New recording Hardware for VJs

Recording your live performance is always a stress. Either you plug in an output from your Edirol-V4 directly to a video Camera and then convert the video into any digital file, or you do it directly through a Canopus, but not on HD. VJing is now seriously getting into HD, and for that matter we need more accurate equipment. Here are some of the news in the market:

VERY PORTABLE RECORDER!

Now you can capture analog video from VHS, Video-8, video cameras and more, direct to the H.264 file format as used by iPod™, iPhone™, Apple TV™ and YouTube™. Blackmagic Video Recorder plugs directly into your computer’s USB and includes easy to use software. Get the highest quality video capture from any component video or regular video device. Blackmagic Video Recorder eliminates time consuming processing because it captures into the native file format of your mobile device. Only 149 USD!

NEW EDIROL HARDWARES

The new Edirol VC-50HD provides bi-directional conversion between SD/HD-SDI to and from DV and HDV and MPEG-2. That means you can capture video easily in HD or HDV, backup videos, archive live performances, record to Blu-ray – whatever.

Edirol has also launched another recorder, the F-1. Is is the ideal addition for any videographer or producer wanting to accelerate their workflow by capturing HDV or DV directly to a hard drive in the field.

AJA IO-EXPRESS

The AJA IO-Express has HDMI in/out, component and HD-SDI, and component input. No composite or S-Video here, and allows your laptop to ingest the following formats from a laptop (DVCPRO HD, DV25/DV50, SD Uncompressed, Apple ProRes 422 and SD and limited HD).
AJa’s earlier IO boxes all support standard QuickTime Capture Components, which means that any software that uses QuickTime Capture should have no problem seeing and bringing in video. In other words, these are not meant just for Final Cut Pro. VDMX, Resolume, Jitter, Quartz Composer, etc. should all be able to use the Io-Express. The Io-Express is expected to retail for about 1.000 USD.

THE NEW MATROX MXO2-MINI

It is a similar product, but may be closer to what visualists seek. It has HDMI, Component, Composite and S-Video (Y/c) inputs, and supposedly supports true uncompressed 1080 (they do not specify interlaced or progressive in their spec sheet). This means the Mini is really V4 friendly, and will work with your legacy analog standard-def video gear.

Matrox also states the MXO2-Mini supports standard QuickTime components, meaning all your standard QuickTime-friendly VJ applications ought to be able to capture from the Mini. Matrox does state that the Mini supports 10-bit HDMI capture, which hints at HDMI 1.3 support. That in theory means RGB capture from DVI. The MXO2-Mini is a much more VJ-friendly 450 USD.