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NZ Macguide Issue 9
Are you haunted by a not-so-distant analogue video past? My
cupboard is the evidence: 15 hours-worth. My AV camera has been wonderful;
the only problem is I kept meaning to edit all that tape, but the thought of
all the editing on my VHS recorder always sent a shiver down my spine.
When I was presented with the opportunity to transform all my
tape to digital, I leapt at it. Finally, I would be able to edit video on my
iMac! When I took the Formac Studio out of the box I thought 'this is a cool
piece of kit' - it looked right at home on my desk.
Set up
The Formac Studio, as supplied by Übertec in Parnell, Auckland, is housed
in a clear plastic shell so you can see all the goodies inside (I would choose
the alternative white casing for myself). Initial set-up was relatively straightforward,
once you load the necessary software. It is important that the cabling from
your camera is plugged into the right sockets for importing. The FireWire cable
powers the unit (if you have other peripherals daisy-chained, you may a separate
power supply).
The only disconcerting thing I found was an expectation I had
that there would be something on my desktop to indicate the Formac Studio's
presence, but this was a minor point I soon forgot about.
Transfer of data
iMovie makes this whole process easy. All I had to do was press Play on my
camera and select Import on iMovie, and voila! Digital data streaming
into my computer. It is a little scary watching your hard drive's memory disappear
at a fair rate of knots, so my plan to place all that data on board was reduced
to about 15 minutes (note: must get bigger hard drive!).
Video format specifications
- Format DV25 at 720x480 (NTSC) resolution,
- 29.97 frames per second, supports 4:3, 16:10, 16:9 and 2.35:1 movie
formats.
- Compression/CODEC DV hardware and high-speed CODEC (compression/decompression),
25 Mbps DV compression
Other features
- Two FireWire ports, analogue to digital, digital to analogue conversion,
captures from and plays back to NTSC camcorders, VCRs, TVs, video
monitors via composite video (RCA), S-Video (mini-DIN), sound inputs/outputs
are stereo audio (2x2 RCA) in two-channel, 48KHz, 16 bit or two-channel,
44.1KHz, 16 bit with built-in loudspeaker for recording control
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The Formac also supports other well-known software applications
like Adobe Premiere 6 and Final Cut Pro. I don't have these, but am assured
they capture and play back video just as easily.
That was it. Spent the rest of the night having a ball trying
out all the goodies in iMovie. By the end I had a few minutes of footage that
was ready to be recorded back to VHS. A rearrangement of cables, press Record
on my video recorder, select Export, and away it went. You can even check how
it looks on your TV beforehand.
The only disappointment was the realisation that my video camera
recorder is mono, and when I played my masterpiece through my stereo speakers
the sound came out of only one of them. Hmmmm, will have to go on a hunt for
a mono to stereo converter now! To my untrained eye, the picture was nearly
as good as if it had been originally recorded on a digital video camera.
Plus TV and Radio ...
This device is also fitted with a TV and radio tuner, so I had to have a go. Übertec
supplied a list of NZ station frequencies, so I plugged in a TV aerial and
was soon watching the news - I could carry on with other stuff on my computer,
and keep an eye on any interesting news items at the same time. This could
be dangerous! The TV picture was good, occasionally affected if I was running
another application or two at the same time - more RAM should cure this.
I didn't have a radio antenna to plug in, and radio is anyway
currently supported only in OS 9. (There is also a Formac Studio available
minus the TV and radio tuner.)
Conclusion
The capabilities of this device could really be unleashed if you have a computer
fitted with a DVD burner. Alas, I am not in that situation - but the
little time I spent with this converter was enough to make me think seriously
about purchasing one.
© Parkside Media 2003
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