Hi,
Can anyone recommend the best way of getting analog video in and out of a G4? The only solution I am familiar with is the Formac Studio Box, what else is out there and how does it compare?
There is the Matrox RTMac, which gives you not only analogue video (S-video and composite) in and out, but also:
- analogue audio (stereo line level) in and out,
- a 2nd desktop monitor output, and
- realtime DV editing (avoiding rendering) of some effects and transitions in Final Cut Pro or Premiere.
The only problem (apart from the price) is the current lack of drivers for OSX - it is stuck (like me 
) at MacOS 9.2.2....
OSX drivers have been promised by Matrox for many months now, and they claim to be in beta now, but the user community is understandably sceptical after such a long delay.
BTW: Welcome to this forum, and also BTW: if you are interested, they go quite cheaply on eBay - search for "rtmac"....
[This message has been edited by mooblie (edited 09 April 2003).]
there's the new AJA IO, which was launched at NAB, which is a firewire device that gives you both SDI digital, composite, component etc video + multi channel audio.
On the internal hardware front, I'd avoid the RT Mac. When the RT Mac came out it was great, but I reported back to Matrox the low quality of the DV codec under certain circumstances - no fix. And then there's the OS X driver issue. No fix. And now the technology is out of date.... Bye Bye Matrox, methinks.
Look at Aurora, Digital Voodoo, AJA, Cinewave etc., but for the high end uncompressed cards you'd need a analogue to digital converter on top, which makes it all really expensive.
My best recommendation is to get a decent DV deck that has analoogue passthrough...
I think that Mooblie gave a fairly good balanced point of view, detailing the benifits of the RTMac.
The Beta version for OSX was exhibited at the N.A.B. Those who contacted me on it reported that it was slow and so obviously under way but nowhere near to completion for marketing.
Like Mooblie, I use it with 0X9.2.2, mixing analogue and DV stuff in FCP. Those who receive the results are quite happy.
With my limited knowledge I would argue that, for what it does in 9.2.2 it is a good reliable product. Dissatisfaction has arisen, hence the remarks, because it still hasn`t appeared in OSX - but when it does, those who already have it are promised an upgrade without fee......
Ron.
Hi
The other product worth a mention is the Canopus ADVC100, which like the Formac device, turns analogue S-Video/Composite into Firewire DV - and vice-versa.
Search these forums also for "dazzle hollywood". That will do the job, too.
Presuming you have the means to get DV video in\out of your G4 is the quest to get analogue in\out for a permanent solution or simply to tidy up a few old tapes.
If the latter and your camera supports it why not just transfer your analogue footage to dv tape and then to your G4 tidy it up,back to your camera and then if required to analogue from your camera.
If your camera does not support the above i and others on this forum offer a analogue to dv transfer service which can often work out a lot cheaper than buying a box.
Regards
Charles