Hi. My background is primarily in motorsports action sports video. I am now in a situation where some video work i did for a company has led to needing to propose potential costs to shoot live video for [website] broadcast.

The video in question would be shot by 3 XL1S's.. and i'm trying to look into wireless video broadcast solutions, but not having much luck (aside from finding security type related products). Budget isn't as much of an issue as finding the right solution.

Need to broadcast video from 3 different [camera] sources, to a receiver (or multiple receivers if need be), across a distance of 100 - 3000 feet, not necessarily line of sight either. I know.. tall order. And a bit out of my expertise.

Wondering if any of the folks here have suggestions for me? I attempted to use the search feature.. but it doesn't seem to like booleans..

For web broadcast a really good program is Live Channel Pro by Channel Storm. http://www.channelstorm.com/Product.html

I have no idea about wireless transmission.

For Wireless Transmission, first try calling up a Film Rental/Supply company. I don't know what area you live in, but here in Toronto, the film industry is huge, so there are a few companies which supply the ongoing productions within the city. These companies would be able to suggest something to you, since many film productions use wireless video transmission for monitoring.

I did find this product while doing a search...the range is up to 3000 feet.

http://www.rf-video.com/home/steadicam.asp

Good luck

You'll probably need to budget in for an extra person - you will inevitably run into the need for someone to "go do this" or "go do that" during the event - as your needs sound somewhat complex. You want to make sure that you make a good impression to your client and that you don't end up looking like the Three Stooges in front of your client.

You also should consult with and pay for the services from a professional who specializes in this - if you are charging your client for this, you want to get it right the first time - at all costs, or they will not ask you back.

Give Wolf Seeberg a call at Wolf Seeberg Video (310) 822-4973, Fax: (310) 305-8918, "wolfvid@comcast.net"
Wolf knows wireless video. Wolf is one of the people that the rental houses defer to for wireless video. Wolf is a busy guy, but also very friendly and knowledgeable!

Also try Aerial Video Systems in Burbank at 818-954-8842. http://www.aerialvideo.com

Please do let us know how you make out and if you have any other questions, ok?

- don

Try here:
http://www.rf-video.com/home/steadicam.asp

This is new from LAIRD. The only thing is that they don't provide a receiver. Any monitor with a tuner can see the signal, but that means if you want to go portable on location, you have to rent or buy a small portable LCD or CRT system with a turner to receive the video. It never ends! I spoke with them about offering a matching reciever because a lot of us have already invested in these portable LCDs without tuners. They said thanks for the input and would consider it.

www.lairdtelemedia.com/products/lairdcam.html#WAVE

Check out this site. Once there, put wireless video in the search field. I think you're going to need microwave for your application. These guys have it and you'll pay for it!

www.markertek.com

I hope somebody will post some SUCCESS STORIES related to this topic. I did a lot of research on this over the summer and finally settled in on what I thought was going to be a pretty good system... under $300... anyway, the dropouts and static make my system almost unusable! The unit I bought is a heavy duty design with beautiful aluminum cases... but looks/specs were deceiving.

If I were you I'd try the Laird if you can handle that size... Markertek's units are similar to the one I bought... but pretty much cheaper price and appearance.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

Adam,

This may be a bit extreme but could work well for you:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2967834681&category=3319

Adam,

You are best off hiring the services of someone like Wolf Seeberg to insure that your first adventure with wireless video proves to be a professional experience for all concerned, including your client.

It costs a good deal of money to purchase a system that will handle your needs. A $500 solution will not suffice if you want flawless video.

I really think, based upon your requirements, that you will need something of the level of a Modulus 3000 wireless video txmitter system - starting price on that puppy is $2000. That is just for the transmitter. You want a system that will not squash the bandwidth of your video signal.

If you are unexperienced with wireless video, do yourself a favor and hire a specialist - not expensive at all when you consider that it will be done properly and transparently. Your client is not going to want to hear any excuses.

Let us know how you make out,

- don

The wireless solutions at Markertek are not necessarily their brand. They carry several different brands of the 3-5 thousand + dollar range systems. One of which is said to be used by Fox Sports Net. Now if it's working for them, you might want to check it out. Bexel, www.bexel.com , is a worldwide rental company that has a high end system called Dynapix. I agree with Don. It wouldn't hurt to have a knowledgeable person to configure the setup for you, at least for the first time.

My good friends from Bexel in Burbank are the ones who suggested contacting Wolf Seeberg from the get go. http://www.bexel.com/networkburbank.htm As I stated before, most rental houses who cater to high end wireless video applications defer to Wolf, as he is a specialist.

Wolf Seeberg Video (310) 822-4973, Fax: (310) 305-8918, "wolfvid@comcast.net"

Your basic starting point solution to consider would be a Modulus system.

- don

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions.. especially Don. I had a chance to speak with Wolf (at your suggestion) on this matter, as well as doing a lot more reading on the net. Sorry it took me a few days to pop back in and reply, i've been rather busy lately...

Wolf has a microwave setup that works well for roving video, and we'll probably go with that in the end, assuming the proposal is approved. My previous understanding was that an FCC license was needed for microwave transmission, so it was good that i was able to speak with him, and he told me it wasn't needed (at least not with his setup).

As far as budgetting in an "extra person" .. that had already occured to us, don.. i can't even imagine the hassles that we will encounter shooting this. Not to mention, this is video of live car racing, in a form of racing known for throwing tons of debris haha.. so we're attempting to forsee not only the need for an additional "gopher" to get supplies and help out, but budget in potential equipment failure from debris and whatnot.

It's going to be expensive. Most of those setups are for transmitting video to a videotap or a monitor for the director. You won't be able to really rely on most of those systems for a steady image for recording from. High movement, other devices broadcasting, and even the signal from the device if unshielded itself could provide massive interferrence to recording it from a distance.

THose devices are great though if you just need to monitor whats going on. Be prepared to pay a hefty sum for a usable system. your reciever system is going to large and expensive.

Just chiming on this, I agree with the suggestion that you need Microwave. Even the best of the TV band transmitters like the Modulus will cause breakup and are only meant for monitoring purposes as John Threat mentioned. I've owned a Modulus for years and while it is a lovely piece of gear (and MUCH smaller than the Laird, unless the picture on their website is not to scale), it is prone to interference like all such systems.

So is there anythign available for someone who needs to transmit live video from a DVX100 to the director's chair/monitoring area?

the only difference between a good and a bad wireless transmission system are the antennas and the way you positionned them.
if you choose very short frequency (1 Ghz and above) you can almost consider that you have a point to point link that requires pointing the antennas each together.
That is why for mobile stuff, 800 Mhz system are more failsafe, but unfortunately they just are in the mobile phone range and that is pretty bad.
the 1.2 Ghz is nice, but devices are hard to find since the 2.4Hgz and 5ghz start to be more popular frequency (and crowded too).
To position your antennas, you need somebody who knows a bit about that and even worse you could need people to operate them , especially if the emitter or receiver are moving a lot.
Usually a good set of antenna (15db gain) cost as much as the electronic attached to it. There is some diversity receiver that allows you to put 2 or 4 antennas to make sure the signal is never lost, but this costs the hell.
A good start would be to install some parabolic or yagi antennas at the receiver, located at an elevated point (roof or mast).
Use antenna amplifier on the antennas, since 10 feets of average quality coax can gobble up the few dB gained by the antenna.
Try to put the receiver very close the antenna since it is easier to handle video signal than uhf signal on long cables.
Again this is a work for somebody who knows about radiofrequency propagation.
http://www.fab-corp.com/ is a real specialist for antennas, cheap and fast.

Nick, if you are looking for pure monitoring as opposed to "broadcast quality" transmission, try looking at www.supercircuits.com. They have a number of inexpensive transmitters of different stripes. Size-wise, the 434 mhz transmitters are well-suited for DV cameras and can be received on any slide-rule type TV tuner (like a pocket TV); they also sell tuners for this frequency. All RF transmitters are prone to interference but for sending an image to the director, this may well do it for you.

Hi Charles, thanks.

Since I have a field/production monitor, I wanted to see if I could hook it up to the DVX100 somehow without having to run cables. I was also hoping that the quality of the video would be good enough so I can frame the shot PLUS check on lighting.

However, I can probably get by with just getting a nice B/W image so I can frame the shot.

What do you think?

Hi Nick,

You can certainly receive a color signal from a cheap transmitter, but you can't trust it for contrast values. You will see plenty of luma and chroma shifts as the camera moves around. So yes, its useful for framing, but I wouldn't trust it for lighting. Better to have a length of BNC available and run it to the camera during rehearsals to work out the lighting on the monitor, then switch over to the transmitter for the shot itself.

Going to a broadcast microwave system would be required to truly trust the image, and this would likely be too expensive to make sense.

<<<-- Originally posted by Charles Papert : Hi Nick,

Better to have a length of BNC available and run it to the camera during rehearsals to work out the lighting on the monitor, then switch over to the transmitter for the shot itself.
-->>>

I think you just nailed it. I'll do it that way. Thanks!