Re: [LAU] AV i/o hardware

On Tue, 25 Nov 2014, Simon Wise wrote:

> "Expensive" was referring to their range (which probably include the same
> chips etc) in the context of the DIY approach we are talking about here.

I agree it is a bit pricey compared to what most DIY setups are. I am
looking at what the SW I have tried can do and what we used in The TV
station where I worked in the early 80s had in even on air, but not much
different in production.

We had basically two hard switchers that each had one push button for each
source available in the station. At the right side was a T handle fader
that faded from one switch output to the other. That fade could be verying
amounts of each signal (fade to black or whatever) or could be a wipe (a
moving pre-selected shaped key) or a chromakey (what it was called then).
What I have seen in live stream SW has the switcher part, but not the fade
or keying except being able to key in a box in a set place on the screen.
The idea of a wipe, even timed so a physical fader is not needed, is not
there. Maybe someone can suggest SW that has some of these things, but the
only solution I saw was with HW. What SW does have, is the ability to sync
unrelated video streams at the cost of added latency. We used to call it a
frame storer.

Unfortunately, the newer DSLRs don't seem to have a DV output to firewire
as some of the old video cameras did. Maybe this is still more common than
I know. However with the OPs comment about having remote students speak on
the screen the cameras in question will likely be webcams of various
quality (the $3 dollar store ones are surprisingly good if you add some
light) then the SW switching and being able to add a second video box to
the screen may be enough for what is needed. I think that any of the
cameras I have (including the DSLR) video out to a video capture card are
not going to look any better... though the DSLR does have a nicer zoom and
can focus. Having worked in the video business, I have never been
interested in family video "taping" and so do not have a video
camera/recorder to play with. I have a young boy who may change that, he
has already done some stop motion animation and finds it easier to tell a
story that way than with words. However, for most of what he would do,
recording to file(s) and then mixing/switching/fading/etc. in post
production rather than real time is more likely.

I meantioned the keyer on a card only in case something more than what was
available in SW was wanted. I think it is still cheaper than a full HW
keyer, but yes it costs more than most of us wants to pay (or can).

--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net
_______________________________________________
Linux-audio-user mailing list
Linux-audio-user@email-addr-hidden
http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user