Export to Multiple Camcorders

[ivanarias]

Hi guys,

I posted this in another thread and then realized it had ended in May of 2006, so I'm putting it here though it's not about capture, it's about export and I wasn't sure where else to put.

I want to 'export to tape' from Adobe Premiere Pro but to multiple camcorders at once.

Would a Firewire Hub work? I'm wondering if Premiere Pro would be able to do device control through a hub or would get confused as to which camera or not work at all.

The point is I want to create some backups of the final edited product and right now I have to sit through real time recording to each MiniDV and Hi8 that I record onto; it would be great if I could record to them all at once in one fell swoop, so to speak.

I've considered having one of the cameras go out to a composite switcher thing and then back into another camera and so on (but only on an older Sony Hi8 camera that allows for recording back onto itself through that plug); but it would be so much simpler if I could just do the dump once from the computer straight to 3 or 4 cameras through firewire at once.

Any ideas or experience in doing this?

[guns1inger]

Something like this might work : http://www.datavideo.info/products/vp332.htm But you would have to confirm it with Datavideo

[ivanarias]

I've purchased a VM-20FW 1-20 Firewire Distributor/Hub, having been advised that it would allow recording of video footage from Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 onto multiple firewired devices simultaneously by repeating the signal sent out by the software. It doesn't appear to be working...

I've got firewire running from the computer out to the VM-20FW into Port A (also tried Port B, and also tried using it as a 1-4); then I have the cameras firewired to the next 4 slots on the DA. Three are to cameras and the fourth is to a DV/Analog converter which then runs to a composite DA that goes out to 3 VCRs. The DV/Analog converter isn't ackowledged by the VM-20FW when it's plugged in, but I figured that might be because of the nature of that connection.

However, the 3 cameras are acknowledged through the VM-20FW which is evidenced by the computer acknowledging 3 firewire devices having been plugged in.

But when I go to record onto those cameras from the software editing program, it only successfully activates one camera to start recording when the software is set to "Activate Recording Device"; so, I tried turning that option off and just setting each camera to start recording manually when the software starts to send the footage. But that doesn't work either. It's always ONE camera that records, the 2nd camera runs its counter as if it is being recorded onto, but there's no image showing on the screen and it's not recording anything, and the 3rd camera is just ignore altogether with no counter running or image being recorded.

Any idea what's going on? I thought this device would simply repeat the exact identical signal to each output firewire device, so why is only one camera recording when all three were acknowledged?

Thanks in advance!