What do you want/need in a live video mixer?

[timburgan]

I'm doing some research to find what users require for a live video mixing solution that's being developed.

Replying here is your chance to HAVE YOUR SAY.


What do you WANT or NEED in a live video mixer?

[MJS]

Way too wide of a question. Narrow down the field a bit. Is it a stand alone unit, broadcast or cable/small operation? Digital, analog or both? How many inputs are we talking? Will you need all sources to be genlocked, or will there be frame syncs that can handle all of the inputs? If computer based, will it be mac or PC? Will it have a built in character geneator, still store and machine control for tape playback? What about virtual sets and or the ability to work with DVR's as a source? How about non-linear editing and third party plug-ins? How much will this thing cost? These are all key issues for different segments of the business. Who is your target market? That will help determine what the public will want in your product.

Good luck.

[timburgan]

I tried to leave the question wide open because I didn't want people to get stuck down by limitations. I wanted people to share their what their IDEAL video mixing unit would be like.. for any purpose.. with any type of input,..

[Skyman]

can it be controlled via telepathy ?
sorry in a silly mood

seriously though, modular would probably be good, to hand budget/ requirments. the ability to handle any input format analogue, dv, pal, ntsc, secam etc, plus output to one or more formats would be good. i guess though are we talking for live multicam stuff, as a real time editor, to control broadcast transimission, ??? if you make it adaptable to suit all these things it will either be to complex to use or to expensive to buy. but if you need tester once its built give me a call :-)

[MJS]

That would be my suggestion. Make it modular, make it professional quality and most importantly make it affordable. I'll be purchasing a new video toaster with everything that I mentioned in late August.

Good luck with your plans. Let Skyman wring it out for you since he is closer.

[Skyman]

i didn't even look at locations. maybe we should have a forumn gathering to test it :-)
what company is looking at making this ? i can probably put you in contact with the right people to test it. news editors etc where it will be worked hard 24hours for broadcast and pre recorded editing, most newsrooms have such tight timeschedules that non linear editing is pure luxury.