Hey, does anyone know about editing on a Silicon Graphics O2? All I can find is press releases of a mysterious "digital video option" I'm trying to edit a film shot with the Canon XL1, and have the camera and the computer and a copy of Premiere 4.2 Does anyone know how I should capture the video? Or should I just use an S-Video cable? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-- Teddy Chao (seether@jhu.edu), January 25, 1999

Answers

Teddy, first what video i/o's are on the O2, as I recall, it ships with the "sgi" digital video in. There's an option for analogue, it may be extra. I'm not sure if the analogue option is y/c or just composite. From the way you make it sound, there is a y/c connector on the box.

If you had shot SDI in some form, Miranda (http://www.miranda.com) makes a little box called the vivo that allows importing uncompressed serial digital to the O2. Perhaps they're making a DV to sgi/SDI box now, check it out or ask them. The SGI digital interface is "backwards" - assumedly their proprietary code and you have to transcode the signal to industry standard SDI. Perhaps a transcoder that reads DV to SDI and then vivo into the O2. That's again, assuming your O2 vid i/o is digital.

I'm also assuming your copy of Premiere is Irix. If it's not, SGI/AW offer some sort of an Adobe apps bundle, check their site. And that bundle probably includes Premiere 5.1, much better than 4.2

And as with any other computer, you need storage space, if you don't have it already. Again, if I'm not mistaken, the vid i/o is right on the motherboard, so you can use a system chain for your drives, 68 pin scsi...

Or, sgi could have a dv-i/o for the O2 by now, all my rambling here is from memory. However, you have chosen a very cost-prohibitive platform to work on, your apps are going to be very pricey in Irix- land.

If you have the y/c i/o's available, use them. And get a ticket to NAB in Vegas in April to see what options you can get for your next project.

Hope this was of any help, good luck.

-- Lou Ann (torgans@xsite.net), February 04, 1999.

sorry bout the anonomous tip, but, if you have an older O2 and didnt pay for the extra video option, chances are that you already have it. Instead of spending extra R&D money on making a card without the comp and S video in, just take out the card and take off the little black sticker. There are S-Vid and rca ports there. Just dont let them know i told

-- hog wanker (pigfucker@hotmail.com), February 16, 1999.

I don't know if you know yet, but SGI now has (and has had for awhile) a PCi board for the O2 that has 3 IEEE-1394 (FireWire) ports on it called DVLink. See their website, click products, visual workstations, O@, and then Peripherals/Accessories. This board is like $600 (last time I checked with a rep) and comes with capture software which maked files that are editable in MovieMaker and Premiere.

I wanted to ask where I can get a copy of Premiere for SGI? Adobe no longer sells or supports it and they told me to go to eBay. Well, there's nothing there and it sounds to me like it's "abandonware" now. So I doubt there'd be any consequences for copying it. So does anyone know where I can get a copy?

Thanks.

Pegasus/RPG

-- Pegasus/RPG (smpappalardo@students.wisc.edu), January 13, 2001.