Transfer Chain U Matic Help

[MikeMilligan]

Hi all, first post here. I recently purchased a Sony VO 5600 and I am now in the process of building/figuring out my ideal transfer chain. From reading many forum posts on here, below is what I have come up with so far. Any suggestions for additions/subtractions/replacements are greatly appreciated.

Sony VO-5600 U Matic
Ensemble brighteye 25/75 analog to sdi (w/ TBC built in?) OR S&W CVR550 (w/ TBC built in?)
Capture Card TBD
Computer TBD
Cables/adapters TBD

Since the VO 5600 has only RF/BNC out and no DUB option, the consensus seems to be that I should convert the composite analog video to SDI. I am hoping to do this via either a Brighteye device, or S&W TBS/CVR, as these devices appear to also double as TBC’s? This is just what I have gathered from forums, so I may be completely wrong. Or maybe do i first need to first transcode the video to 3.58mhz before the TBC step? I have little experience with video or transfers, although I consider myself relatively technologically able. I am in college and money is particularly tight at the moment, so I hope to spend no more than $1,000-1500 on the rest of the chain. However, quality and longevity are the most important factors. I would like to eventually add Beta, VHS, and other video formats to the chain as well, so the fewer the parts needed, the better. I dont mind using more adapters/cables if it means less expensive hardware. I am currently using a MacBook Pro with Intel Core, but am open to getting a windows machine if it will make things easier or of better quality. As far as capture cards go, I am unsure were to start. Thanks in advance. Glad to be a part of the community.

[dellsam34]

u-Matic is a deep hole, capturing it from composite with no timing could be problematic, Ideally it would need a DOC (drop outs compensation) device and a TBC, Ensemble Designs and S&W capture devices are great for TBC but no DOC. You could still give it a shot with BE75, S&W TBS-800 or 600 if you can find one (I've listed one BE75 on ebay few days ago), Or one of the consumer USB sticks (very few that are going to work with the lousy uMatic signal), or a PCIe capture card (legacy ones under Win7).
There is a Pizza Box size TBC/DOC that works very well with uMatic such as DPS-210 or equivalent, it would connect to the DUB out and composite and process the signal for a clean Y-C (S-Video) out, then you can capture that into PC.
Here is an interesting article, read the comment section as well.

[MikeMilligan]

Very helpful, thank you. Since my deck (vo 5600) has no DUB out port (only RF and BNC out), would I first need to convert this to Y/N 688 BEFORE using an external device such as the Dps-210/295?
Possibly with a device like this Composite to S-video (Y/C) Converter? http://www.burstelectronics.com/c2yc.htm
I am watching your eBay auction, however it seems like it may be worth it to wait and scavenge around for a 2 in 1 TBC/DOC pizza box device, as I don’t see many options for standalone DOC devices which I could use in conjunction with a BE75.

Thanks again for the help.

Edit: I bought a Burst Electronics PixieFS http://www.burstelectronics.com/pixie.htm

Any thoughts?

[dellsam34]

If you start from composite you don't need to convert it just capture it the way it is unless you think your capture device has a poor separation for Y and C, Like they say you can't polish a turd. Keep your focus on getting a good capture device with good Y-C separation, Better timing and signal handling, foget the conversion, you are just adding components to your capture chain which means more conversion steps, more cables, more signal loss.

That Pixie device you bought known to be problematic due to its age, I personally bought one and returned it.

[MikeMilligan]

I bought the Pixie largely based on this review and a few others. http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/6531-burst-electronics-pixie-2.html

It looks like there have been a few updates to the Pixie over the years. The one I purchased is new and being built for me.

[Bwaak]

Here is an interesting article, read the comment section as well.

It is interesting that he notes, "The drawback to doing it this way is the horizontal timing on the Chroma will be a little off from the Luma". I thought that this delay is added in some (all?) hi-band implementations like ED-Beta and SVHS and Hi8 I believe that delayed chroma to reduce interference with luma, but this is done on the output, not recorded on tape, hence EDIT mode that turns off this delay.

If you start from composite you don't need to convert it just capture it the way it is unless you think your capture device has a poor separation for Y and C, Like they say you can't polish a turd. Keep your focus on getting a good capture device with good Y-C separation, Better timing and signal handling, foget the conversion, you are just adding components to your capture chain which means more conversion steps, more cables, more signal loss.

12voltvids does not see major difference between composite and SVideo output. Others indicate that Y/C in fact does improve image quality, as it had been originally designed, for example:

Greatbear: Copying U-matic tape: digitise via dub connector or composite video?
DigiOmmel: Optimizing Digital Transfer of U-matic Video Recordings

[dellsam34]

I would like to add a note, I wouldn't call SDI ingest capturing, because the capturing task has already been done in the analog to digital SDI converter box, It's more of a transfer because the SDI digital data are transfered without modification provided that you keep the raw AVI format intact and not convert on the fly to another format, de-interlace or change resolution. It's like calling video transfer of DV and D8 over firewire capturing.

[isaashkelogg]

Hi all, first post here. I recently purchased a Sony VO 5600 and I am now in the process of building/figuring out my ideal transfer chain. From reading many forum posts on here, below is what I have come up with so far. Any suggestions for additions/subtractions/replacements are greatly appreciated.

Sony VO-5600 U Matic
Ensemble brighteye 25/75 analog to sdi (w/ TBC built in?) OR S&W CVR550 (w/ TBC built in?)
Capture Card TBD
Computer TBD
Cables/adapters TBD

Since the VO 5600 has only RF/BNC out and no DUB option, the consensus seems to be that I should convert the composite analog video to SDI. I am hoping to do this via either a Brighteye device, or S&W TBS/CVR, as these devices appear to also double as TBC’s? This is just what I have gathered from forums, so I may be completely wrong. Or maybe do i first need to first transcode the video to 3.58mhz before the TBC step? I have little experience with video or transfers, although I consider myself relatively technologically able. I am in college and money is particularly tight at the moment, so I hope to spend no more than $1,000-1500 on the rest of the chain. However, quality and longevity are the most important factors. I would like to eventually add Beta, VHS, and other video formats to the chain as well, so the fewer the parts needed, the better. I dont mind using more adapters/cables if it means less expensive hardware. I am currently using a MacBook Pro with Intel Core, but am open to getting a windows machine if it will make things easier or of better quality. As far as capture cards go, I am unsure were to start. Thanks in advance. Glad to be a part of the community.

Hello and welcome to the community! It sounds like you have a good start on your transfer chain for your Sony VO-5600 U Matic. Here are some suggestions based on your current setup and budget:

For converting the composite analog video to SDI, both the Ensemble BrightEye 25/75 and S&W TBS/CVR are good options that also include a built-in TBC. You don't need to transcode the video to 3.58MHz before the TBC step, as the TBC should take care of any timing issues.

For the capture card, you can look into options from Blackmagic Design or AJA. The Blackmagic DeckLink Mini Recorder 4K is a popular and affordable choice for SDI capture, but make sure to check if it's compatible with your computer.

For the computer, you can use either a Mac or Windows machine, as long as it meets the minimum requirements for the capture card and software. Make sure to also have enough storage space for your video files.

Cables and adapters will depend on the specific connections needed for your equipment. Make sure to use high-quality cables to ensure the best signal quality.

For future-proofing your transfer chain, consider getting a capture card that supports multiple formats and resolutions, such as the Blackmagic DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G.

[Alwyn]

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