I might be soon involved in planning a low budget church TV studio setup, so I'm trying to educate myself ahead of time but I don't find much on the internet.

How low of a budget, you ask. Well, the cameras are already purchased (3 of them, presently used in SD mode for live internet broadcast and direct DVD burning during church services via a cheapo SVideo mixer) and they are Sony FX1s - that should give you an idea. The final product will be standard definition video distributed on a low cost sattelite, more than likely in mpeg format.

I am fairly familiar with digital video and editing on a computer, but this is something that needs to be done live due to the high volume of produced programs needed. The basic video needs are (I am clear on the audio part):

- mixing video from 3 or 4 cameras using component video
- green screen/chroma key for virtual backgrounds - most programs will consist of studio interviews, roundtables
- text and graphics overlay.

My question is, what are the options, what's best and most cost-effective? Is it a component switcher with overlay capabilities, is it an SDI/computer-based interface solution? Anything else available? We may have up to $10K to spend on this part (additional funds will be available for computers and raid storage).

Thanks,

I have used the DataVideo SE-800. It has FireWire input and output, S-video, and composite video on all 4 inputs. It also has a monitor passthrough for each. The green screen is a little finicky, but with practice you can get it to work flawlessly. It also has SDI input and output so you can run keys from a computer. I set up one for 3 cameras and a computer (not SDI though, just firewire from FCP) in 3 hours (that included untangling the cables from the old switcher, and pulling new firewire cables, plus testing and playing around!) I like it, especially since you can record directly to a computer from the firewire port.

Thanks. I am also using an SE800 so I know what can be done and what cannot be done with this excellent switcher.

I would be interested in finding out about others options, especially the use of computer-based solutions or computer-coordinated hardware options.

A relative called me asking for some similar advice. I've been doing video work as a hobby for years, so he figured I'd be the expert! :)

They have a budget of about $600. They have cameras and computers already, and was hoping for a PCI card that can take in 4 or so video inputs, and software that can switch between them and burn straight to DVD all in real-time. Or would a mixing device be better?

Any and all suggestions appreciated!

Here is a studio set up in a box.

www.newtek.com/tricaster/tricaster.php

When you go to the Tricaster site, look at their Tricaster Studio as well. It was designed specifically for virtual sets.

A relative called me asking for some similar advice. I've been doing video work as a hobby for years, so he figured I'd be the expert! :)

They have a budget of about $600. They have cameras and computers already, and was hoping for a PCI card that can take in 4 or so video inputs, and software that can switch between them and burn straight to DVD all in real-time. Or would a mixing device be better?

Any and all suggestions appreciated!
$600 is way too low for budget, all they could buy is a used video switcher and even that would be low/medium quality (maybe S-video inputs/output).