digitalFAQ.com Forum - Testing a new Device: The GV ADVC-3000

Quote:

Originally Posted by msgohan (Post 34648)

It's an interesting device, but using it just to capture DV seems like a waste, no?

Any chance you can do me a favor and attach a sample? The DS-850 is one VCR monster that I've been looking at getting for a while.

I see there's head-switching noise at the bottom in your photo though. I thought the "switching noise masking" feature was supposed to correct this the same way the JVC I have does. :(

Not necessarily. I know DV isn't too popular, especially now with the advent of HD and all largely due to the 4:1:1 sampling. Its usually an issue when doing compositing or chroma keying since some color information is lost. That's usually why 4:2:2 sources are usually preferred for better quality.

Anyway I love broadcast gear was the reason I got it. I also have some other gear as well I want to use with it for experimentation and such like the SDI connections.

The DS-850 is a great VCR unit, but keep in mind it only plays SP recorded tapes. And from past postings here on the forum, the way the heads are most homemade tapes would be better served by the 1980. I connected it to the ADVC-3000 via component and display on the laptop. The video image in the screen I would guess shows the noise since the capture window was enlarged, but playing the file back in a separate media player plays just fine (to my eyes anyway).

With the DS-850, you will have to make adjustments for playback, as its a more complex deck. Should you decide to look into one, definitely check hours and playback function. I also have the DS-840 and I had both units serviced due to bad caps.

I'll work on getting a sample soon with the 850, since I don't have the gear connected right now. I'm working on having a permanent room to where I can house all of my gear.

edit: Forgot to mention, the head switching noise can be seen more likely on non-overscan screens too such as computer monitors.

-- merged --

updated 6/17

Alright, I know this thread is about three years old, and I haven't been able to really work on anything lately during that time (alot of family matters including a parent passing).

I finally did a few short quick tests with the ADVC-3000 with a BetacamSP deck and Premiere 2.0 on my XP machine. I ran component output from the deck to the 3000 and of course the DV out to the PC. Sure enough after a minute of capture and looking at the file info with Mediainfo, it was indeed encoding with DV25. Pretty pathetic, but not unexpected.

You would think a device that cost about $4K for a 'broadcast' unit would have better DV encoding, like DV50. The big price tag is mostly for the professional BNC and XLR connections.

However, I have discovered that I can run component in the 3000 and output it via SDI to the AJA capture card as lossless. According to the 3000 manual the box can do uncompressed 4:2:2 via component to SDI so at least it has that going for it. And...the 3000 is standalone box so doesn't need a PC anyway.

I may run more tests on it in the coming days, but as far as using it as a DV converter, forget it. Totally useless. But if passthrough could be done via component to SDI, it could be a viable remote option. But then again, with the DPS-575 as the TBC, frame synchronizer and transcoder, it once again renders the ADVC-3000 pretty much useless. But I like the pretty LCD display and meters....lol

Just thought I would make notes on my findings with this box and say, if anyone out there is looking at any ADVC product, especially the 3000 since while not as well known like the 110 and 300, don't bother. Pretty disappointing that a so-called broadcast product still uses a consumer based codec to convert to. An utter waste.

-- merged --

updated 3/18

I wanted to do an final update on my findings on the ADVC-3000 (no, not the 300), which is the broadcast version of the DV converter.

Finally having the time to do some more testing, I can now confirm that the 3000 finally has a use after all. I can input either Component or S-Video and its audio to the 3000 and have it directly output as SDI to my Kona LHi card. Using the Sony BVW-D75 BetacamSP deck and a DVD player, I was able to input each source into the PC as either DV50, which is 4:2:2 or 8-bit YUV uncompressed. Having verified the files with MediaInfo it looks like this can work.

I'm glad at least that now I finally have a use for the ADVC-3000, its a really nice box with LCD display, just useless for DV25 conversions. The unit doesn't even need to be connected to a computer at all and using the SDI output it completely bypasses the DV25 encoding. Apparently from the manual it can do uncompressed 4:2:2 conversion to SDI internally. So, I am thinking I will use the broadcast decks I have with the 3000 since they all have built in TBC's and component outputs (audio still handled via the Mackie mixer and input back to the 3000 for SDI embedded audio).

The remaining decks, my two Panasonic 1980's and two 5710's, will run through the Feral TBC unit.

This finally concludes my documenting of the ADVC-3000 converter unit. I feel it would have been more of value if the internal DV conversion actually was to a higher quality format like DV50, being a $3K device. As far as I know the 3000 is the only unit that can do the conversion direct to SDI, none of the units under that can do it as far as I know.