape to an Abekas machine and then to any format you wanted. Are the bureaus that charge by the frame using a better technique? Did I miss something?
#83846From: John TissavaryFeb 15, 1994 1:23 AM
You've got $200 per hour confused. They mean they charge $200 per hour Abekas edit suite time, which comes out to around 50-60 seconds of animation (quite a bit, really). I use this system regularly, and am VEEERY pleased with it. The ability to provide the greatest available video quality has garnered me some great clients. If you're interested, I use a service bureau here in SF for all Abekas to BetaSP operations, and they have extremely competetive rates. E-mail me if you're interested in more info.
#83879From: Don NellFeb 15, 1994 8:49 AM
John Thanks for the clarification. That makes a lot more sense. Don