Getting digibeta onto my PC.

[peter_g]

Hello everyone,
Can anyone brake down a cost effective way to get footage from a digibeta tape onto my PC for editing? Obviously its important that the quality remains consistent at all stages. How much will all this cost me? Is renting an option?

Thank you all.

[Kev Owens]

The standard way is to first do an off-line edit, then to use an avid once you are happy with the cut. You use the timecodes from your cut and thereby reduce the time/cost of using the avid.

If you don't want to lose quality- there you go.

[peter_g]

So your saying that its impossible for me to capture and work with full broadcast quality video? I'm using adobe premiere pro, which has a facility for dealing with regular, non-dv footage.

[Kev Owens]

I can only tell you of my experience; which is- no- you can't get the full quality from digibeta out of your PC.

[assyrix]

Your cheapest option would be a used O2 workstation with the A/V module from sgi (starts at ?200 but budget more for a usable configuration) and then another ?400-?500 for either the VIVO or the U2/Ucom serial digital video adapter which hooks up to the O2 camera port. Then you can rent a DigiBeta recorder and capture your footage straight away using either the built-in tools in Irix or any high-end editing/compositing program (there are a couple of them floating around the donkey network and on usenet).

Bear in mind that neither VIVO, U2/Ucom are produced any more, nor is the O2. I had to search for years before I got my hands on an ex-demo U2 from the British distributor (and it was the last one as well). However the biggest gripe will be hard disk space. At around 10MB or more per frame you need a U160- or FC-raid to capture in realtime.

[Alex]

At some point, it's important to realize that you are working in a collaborative field.

So Collaborate.

Make a mini-dv version from you digi-beta source masters with with matching time-code that matches the digi-beta. Create your "final" mini-dv edit master, then you pay a post house anywhere from $100 dollars to $300 dollars an hour to recreate your mini-dv master off of the digi-beta master.

Before delving into home-digi beta options I believe there are two other procedures that are far more important for you to consider.

The first procedure that is more important than digi beta quality in your edit suite is learning how to make a "finished" audio sound track for your finished mini-dv edit master.

Do you hire a composer and sound effects guy, or try to do it all, successfully, yourself?

The second issue that is also more important than digibeta quality in your edit suite is the ability to make an actual E. D. L. (edit decision list) from your mini-dv edited master that will allow your "on-line" Digi-Beta session to go super-fast and glitch free.

Even if you figure out a way to get the highest quality possible in your own studio environment, you will find that your overall system will be slow and stodgy and cumbersome because of all the extra memory needed for the high quality picture.

Your hard drive costs per drive will double or triple because they have to be made to a higher spec and have to spin faster to accomodate the extra quality you desire.

You then have to "link" / "raid" your drives which usually leads to all kinds of undiscovered issues.

It might be wise to stick with what works, your mini-dv editing platform, then online in a million dollar digitbeta edit facility knowing that your EDL will make the session go quickly.

And if your audio from your Mini-DV version is of acceptable quality, then you really are ahead of the game without having to try and have as many bells and whistles as an actual editing facility.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 25, 2003 11:16 AM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>