AV Switcher Board

[AndrewBird]

At my school, I am part of the Announcement team where we broadcast the school announcements over the TV’s in the school live. We have a switcher board now, but it horrible quality and I am looking for something better.

Here are the requirements:

At least 4 s-video inputs
At least 4 audio inputs, non digital
At least a fade and cut transition, others if possible
At least 1 audio/video output

Blue screen ability would also be a nice feature, but is not required.

This is the board we have now:

http://www.megavizyon.com/mxpro.htm

I imagine we could get at least $500 for it since it is in brand new condition, so price range is around there, but also a little more as more money can be attained.

Also, it can be a used board, as long as it is in good shape. This helps with price obviously.

So, what do you guys think would be best?

[george graves]

I am a professional video editor - since 1990. What you think you are looking for is something like this...



Thats a mx50 - it's got a ton of features. But it's really old school. You don't want it. What you really want is something that is not tied to just hardware. A 5x50 is about $1000-$2000 and you can't expand on it in the furture.

Check out this...


Sorry crappy photo. But you get the idea. It part software and a PCI card and some other hardware. Turnkey systems are a bit pricy, but there is nothing you can't so on the system. Not joking. You 'could' run CNN of the system (not that anyone would - they have much higher end needs)

What you see next to the keyboard is hardware switcher/"t-bar" - just like he big boys use.

It can accep DV, componet, composite, everything. Has built in effects or you can creat your own. Awesome keyer(green screen) - you name it it's got it.

It really depends on your budget...A "toaster" is something that expands with processor speed and software updates. Ulitmate felability for live production.

I implore you to call a friend of mine - really chill guy named dan hong, at we3m multimedia ....(209) 543-9002 - He'll totally hook you up. Plus his in house sales guy knows about selling equipment to instuitunions(schools, gov, corporate)...

I almost took a job with them, but the but the ecomomy crapped out at the time. Do me a favor and mention my name. (george graves) he'll laugh...Tell him he still need to call me and offer me a job again!

They have even more options then what I listed. They are very busy guys so it might take 2 or more calls. (they turn away video/web/dvd work cause they are so good they can pick and choose)

Well if you have more questions - just ask (georgegraves@email.com)

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[AndrewBird]

Awesome. Thanks.

Anyone else have info on other options?

[AndrewBird]

Well, I've done some research and the MX50 looks like the way to go for us. They are cheap, they sound like they work great and they are simple to use. We won't need to expand since we don't really have room to expand. Not to mention we wouldn't really ever have the money to expand.

Now, where can I get one? I looked around and the only one I could really find was on ebay, but is there anywhere else?

[george graves]

Yea, ebay...

Or just google for "used video equipment" or "used pro video equipment"

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