Datavideo SE-1000 Live Production Video Switcher and MS-1000 Mobile Studio
Live video production is all about switching between good shots and doing it with good timing. More live camera angles gives you more to work with, but also means there’s more to keep track of, both visually and communicatively. Yet as higher production value expectations reach more houses of worship and as faster cuts, sights, and sounds become the norm, there’s an increasing demand for quality tools that are both easy enough to get up and running and capable enough to support today’s and tomorrow’s production needs.
Datavideo’s SE-1000 ($11,000) is a six-input HD/SD SDI live production video switcher that is designed for that higher video quality, with the ability to mix both newer high definition and legacy standard definition sources in their native 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios. Yet, Datavideo goes well beyond just offering the SE-1000 as a stand-alone video switcher. Through a variety of configuration options, Datavideo offer new users a package of tools to get live production up and running quickly, but in a very professional way.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The SE-1000 can mix SDI or HDSDI, but not both at the same time. It also includes six converters that can be used to make signals for the preview monitors or to convert HD component into HDSDI.]
A “SE-1000 Kit” ($13,999) configuration builds the SE-1000 switcher into a rack that includes two banks of three (total six) 4.3-inch, 16:9 preview monitors and a six-output tally box including LED tally lights. You can use any preview monitors you might already have, thanks to the SE-1000’s built-in digital-to-analog input converters, but the double rack of preview monitors puts a visual from each of the sources neatly right in front of you. The tally box communicates via LEDs to camera operations so they know when their source is live.
You can also add an intercom system to the rack in the SE-1000 I-Kit ($15,495, this is the configuration I tested) for two-way verbal communications with your camera operators. While tally lights may be enough if your camera operators are stationary and have a set routine, verbal communication will leave a lot less to chance, particularly for more dynamic production where there is a lot of movement and space to cover. The intercom module is built right into the rack below the preview monitors and features a convenient long-stem microphone and work light, as well as dedicated buttons for engaging communications with each of the included six camera operator headsets. Those headsets include belt-attached call and talk buttons, as well as tally lights for silent communication.
Finally, the MS-1000 Mobile Studio (due out in December for roughly $18,000) will add a hard-shell road case that fits the entire SE-1000 I-Kit system plus a large 17-inch program monitor. Cleverly, the case’s front and back panels both will come off so you never have to fully unpack the system to do the production. You’ll be able to cable it from behind and operate the switcher, monitor, and intercom from the front where it sits. Even better, the 17-inch program monitor will have a special padded drawer from where it will slide out and flip up right above the preview monitor racks. All that should mean quick set-up beforehand and fast packing out of the way when the service is finished.
Digital Inputs
The SE-1000 is a digital input switcher, accepting up to five standard- or high-definition SDI inputs, but not traditional analog sources (converters will allow analog HD inputs). That makes sense given the increasing number of SDI cameras available on the market, and the fact that SDI is a single-cable solution (compared to a three-cable run for analog component video) that is robust over relatively long cable distances. However, if you’re still working with analog camera sources, Datavideo’s SE-800 four-input analog switcher would be a better option. Datavideo also plans to introduce the SE-900 within the next several months and it will combine eight digital and analog inputs, although details are not yet available. Still, if you’ve already been able to move to SDI cameras, the SE-1000 is clearly the way to go.
The SE-1000 is a traditional two-bus switcher with both a programmable “take” button and a tactile T-bar for manually switching between sources. Each bus has a dedicated button for each of the six inputs, plus a seventh for black, bars, a custom background color, or a stored image. There are also dedicated function buttons for switching with a straight cut or a pre-configured wipe or key. Basic switching is very straightforward.
However, there’s more to the SE-1000. A series of buttons, adjustment knobs, and a small black and white LCD screen above the program buses gets you into the configuration menus for input and output set-up, selecting active wipe patterns, and key configuration. The SE-1000 has a rich array of input set-up options to ensure maximum image quality, including the ability to turn off the internal 10-bit frame synchronizer on an individual input basis, set-up internal or external synch modes, the ability to adjust aspect ratio on native 4:3 content, and format set-up. Admittedly, I found the small dial knobs and numerous pages of menus (a result of the minimal two-line LCD) rather tedious to work with. Datavideo reports that this has been improved with new firmware And the Auto Input Detect function seemed to have difficulty with a variety of signal formats as I poked at its ability with an Extron SDI signal generator. Yet, it’s hard to criticize the attention to detail.
The SE-1000 would not be your first switcher choice if you were looking for a bucket full of wipe patterns-it comes with just nine basic wipes-although that will probably be good news to serious producers. Instead, you get dedicated function controls to configure those more unassuming wipes and Picture-in-Pictures with colored borders, hard or soft edges, bordered edges, and other options for making your production more elegant. More powerfully, a linear or self key function yields a plethora of custom design options.
Titling is either a weakness or a strength for the SE-1000, depending on your perspective. There is no built-in ability to create even basic titles, and that means there is no quick and dirty way to throw up a lower third caption. On the other hand, if you’re working with HD SDI source inputs, there is probably no room for “down and dirty” in your productions. Instead, the SE-1000 can interface with a Windows PC using the dedicated DVI-I sixth input and leverage its extensive keying capability to create a very broad variety of CG and graphics material. You can also unload a variety of standard file format images into the SE-1000’s memory over either Ethernet (TCP/IP) or RS-422.
Ultimately, even a modest computer is a far more capable character generator than anything that could be built into a switcher and far less expensive than a dedicated downstream CG, although it means that most of your titles will need to be generated prior to live production. The SE-1000 does include a basic Windows software utility for uploading images to the SE-1000, including IP configuration; however, you’ll certainly want an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or Corel Paint Shop Pro to generate specific titles, overlay graphics, and key mattes.
Output
I found the output quality of the SE-1000 very good. That should not be a surprise given the high quality source material that it is designed to work with, but Datavideo also does an excellent job scaling material as necessary-for example, zooming 4:3 content to fit a 16:9 frame or scaling computer images to fit the video resolution output.
It’s that good quality that will make the SE-1000 or one of Datavideo’s other configurations appealing to houses of worship. The SE-1000 is not a flashy switcher, piled high with effects and wipes, and thankfully, you won’t be paying for those sorts of extras that you’d never use Instead, the SE-1000 has straightforward functionality that should yield a strong, clean presentation that doesn’t distract from the service itself. Even better, Datavideo puts it all together into a convenient package with the preview monitors and communications equipment you will need to get high-quality results.
Jeff Sauer has covered the professional video and A/V industry for a dozen years and is an independent video producer and consultant in Massachusetts.
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SE-1000 live production video switcher
