The following issues should be considered when choosing equipment:
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Prices: Expensive versus Bargain.
Expensive top of the line items should be avoided because of the rapid changes in technology and frequent price reductions. All equipment should be of comparable quality. For example, a very expensive piece of equipment may have such strict tolerances that it may not accept the signals from medium priced equipment, which in turn may not accept signals from bargain priced equipment. Moderately priced items should give the best mix of quality and cost.
Computer Biases and Compatibility:
Who's better? Mac, IBM, NeXT, Amiga, etc.? In production, what matters is what works best. Different computers have different strengths and weaknesses. Using an eclectic approach will allow production people to capitalize on the strengths of each platform.
Portability:
Whenever possible, purchase smaller and more portable equipment because they get used more and take up less valuable office space.
Own versus renting or sharing:
High dollar items that won't be heavily used should be rented as needed.
Partnerships with those who own the high dollar equipment should be sought.
Systems versus piecemeal:
A cheap but complete working system is better than an incomplete expensive system. For example, what good is a great camera if you don't have equipment to edit the videotape it records?
Consumer, Industrial, Corporate, Broadcast, or Movie Quality?
Educational institutions should buy equipment that's commonly used for corporate video productions. This keeps costs down and quality good. Higher quality productions can be done with some help from broadcast productions. The best deal is a digital video editing system (also called non-linear video). The $15,000 price replaces about $100,000 in traditional video equipment. It's much easier to use and more capable.
Equipment models suggested can sometimes be replaced with something equivalent, but that's a decision for the Multimedia Developer and not some salesperson to say that it's equivalent. The equipment listed is a guide; Multimedia Developers may have their own preferences.
Also be aware that this list needs updated at least twice a year since new products are coming out all the time. That doesn't mean that something bought this year is obsolete just because something better comes along. The older item still has many years of good use in it. Sometimes you wait to buy, but you can't just keep putting purchases off just because something better will be coming out. It depends when it's coming out. If in the next month, you wait, but if they say next year, it may never get released, so don't wait.
| Description | Model | Comment | Price ($US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SVHS Pro-Camcorder | JVC GY-X2B | 3 chip professional camera | 8,500 |
| Hi8 Camcorder | Sharp VL-H400 | Very light & unobtrusive. | 1,500 |
| S-VHS VCR | Any with RS-422 | Gives access to S-VHS tapes | 3,000 |
| SVHS edit system | Panasonic 1970's | Low cost, simple editing | 2,400 |
| Lighting equipment | Any portable type | A must for quality video | 1,000 |
| Time Base Corrector | Any with S cable | Corrects video signals | 1,000 |
| Waveform monitor | Any | Checks if signal is right | 1,100 |
| Studio TV Monitor | Any Model 13" or > | Allows monitoring of signal | 1,000 |
| 3 Small TV Monitors | Any Model 9"-12" | Lightweight & portable | 1,000 |
| Microphones | Wired & wireless | A variety is needed | 2,000 |
| Sound Mixers | For field & studio | 4 and 10 inputs respectively | 500 | Sound reverb unit. | Alesis Microverb | Echo, reverb, & sound effects | 200 |
| 2 tripods | Bogen | For smooth camera motion | 700 |
| Stereo system | A component system | For Sound monitoring | 600 |
| Pad Camera | Elmo | Video of photos & documents | 2,000 |
| 35mm Film Camera | Has 28-200mm lenses | Useful in videos too | 600 |
| Slide Projector | Any model | Slide to video conversions | 200 | Overhead Projector | Any Model | Shows computer prints also | 300 |
| Subtotal: $24,400 | |||
| Description | Model | Comment | Price ($US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Video1 | Fast Video Machine | Pentium based editing | 16,000 |
| Graphics Computer | Amiga 40002 | Great for animations | 3,000 |
| Laptop Computer | Mac PowerBook | Mac Compatibility & strengths | 4,500 |
| Workstation | DEC Pentium System | MS-DOS/Unix/NeXTstep compatib | 4,500 |
| Scanner | Any 300dpi+ | Digitize photos & OCR | 1,000 |
| Laser Printer | 600dpi Postscript | For paper/transparencies | 1,400 |
| Cartridge drives | Zip,Syquest,etc | Image storage & transfer | 1,500 |
| Dye Sub. Printer | Techtronics 4400 | Prints/transparencies | 7,900 |
| Midi synthesizer | Proteus F/X | Computer controlled instruments | 600 |
| Midi Drum | Roland drum machine | Drum sounds for Midi music | 250 |
| Image software | Photoshop | Paint & Image processing | 500 |
| Animation Software | Dpaint V | Paint and 2D anim software | 120 |
| Image processing | AdPro 2.5 | Batch processing of images | 250 |
| Presentation Software | Scala | Integrates sound & graphics | 330 |
| 3-D software | Virtus & others | 3-D modeling and rendering | 550 |
| Midi software | Any | Music composition software | 250 |
| Subtotal: $41,150 | |||
| Total of both categories: $65,250 |
Supplies:
Of course, there's a need for desks, cables, disks, paper, adaptors, extension cords, videotapes, etc. Also, there's always some small piece of equipment or software that'll be needed. You should figure about $10,000 a year on supplies and miscellaneous small items.