Sony Vision Switcher

[Andrew Wheatley]

Hi Everyone

I have recently purchased a Sony BVS-3200CP Vision Switcher. I can happily operate the basic functions of the unit (just by guess work) but I know it does a lot more than I have been able to get it to do.

I was wondering if anyone knew where I could source a manual for this?

Thanks!

[Shaun Roemich]

Couldn't find a PDF using Google but that looks an AWFUL lot like a Grass Valley or ROSS switcher in Sony "wrapping". I'd be surprised to see that it WASN'T a cooperative design... try Googling GVG or ROSS switchers as well... good luck!

As well, I'm going to ASSUME that the switcher ISN'T frame store sync'd so it will require all inputs to be timed to each other...

[Chad Nickle]

Hi Andrew, in my former life I was a director/Technical director for several national networks, I have worked on pretty much every switcher Sony has made in the last ten years including the 9000 and 7000 series. Unfortunatly these pieces of equipment are very specialized and boring to people who do not operate them for a living, and so folks don't tend to discuss them in forums like they would a camera, it might be difficult to find much info other than the owners manual. I would probably be able to answer any basic questions you have about it's features, feel free to email me if you want.

Cheers,

Chad@wildorchidfilms.com

[Philip Howells]

Andrew, I found a pdf here:

sony_bvs-3200cp.pdf

but as Chad wrote, it's a very specialised piece of kit, needs a lot more gear working with it and is only PAL analogue component. Is anyone still editing in analogue? My guess this kit is at least 20 years old.

More importantly, today everything it offers is included in almost every $50 NLE software package - a far cry from the $28,000 for which the unit appears to have listed. It's a good example of how much the costs of getting into our business have fallen over the years.

[Chad Nickle]

Actually, that particular switcher is a Master control routing console, which would have been used in a master control room in a tv station to switch between commercials and programs, also to give the control room (gallery in the UK)? control on their much larger switcher during a live newscast, so it would have nothing to do with editing :) point being, unless you are doing analog live switching of an event or broadcast, that piece of equipment is quite outdated.

[Philip Howells]

The pdf source I should have mentioned is at:

http://www.broadcaststore.com/pdf/mo...bvs-3200cp.pdf

[Andrew Wheatley]

Hi Everyone

Thanks for your comments!

Yes, I am planning on using it for live events (I have a couple of systems running CS4 for my editing).

I had been using basic Edirol V-8 and Edirol V-440HD mixers. I picked up this mixer for a great price, particularly because it has a downstream keyer and appears to handle the image a lot better than the Edirol units (even though it is only SD).

I have managed to download a copy of the 'setup manual' but apparently (according to the front of this manual) there is also an operators manual which is a separate document.

Shaun, I also realised after some playing that it needed frame syncs or a TBC for each input (it has internal sync so I presumed it also had an internal frame sync). I am looking at picking up a Datavideo TBC-5000 which does 4 sync inputs. However, do you guys know any cheaper alternatives or other places I might be able to pickup a time sync as the datavideo unit is way more than what I paid for the switcher (though still cheaper than a basic digital mixer).

Yeah I thought it looked very similar to some old Grass Valley systems I had used.

Regardless of operation though it still is pretty cool to use, and the quality of its outputs are great for something so old (the last reference I could find on the Sony UK pro site was for a firmware update in 1997 - noting that it was a real firmware update i.e. download the file write onto an IC and then solder onto the board!!).

Thanks again for your help

Any more tips you guys might have on using this type of gear I would love to hear.

On an unrealated topic Philip, your 3D wedding concept with the fuji setup I thought sounded pretty great.

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Chad Nickle

Actually, that particular switcher is a Master control routing console, which would have been used in a master control room in a tv station to switch between commercials and programs, also to give the control room (gallery in the UK)? control on their much larger switcher during a live newscast, so it would have nothing to do with editing :) point being, unless you are doing analog live switching of an event or broadcast, that piece of equipment is quite outdated.

The pictures I have found online doing a Google search turn up a very normal small footprint single M/E video switcher, much as one would find in a news van (microwave or satellite uplink) or in the control room of a sports complex or even in a corporate multicam installation and certainly doesn't appear to be a routing switcher. Perhaps I'm looking at the wrong picture?

See attached for what I found.

[Warren Kawamoto]

I used to edit with this Sony switcher about 15 years ago. We had 4 betacam decks connected to the inputs and edited to tape with a BVE-900. The keyer was connected to an Ampex ADO 100. If you're looking for a cheap blackburst/sync generator, we used to use the Horita sync and blackburst generator. It had 4 outputs via BNC connectors. I believe they still sell them today.

What cameras are you using on your productions? Does it have a CCU? Or are you planning to run sync and video directly to the camera?

Kids today think a downstream keyer is a title generator. Wrong. It's simply an alpha matt channel to allow keying. You'll still need an external title generator like a Chyron. At that time it had 2 fonts in 4 sizes plus italic. Wow. How technology and times have changed....

[Chad Nickle]

Correct Shaun, that kind of switcher could be used in a news van, but back in the day they would also be used in a master control room to switch between programs on several decks and/or tape machines, generally in a master control setting you would only need one M/E to key a bug, although this unit has a downstream keyer which could serve the same purpose. This is not to be confused with a larger unit which would be used in a live control room. As Warren stated, these could also be used for linear editing. WOW how times have changed :)

Here is a pic of the last switcher I used before I quit network TV.

[Andrew Wheatley]

Thanks for keeping on posting guys, this is very interesting!

Shaun - that's the right pic of the mixer and then there is the box that runs it all.

Warren - I had a look at the the Horita sync generator (still sold). However, it is just blackburst outputs, which the desk already does. The unit I am looking at takes in 4 video signals strips out the sync info and adds in the sync info from the mixer, syncing all four composite signals (frame sync/black burst).

I am having to do this because the cameras I use don't have genlock inputs (Sony Z7s), nor do the PCs I use as my effects decks (using one PC as a title generator interfacing with the mixer until I can pick-up a cheap character generator). I know this is not ideal, but I had been using digital mixers that don't need genlock to sync. However, the deal I got on the desk was too good to pass up and the quality is so much better.

Chad - nice set-up there.

It is interesting as someone who started in video working with PC edit systems to work with technology like this. I first used an old Grass Valley switcher when I did some training in the States and loved it! You also understand so much more about how things work than when you just fiddle around with a piece of software. It also helps you to see where the software has come from and you can understand why software editors work how they do.

[Shaun Roemich]

Thanks for posting the pic, Chad. Never got onto anything larger than a Ross Synergy. My multi cam time is in live sports arenas and on MUCH smaller equipment in conferences and conventions.

The two attached photos are me on a Ross 210 at the old Winnipeg Arena where the Winnipeg Jets used to play (I switched for the AHL Manitoba Moose - we didn't have video boards for the Jets era) and on a Ross Synergy 1 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, switching a live concert.

[Zach Legleiter]

Hello All,

I am going to resurrect this thread if i may?

I just acquired a Sony BVS-3100 switcher, that I would like to use in a church. Like Mr. Wheatley i was under the assumption that the BVS-3100 did not require external sync, because it was listed as having an "Internal Sync Generator" (obviously i was wrong). We have been using a Videonics MX-Pro DV switcher for several years, but we were limited to 4 sources.

If i can get this switcher to work properly i have 3 Sony DSR-250 cameras, 1 Sony DSR-370 camera (w CCU), 1 GoPro Hero2 camera, 1 Sony DSR-20 VTR, a Computer (with a composite output) and a Color bar generator that i would like to switch between using this switcher.

The output of the switcher will be going to a Projector, as well as several monitors throughout the church and a DVD recorder.

What do i need to do/purchase to make the system work properly? The Sony DSR-370 is the only piece of equipment that i have that accepts "genlock".

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!!

[Andrew Wheatley]

Hi Zach

The piece of gear I think you need is a multi TBC corrector:

Datavideo TBC-5000 Time Base Corrector (TBC) and Matrix Signal Switcher

Should do the job. You connect your cameras to that and then into the mixer.

Cheers

Andrew