Topic: Good site/forum for questions about pro video? Or do you guys know?

[taper420]

I'm setting up two systems at work and I need to do some research as far as what my options are. The first is pretty basic... we need at least a 3 terabyte server that will host media that more than one edit station can have access to, simultaneously. It has to be a quick enough connection for multiple computers funning FCP. I'm not sure if ethernet is quick enough... i think it would have to be at least a FW400 interface. We have been daisychaining drives, and giving access to two computer by having one comp host the drive over firewire, but we are looking for a less ghetto setup.

The other system is a CCTV system running about 30 screens over about 2 miles of hallways. We currently run a DVD loop into a NTSC modulator and send an analog RF signal over coax. Depending on the distance, some of the screens have a decent amount of distortion and static. We are looking to go with a digital server/software solution. The actual connections to the screens should be HD, but they can be analog (not sure if you can get a digital signal to travel the distance we need without too many expensive repeaters). We would like the system to be able to serve different content to the different screens, but also be able to override the custom playlists and have the same content on all screens at once at certain times (say for announcements). We would like to be able to control this all using software.

So any recommendations, or sites you know of that might know better?

[guitard]

What TS is to audio taping, this site is to video:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/

[KurtMichaels]

If you are already decided on FCP then I'd say ask in a FCP forum.

[Cools]

A) Are you going to be doing HD or SD in FCP? Cause if you're doing HD, FW400 is going to be too slow. For best results, you will need to setup a RAID box. It can be connected over ethernet (probably gigabit though, not regular ethernet). As well, you might want to look at Final Cut Server which is software for managing assets from a common media server by numerous FCP clients.

B) A single computer will not be able to stream multiple HD streams to 30 screens, it's just too much content. Depending on the HD content, you can get a way with a dozen or so (don't quote me as I don't remember exactly how many you can stream with current Mac Pros). As far as output, you can get an AJA or Blackmagic PCI card that has SDI, HD-SDI, component, composite, etc. outputs that you can attach to your screens, repeaters, etc. You'd need software to send a video signal out though. Both AJA and Blackmagic cards usually come with a basic output app (AJA TV, etc.) that can send a video out.