advice on small system for video recording live bands in a club

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Permalink Reply by Ronnie Anne Spang on October 25, 2010 at 2:37pm

There are two ways to approach this.
There are a range of higher and lower cost solutions.

Higher cost and quality would be a video mixing desk fed by a couple of Sony DVCams or HDCams. The video mixing desk would be sending to a recording device either DVR or a hard disc recorder. Several thousand and up. Low cost products such as FSR or even some Grass Valley would be on the lower end but still provide fantastic capabilities. DVRs (Suggest Oppo, Denon, Sony pro series) or Hard disc recorders such as Do-Re-Mi can be used for recording. Disadvantage: cost and a lot of expensive equipment to use, store, maintain and replace.

A moderate cost method would be using a video conference system which can handle video switching and multiple camera inputs and also offers a recording output. Lower cost is Lifesize, (4x optical zoom,16khz lossy audio) better quality would be Polycom (Eagle Eye cam has 12x optical zoom, codec has 22khz lossless audio)/Tandberg (Precision HD cam has 10x optical zoom, codec has 20khz lossy audio compression). Cost: a couple of thousand to thirty thousand depending on codec and camera choices. Also would have line input for feed from house audio mix. Advantages: remote controlled PTZ cameras. (Pan,Tilt, Zoom). Disadvantages: limitations of capability/performance compared to video mixing desk. NOTE:Tandberg C series mixes video exactly like a Grass Valley!

Even lower cost would be a computer with a video capture card fed by almost any camera that you want and a storage drive. Cost: depends on camera, video capture and software but guestimate low couple of thousand. Advantage: computers can double other duties such as DMX lighting control, AV system control etc. Disadvantage: Operating systems add instabilities and hardware/software conflicts.

Web cams are still awful, but cheap. Aside from the Tandberg USB Precision HD ($400) all are under $100. have tried Logitech, Microsoft, Hercules and others. Find that the Microsoft lifecam is the best of the under $100 items. NONE of the under $100 cameras handle motion very well. The $400 Tandberg handles motion smoothly but has an annoyingly narrow field of view.

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Permalink Reply by Ronnie Anne Spang on October 25, 2010 at 3:03pm

Okay, just found out that Lifesize has finally come out with a 10x optical zoom PTZ camera. Big step in the right direction!

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Schmidt on February 9, 2011 at 3:54pm

My 2c:

 

For the most part Ms. Spang nailed it, you aren't going to get off cheap if you want a full-blown production system. I think Edirol makes some cheap video production mixers...

 

--I like the idea of using a videoconference system as a switcher (nice hack but you'll also want to make sure it can function standalone as such, ie: how Polycom codecs go to sleep if they're not in a call for 15 minutes), however you'd limit yourself in post production because I'm guessing any VC Codec will not have multiple outputs. You could always use DAs to capture the video to parallel acquisition methods (the computer with a video capture card with multiple inputs is probably your best bet). (Here you go, band. Here's a quick copy for you as a freebie and if you want the entire thing in multiple tracks, you'll pay me x amount of money:: I know at least four music venues in NYC that do this with ProTools to sell to bands. Hey, you gotta make a living somehow.

--The webcam idea could only cause strife (you wouldn't use a computer-grade microphone onstage would you?), although that Tandberg camera looks sweet. But you'll definitely want P-T-Z capability unless you want it to just come out horrible. I do agree that the Microsoft lifecam looks great for what it costs!

--the security DVR idea is also a smart hack for cheap, but beware because you'll want to make sure whatever codec they utilize for the video capture is compatible with programs like Premiere, Final Cut, etc....How else would they edit it in post?

So, yeah...what she said. Those Do-Re-MI units look sa-wheet. Good Luck, and hope I've been of any help.

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