Not sure where to put this. Did a search but didnt come up with much

The more equipment i get the more annoying it is to work with it

Cant afford to spend 10K on a video matrix but i guess there has to be something i can get

My biggest issue is that i have multiple VCR's, DVD recorders, cameras and one thing i always have to do is to watch it on a screen so one thing would be to be able to hook up that monitor to all devices via standar video cables or if possible a mix of video or s-video as most of these devices also have s-video

Most of the recording is done via firewire but of course some of them do not have firewire but rather have video or s video in/out

Looking for any tips to solve issue 1 with the monitor or both things (viewing / recording). As i mentioned earlier i can only spend so much on this but am happy to hear any suggestions

Thanks

I personally use an AV receiver for that job. It routes all different kind of input
signals (mine doesn't do firewire / DVI / HDVI though, but AV receivers do exist
for at least the latter two) and outputting it as composite / svideo or even
digital form (depending on the kind of receiver). Added bonus (for me) is that
it also switches audio and decodes dolby digital / dts

Michael,

I use a Kramer 8x8 matrix switcher to solve the problem. You should be able to find one for under $1K which isn't cheap but the it sure is great to leave all your gear connected and be able to connect any piece to any other piece. Can even be controlled via the RS-232 jack from your edit computer.

http://www.kramerelectronics.com/indexes/item.asp?pic=315

Michael,

Just came across this on ebay. It's similar to the Kramer I use in function.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Knox-RS8x8-8x8-Routing-Switcher-matrix_W0QQitemZ7590606749QQcategoryZ21169QQcmdZViewItem

The price is right (at least right now).

thanks will check that out