PE3 and digital betacam

[demalibu]

Will PE3 handle capture and cutting of digital Betacam footage ?
Has anyone worked with this format straight to PE3?
I want to hire a digi-deck and I think I need a decklink card for everything to work.
Any suggestions?
Chris

[Chuck Engels]

This is breaking new ground for us Chris, I hope there is someone here that can answer your question.
There are some former Hollywood and TV professionals here, they may have the answer for you.

What do you have on Beta?

[demalibu]

Hi Chuck,
I shoot a lot of broadcast TV on Digi-betacam as well as DV and HDDV. I normally edit DB at a Final Cut suite, but was hoping that if I invest in a Jseries multi-format player I could edit from home and save costs of a suite.
If anyone has any background that would be really helpful.
Chris

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Chris,
The JSeries has a Firewire out and I would sure think that Premiere Elements would recognize it like any other device but don't know for a fact.
I hope someone has already tried this and can give you a definite answer. Until then is there somewhere to rent or borrow the unit to test with?

[demalibu]

I think the capture side may be OK, but it's more whether PE3 will chug along OK when I'm cutting, rendering, exporting. I don't see why not, just someone who uses PE3 mentioned it could be a problem, but wasn't sure either.
Ta
Chris

[Chuck Engels]

It isn't HDV, just SD footage right? As long as you have a computer that is up to the task it will be fine.
I edit lots of stuff and don't have any problems putting out professional results.
My current project has over 6 hours of video I will be editing down to 1 hour, all DV-AVI and still images, not a hickup.
I wouldn't do that project on my Dell Dimension 3.0ghz computer though.

[demalibu]

Yes, just SD.
When you say you wouldn't do it on on your Dell, what do you mean. Would I need something with more grunt? How much more?
In terms of volume, yes, I'm doing about 4-6 hours down to just under an hour also. I usually store jobs on large external drives while I'm working

[Chuck Engels]

After 2 hours or so of video in Premiere Elements with my 8400 the program would get really slow and unresponsive at times.
It is best to work on large projects in small projects first ( 1hour or so each).

I now have a Dell Precision, with two Dual Core Xeon 3.0ghz processors, 4gb of RAM, 512 video memory, and 1.25TB of internal storage as well as over 3TB of external drive space.
I have not reached the limit of this machine yet, there may not be one

[demalibu]

Ha, no limits, you may be right Chuck, as Pink Floyd once wrote "set the controls for the heart of the sun"
Thanks for everything. I'm going to try it and I'll let you know how it goes (or doesn't go).
Cheers from down under Chris

[Chuck Engels]

Speaking of Pink Floyd, have you ever heard 'Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a Cave'?

[demalibu]

HA! YES!!I knew there were hippies about on this forum. I haven't heard that for ages, but vaguely remember lots of strange noises. Was it off Echoes?
This could be a whole groovy new thread.
All the best....man.

[Chuck Engels]

Far Out Dude - it was the UmmaGuma album a two record set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummagumma It has a fly buzzing around the room and a guy hits it with a fly swatter, and all of the animal sounds in the cave, all done with synthisizers and stuff - Out of Sight Man

Insert Peace Sign smilie

[demalibu]

Hey Chuck, you left out "Several species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a Cave'...and grooving with a pict"
Come on man...tune in. Also, I've just overclocked my PC and set it to the last setting -interstellar overdrive....humming along nicely.
I know this is ridiculously off-topic so apologies to all serious PE3 users.
Have a good weekend.

[Chuck Engels]

Thanks for the laughs Chris, you have a good weekend as well