[MacDV] Video mixers

[R B Williams]

The Videonics MXProDV is really a nice unit. I used an MX-1 forever which is equally
impressive live, but the DV inputs are a huge step up.

The benefit of DV mixing is in post production. It is a great time saver when you have
sources from a multi camera shoot that need to be edited before importing to Final Cut
Pro. It's much quicker to sync playback on the decks and switch them "live" than it is
to import everything and drop shot at a time into the timeline for audio sync. You can
always move a few insert shots to fine tune later.

This also eliminates the concern about long cable runs. Each camera can have it's dv
recorder connected where they are at the event. It helps me to set all internal clocks
precisely so that there is a reference for syncing the signals for the mix in post
production. Also, keep every reel running so there are no breaks in timecode.

A decent (but expensive) upgrade at some point, is to input your cameras to firewire
drives rather than tape. We only have 2, but it saves addional time once again for the
capture process.

R.B.

Colin McDonald wrote:

> Looks like I'm going to have to know about live video mixing in a hurry
> (long story don't ask!)
>
> Anyone had any experience with either the Edirol LVS-400 4ch Video
> Mixer/Live Switcher
> <www.edirol.it/europe/details.asp?code=316&id=12&la=UK>
> or the Videonics MXProDV Digital Video Mixer?
> <www.focusinfo.com/products/mxprodv/mxprodv.htm>
>
> Its my impression (so far) that the quality from the MXProDV will be
> better as it can deal with (2 anyway) DV inputs so a live mix to tape
> stays at DV quality whereas with the  Edirol LVS-400 the inputs are
> composite or S video so there will be loss compared with what I'm used
> to (separate DV cameras recording on to their own DV tapes).
>
> Against that, there is the problem of cable length with FireWire DV
> cameras - anyone had experience with the special "Distance DV" cables
> <www.focusinfo.com/products/ddv/distancedv.htm>
> from Focus Enhancements (33, 66 or 164 feet).
>
> Colin McDonald
>
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