Using a Teradek and a TV Logic with Arricam Studio

[davide sorasio]

Hi everybody! I do not have experience with film cameras and I was wondering if it's possible to use a teradek and a TV Logic on the Arricam Studio. I know that it outputs a composite video signal, so I was wondering if there's a way to send an image to a director's monitor though a teradek. For the TV logic I gues it'd be enough to switch the device from sdi to composite correct?

Thank you in advance for the help!

[Satsuki Murashige]

You can use a TVLogic monitor that has a composite video input like the 5.6WP and 074W. The 5.6 uses RCA for composite input, so you would need to use a BNC cable with a female BNC to male RCA adapter. The 074W uses BNC for composite. But you can't loop out from there, the signal terminates at the monitor.

 

I don't think you can send composite video through the Teradek, just HD-SDI. So you would have to convert the composite output to HD-SDI first with an AJA or Blackmagic Analog to Digital converter box. If you are renting the Arricam Studio package from a large rental house, it may be possible to just get an HD-SDI video tap. That would be the simplest solution.

 

Next simplest would be to use an old school composite video wireless transmitter like the Modulus instead of the Teradek. Then either use composite video director's monitors, or modern HD-SDI director's monitors with an AJA converter box velcro'd to the back.

[davide sorasio]

You can use a TVLogic monitor that has a composite video input like the 5.6WP and 074W. The 5.6 uses RCA for composite input, so you would need to use a BNC cable with a female BNC to male RCA adapter. The 074W uses BNC for composite. But you can't loop out from there, the signal terminates at the monitor.

 

I don't think you can send composite video through the Teradek, just HD-SDI. So you would have to convert the composite output to HD-SDI first with an AJA or Blackmagic Analog to Digital converter box. If you are renting the Arricam Studio package from a large rental house, it may be possible to just get an HD-SDI video tap. That would be the simplest solution.

 

Next simplest would be to use an old school composite video wireless transmitter like the Modulus instead of the Teradek. Then either use composite video director's monitors, or modern HD-SDI director's monitors with an AJA converter box velcro'd to the back.

Thank you so much! We did exactly what you said on the shoot and it worked! I have another question (and I apologize for the silliness of it in advance), how could have we got a better quality image on the tv logic for the AC to pull focus on? Maybe by using the component inputs and split the signal in the 3 different components? Like for example having 3 BNCs (with the RCA adapter) each of them going into one of the Y,R and B inputs of the TV logic?

[Evan Walsh]

When shooting film it would be a bad idea to try and pull focus off of a monitor. Most film camera's will have a standard definition video tap and even if they have an HD tap, it still wouldn't be advisable to pull focus off a monitor. The video tap is best used for giving a director an idea of the shot and for the AC to judge what's in frame or camera information if you have it set to display that.

 

Video taps are essentially small camera's pointed at the ground glass, they can appear very grainy and dark. Sometimes everything could look in focus and sometimes the image will be so soft in general that everything could appear out of focus. For best results with film, the AC should measure during the rehearsal and pull focus off those marks. What could appear in focus on a video tap image could be completely different from what will be on the film.

 

However, if you do go incredibly soft on a shot it will be apparent on even the lowest quality video tap and you'll know you need another take.

Edited May 3, 2016 by evanwalsh

[Satsuki Murashige]

Yes, you cannot pull focus off of a video tap for film. You simply have to hire an AC who pulls focus the old fashioned way with a tape measure, marks on the lens, eye marks, a depth-of-field calculator, and estimating distance by eye. That would most likely be an AC in their 30s or older, or one with previous film experience.

 

The only way to get better video quality is to upgrade the video tap camera itself to HD. But it will still not be good enough to pull focus from.