Camera for broadcast worship snydication? at DVinfo.net

Michael Padilla · July 30th, 2006, 11:15 AM

Our church is going TV; we have a limited budget (still good.. just not in the millions) and they want to get our pastor on TV ministry.. cable, broadcast, sattelite.. whatever.

I was wondering what the differance in cameras are and if the G1 or LX h1 would be suitable for the job? Since I am not in TV myself I don't know what the differances are between these cameras and the 100K behemeths are or why it important.

____
I know this is probably for another section but they want live switching & controll room stuff.. all phisical boards/switches/monitors etc.. is there a reason for this?? Can't a couple of dedicated Macs/FCP stations do the trick just as well without spending tons on equipment?

Move this post where nessasary..
Thanks for the insight!

Cale Rogers · July 31st, 2006, 04:34 PM

Both the G1 and H1 would be good choices for HD broadcast on a sensible budget. I believe the H1 was partly developed to target HD acquisition for small market TV stations. The H1 provides the advantage of a large range of accessories (batteries, hard disk recorder, wireless unit, matte box) and places to mount them (without duct tape). The lack of audio embed on the H1's HD SDI output won't matter because your audio will come from your mixing board anyway. You could always buy one H1 as a primary and a couple of G1's as 2nd unit camcorders to save money while matching the output.

You're better off looking for a good compact switcher unit for "live" mixing for now. FCP can multicam like a champ in post, but live switching in FCP would be very expensive. http://www.gallery.co.uk/ has a product that allows for live capture and use, but you'd have to mate that with a fiber channel Xsan like workgroup complete with HD-SDI capture hardware. That will get very expensive and complicated to handle all of the dynamics of the setup and the H1's HD SDI single (a lot of bandwidth there) compared to a switcher unit. I don't a lot about the best HD SDI switchers for the money, but do a search in the forums to find out more. You may have to record to disk and multicam in post after the service to make the most of the budget.

Also, don't forget about all of the video streaming options out there. You may have much better success reaching viewers online (streaming, progressive download, podcasting) without the hassle of traditional cable/sat broadcasting. I hope this helps,

CJ Rogers

Daniel Bates · August 4th, 2006, 07:32 AM

I volunteered in the media department at Christ's Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ) a couple years ago... we had six remote-controlled cameras in the auditorium, one manual camera in the catwalk, a Chyron system (my job), a Ross Synergy 2 switcher, Ross digital video routers, etc. It was a great setup, and I learned quite a bit from it.

I would advise that you start off by putting videos online. That will give your video crew some experience that will be invaluable when you go to TV/cable/satellite distribution. Start small, but get good-quality equipment; I highly recommend the Synergy line of switchers, for instance, even though they aren't cheap.

Good luck!
--Daniel

July 30th, 2006, 11:15 AM	#1
Michael Padilla Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: O.C., CA United States Posts: 337	Camera for broadcast worship snydication? Our church is going TV; we have a limited budget (still good.. just not in the millions) and they want to get our pastor on TV ministry.. cable, broadcast, sattelite.. whatever. I was wondering what the differance in cameras are and if the G1 or LX h1 would be suitable for the job? Since I am not in TV myself I don't know what the differances are between these cameras and the 100K behemeths are or why it important. ____ I know this is probably for another section but they want live switching & controll room stuff.. all phisical boards/switches/monitors etc.. is there a reason for this?? Can't a couple of dedicated Macs/FCP stations do the trick just as well without spending tons on equipment? Move this post where nessasary.. Thanks for the insight!

July 31st, 2006, 04:34 PM	#2
Cale Rogers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Greeley, CO Posts: 63	Options Both the G1 and H1 would be good choices for HD broadcast on a sensible budget. I believe the H1 was partly developed to target HD acquisition for small market TV stations. The H1 provides the advantage of a large range of accessories (batteries, hard disk recorder, wireless unit, matte box) and places to mount them (without duct tape). The lack of audio embed on the H1's HD SDI output won't matter because your audio will come from your mixing board anyway. You could always buy one H1 as a primary and a couple of G1's as 2nd unit camcorders to save money while matching the output. You're better off looking for a good compact switcher unit for "live" mixing for now. FCP can multicam like a champ in post, but live switching in FCP would be very expensive. http://www.gallery.co.uk/ has a product that allows for live capture and use, but you'd have to mate that with a fiber channel Xsan like workgroup complete with HD-SDI capture hardware. That will get very expensive and complicated to handle all of the dynamics of the setup and the H1's HD SDI single (a lot of bandwidth there) compared to a switcher unit. I don't a lot about the best HD SDI switchers for the money, but do a search in the forums to find out more. You may have to record to disk and multicam in post after the service to make the most of the budget. Also, don't forget about all of the video streaming options out there. You may have much better success reaching viewers online (streaming, progressive download, podcasting) without the hassle of traditional cable/sat broadcasting. I hope this helps, CJ Rogers

August 4th, 2006, 07:32 AM	#3
Daniel Bates Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Daegu, Korea Posts: 180	I volunteered in the media department at Christ's Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ) a couple years ago... we had six remote-controlled cameras in the auditorium, one manual camera in the catwalk, a Chyron system (my job), a Ross Synergy 2 switcher, Ross digital video routers, etc. It was a great setup, and I learned quite a bit from it. I would advise that you start off by putting videos online. That will give your video crew some experience that will be invaluable when you go to TV/cable/satellite distribution. Start small, but get good-quality equipment; I highly recommend the Synergy line of switchers, for instance, even though they aren't cheap. Good luck! --Daniel