Some Help Please

[RexTypeS]

Hello I am looking at getting a tricaster studio. Our company will be doing alot of green screen work as well as live conferences. My question is what all do I need to get to have this thing up and running at 100% right away? Do I need to order extra software? DV Deck? Can I hook up External Hardrives to it? Ive tried contacting NewTek Directly but no emails back and I would really like to get one soon so any help would be greatly appreciated

[Jim Brown]

We are doing quite a bit of work with both the Pro and Studio model in live event production. So....here is our packout list when we do a gig.

Studio.
1. Battery UPS..Get a good one that provides isolation. You will spend $250-400 for a good one!
2. LCD Monitor. We use a 22inch Samsung, but almost all PC monitors will work just fine. The resolution is only 1024x768 so that is not an issue. We have one customer who uses a 32" but we just accuse him of showing off. <g>
3. In a live event setting we always take a Radial Pro D2 direct box to provide audio connection to the house sound. It is necessary if you are accepting audio from the console and also want to send audio from the Tricaster (say a prerecorded segment). (about $130)
4. If you are driving a projector any distance at all you will want a vga to rgbhv cable adaper and then sufficient rgbhv cable to connect to the projector. You can drive directly to the projector with no problem if the distance is 75ft or less with a vga cable.

The above are true for a Tricaster Pro or Studio. For the Studio setup you need to add the following:
1. ISO camera viewing monitors. We have had good luck with the rackmount dual 7" monitors from markertek. DELV-2LCD-7XLRM Just $429 for the two monitors with loop through.
2. Stuff needed for the green screen. Lights, camera, etc. We have found you do not need a perfect background to get great keys. We use the reflectomate material most of the time because it is so easy and we happened to have it.
3. We are making a tally light system that we use. It connects via cat5 cable from the Studio to a small plastic box with an led that velcros to the camera position. We sell them for $79 each with the cable adapters. All you do is add sufficient cat5 cable.

Not much to add to have a complete studio! Just add your cameras and connecting cables. We put it all in Pelican cases on wheels which will fit in the trunk of a car!

Call or let us know if we can provide other info.

Mike Brown
Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA
mike@mmproductionsusa.com

[Jim Brown]

Left off a couple of things from your original inquiry.

1. DV Decks. The Tricaster (all models) only support DV during capture. Not live production. We use a dv deck (dsr-11) to record our live events to tape. That backup thing and paranoia I guess. We connect it via analog sources. (Svideo mostly)
2. External drives. The unit supports usb external drives and we do use those for backup. For recording live events and web streaming I prefer to use the internal drive and then copy to the external after the event as a backup and historical store. It should work just fine capturing to an external drive during an event. We just did not set it up that way.

The external usb drive is a great way to get source material into and out of the Tricaster. We also use thumb drives and they work just fine.

Hope that answers all your questions and you join the Newtek family.

Jim

[Cineman]

The above are true for a Tricaster Pro or Studio. For the Studio setup you need to add the following:
1. ISO camera viewing monitors. We have had good luck with the rackmount dual 7" monitors from markertek. DELV-2LCD-7XLRM Just $429 for the two monitors with loop through.
Might be wise to remind Jordan at this point that one ISO camera viewing monitor for each camera will be needed. So, if doing four camera productions, one will need four camera monitors. If additional cameras are added for other shoots, the additional monitors can be purchased then.

3. We are making a tally light system that we use. It connects via cat5 cable from the Studio to a small plastic box with an led that velcros to the camera position. We sell them for $79 each with the cable adapters. All you do is add sufficient cat5 cable.
Thought I would ask you, Jim or Mike, if you are including a return to camera video feed with these? I think it is being done with many. I really believe that the key to success with NewTek Chroma Key Sets is to send Preview Out back to the camera viewfinders, so that the camera operator can frame the chroma key shots, and it not have to be done by the switcher operator talking the camera operator into a frame while doing everything else required to switch the production.

I still think some kind of com line will be needed, be it wired or wireless headsets.

Nes Gurley

[Jim Brown]

Nes wrote "Thought I would ask you, Jim or Mike, if you are including a return to camera video feed with these? I think it is being done with many. I really believe that the key to success with NewTek Chroma Key Sets is to send Preview Out back to the camera viewfinders, so that the camera operator can frame the chroma key shots, and it not have to be done by the switcher operator talking the camera operator into a frame while doing everything else required to switch the production."


Nes, we simply turn on an led when the input is selected. It is really designed for use in a prosumer situation where you cannot do much with the camera monitor. We have been kicking around how you might change color of the led when you move from preview to program. Problem is getting the feed from the Tricaster. Maybe the next vm will give us a feed.....

Agreed that a talkback system is essential and should have mentioned it in my original post. Thanks for catching that.

Jim

[Cineman]

Nes, we simply turn on an led when the input is selected. It is really designed for use in a prosumer situation where you cannot do much with the camera monitor. We have been kicking around how you might change color of the led when you move from preview to program. Problem is getting the feed from the Tricaster. Maybe the next vm will give us a feed.
Surely this can't be a problem in TriCaster STUDIO. Though, apparently not even mentioned in the Manual, tally support is a major feature of TC-S.

Looking at the front panel of the TriCaster STUDIO, the left most column, of what appear in the tiny thumbnails that I have, to be mini phone connectors; are the connectors for tally lights. Though the front panel connections are listed in the Manual, these are not.

The next column to the right is LED's, actual tally lights, on the box. You can tell if these are working in the TC-S by these lighting for what is out live. (Now I simply have to cross my fingers that NewTek thunked it out, and any camera [source] being output from "Effects" that is on air will also get lighted.)

(Just looking at the screen grab of the switcher interface in the manual to confirm that I remembered the NewTek name for the top bank in TriCaster Studio, and remembered how curious I am about one TC-S switcher missing feature. Excuse the "stuck-in", but has anybody ever used a video switcher that has no switcher button for Video Black?)

(TriCaster STUDIO is my first in 51 years. I have to get big grins thinking that I can switch everything with TriCaster STUDIO other than start or end a program.) :) :)

Back to stuff:

Nes, we simply turn on an led when the input is selected. It is really designed for use in a prosumer situation where you cannot do much with the camera monitor.
Actually, as far as camera monitors are concerned, for studio type shooting, I use el cheapo five inch Black and White Monitors from Target for both Proline or Prosumer cameras or camcorders (brackets and velcro or just velcro). I very much prefer monochrome monitors for cameras for the better ability to gain focus. Frame and focus are the two responsibilities of a camera operator.

The gist is that I could easily take a Preview Feed if it wasn't disabled in TriCaster STUDIO. At Church, where the cameras are genlocked for IMAG, I could use that feed for both. And of course, basically all cameras with CCU's have video return to the camera that could be used to gain frame if Preview Out wasn't disabled.

Nes Gurley

[Jim Brown]

The tally jacks provide voltage or contact closure depending on your wiring of the 1/8 inch jack whenever that device is active on the program bus.

Jim

[Paul Lara]

Ive tried contacting NewTek Directly but no emails back and I would really like to get one soon

Rex, feel free to e-mail me (plara@newtek.com)if you have any remaining questions!