Ask The Expert: Are the New Camcorders Compatible with our Casablanca Prestige & Renommee?
QUESTION: We are working with both a Casablanca Prestige and Casablanca Renommee and are contemplating a new camcorder (video camera). One functions wer are eager to incorporate is the ability to use one of the newer flash memory cameras and hopefully take advantage of the ability to load video as files (drag and drop) and not have to wait for the real time transfer that we do now with our tape based camcorders. Would/is our current editors compatible with these newer camcorders?
ANSWER:
This is a growing inquiry as the newer camcorders have moved away from the tape based 'stream' of video and towards the file based system where the video clips are saved on flash memory.
Unfortunately the Casablanca II series of editors - running the Smart Edit OS - is not compatible with the file based video systems. These Casablanca models (including the Prestige & Renommee) only accept video streams (via DV or analog video cables).
Even my Bogart OS Casablanca editors which do accept the file based video cameras (AVCHD, etc). do not transfer the video files much faster than real time (that by the way is often referred to as DTE or Direct To Edit). There is still time required in my Casablanca S4000PRO and S3000 for the video scenes to be imported as files.
Some of the newer video cameras do have an analog video out port (RCA/Phono) that allow you to export out analog video. This would not export or provide you with an HD (High Definition) signal but rather an SD (Standard Definition) version of the footage and it would feed into your Casablanca editor/s via the RCA/Phono 'Video In' port but would not facilitate the faster DTE function you asked about.
Tips & Tutorials by the Casablanca Expert, Chet Davis
www.CasablancaExpert.com
