My daughters compete at dance competitions each spring where the video format has not changed in years. Here is what is happening now and how it works when our school hosts the competition:

We're setting up two video cameras at the top of the bleachers. One camera is always on and it is used to broadcast the competition to all the rooms in the school using their cable system. This camera is set up and left basically unattended all day with the zoom showing the whole gym floor, so you can't really get any detail.

The other camera is a VHS system used for recording the performances, each of which are about 2 minutes long. On this camera we do try to pan and zoom s appropriate. We have a box of pre-labeled tapes at the beginning of the competition. Each performance is recorded onto its own tape, ejected, then a series of runners take the tape to a viewing room so that the performers can watch it within a few minutes of coming off stage (or gym floor in this case). This process is repeated 80 to 100 times during the day.

What I would like to do is to duplicate what my DVR can do, as far as take an incoming video stream, pause or rewind as necessary so that the performers can view the recording immediately, without the need to do this video tape shuffle. A secondary wish would be to quickly be able to make an individual performance DVD from this video stream so that they can have it to take with them before the end of the competition.

Can someone recommend a process and equipment to do this? Or better yet, has someone already encountered a situation like this and already come up with an even better way than what I'm suggesting?


Thanks for any help.