Sony MCX-500 Multi-Camera Live Producer
Recently, award-winning DoP Jeremy Humphries ran a hands-on workshop at our Teddington office featuring the Sony MCX-500. It was so successful we asked him to write an article explaining how this flexible production switcher performed using a real world example and here it is.
Everyone wants to shoot multi-camera! I'm used to shooting my docs with 2 cameras covering action or interviews and then editing later. But that stops you covering the huge range of events we are now expected to be able to shoot. In the past, a conference, a show, a wedding, or a football match would have meant a small team and a large van of gear. No more.
A couple of months ago I got to use the Sony MCX-500 Multi-Camera Live Producer. No bigger than a laptop. The kit is designed for the events above, but you can do it all yourself – including camera operation – or with just a small team. So, what is it? In effect, it’s a vison mixer.
You get camera inputs - upto eight – of which four can be seen on the monitor screen in front of you (worth getting a decent sized screen as a lot of info to fit on. I went for the Sony 25’’ OLED, although a smaller should be fine.) You cue the cameras up via preview and can view what you are recording - either onto your SD card or streaming live - via a programme window.
Audio levels are on the screen too and if you have an additional laptop, then captions and graphics can be fed in. Not only are you cutting between the cameras, but you can dissolve and use fancy wipes. It’s impressive and for me, it’s a very nifty way of producing a film there and then, where immediacy is key.
At the end of my shoot, at London Fashion Week, I handed my client over the card and went home - job done! Simple as that. Even better I had made the decision to record onto camera cards as well, so if I wanted a different version later, then I had the extra material available. We upconverted to 50p in post from 50i and it really looked cracking broadcast quality material.
And what about the cameras? Sony recommends the HXR NX5R series. An impressive camera (it has a powerful x20 optical zoom) and proved to have a good dynamic range especially with the high contrast cat walk scenario. And here is the key. You don’t even need a camera operator. There is a separate remote console for zoom, focus and iris. Useful when covering a wedding or an event where you haven’t always got the staff to hand. Even when you do have a cam op, the person operating the mixing desk - and remote - can send a tally signal that the camera is ON!
My small team of youthful interns really loved how simple the mixer was to use. They had a shooting background, but they were swopping roles - enjoying the pace of cutting a scene live – and then off to operate one of the cameras. Also, being positioned just back from the action allowed them to watch and get an overview of what was going on, something that I forget normally being in at the coal face with a camera on my shoulder.
So, is there anything I can say to put this versatile bit of kit down? Not really, the fact is that I can now cover an event far simpler than before with an affordable bit of kit which enables us to provide cut, broadcast quality material instantly. Also, once I had worked out how to plug all the cables in, I found the kit easy to use. No easy thing for someone who isn’t naturally from a ‘live’ background. As one of my team said: "The idea of being able to manage a set of several cameras through a single piece of equipment is a game changer". And not only that, the whole bit of kit can fit in the back of my hatchback!
A couple of months ago I got to use the Sony MCX-500 Multi-Camera Live Producer. No bigger than a laptop. The kit is designed for the events above, but you can do it all yourself – including camera operation – or with just a small team. So, what is it? In effect, it’s a vison mixer.
You get camera inputs - upto eight – of which four can be seen on the monitor screen in front of you (worth getting a decent sized screen as a lot of info to fit on. I went for the Sony 25’’ OLED, although a smaller should be fine.) You cue the cameras up via preview and can view what you are recording - either onto your SD card or streaming live - via a programme window.
Audio levels are on the screen too and if you have an additional laptop, then captions and graphics can be fed in. Not only are you cutting between the cameras, but you can dissolve and use fancy wipes. It’s impressive and for me, it’s a very nifty way of producing a film there and then, where immediacy is key.
At the end of my shoot, at London Fashion Week, I handed my client over the card and went home - job done! Simple as that. Even better I had made the decision to record onto camera cards as well, so if I wanted a different version later, then I had the extra material available. We upconverted to 50p in post from 50i and it really looked cracking broadcast quality material.
And what about the cameras? Sony recommends the HXR NX5R series. An impressive camera (it has a powerful x20 optical zoom) and proved to have a good dynamic range especially with the high contrast cat walk scenario. And here is the key. You don’t even need a camera operator. There is a separate remote console for zoom, focus and iris. Useful when covering a wedding or an event where you haven’t always got the staff to hand. Even when you do have a cam op, the person operating the mixing desk - and remote - can send a tally signal that the camera is ON!
My small team of youthful interns really loved how simple the mixer was to use. They had a shooting background, but they were swopping roles - enjoying the pace of cutting a scene live – and then off to operate one of the cameras. Also, being positioned just back from the action allowed them to watch and get an overview of what was going on, something that I forget normally being in at the coal face with a camera on my shoulder.
So, is there anything I can say to put this versatile bit of kit down? Not really, the fact is that I can now cover an event far simpler than before with an affordable bit of kit which enables us to provide cut, broadcast quality material instantly. Also, once I had worked out how to plug all the cables in, I found the kit easy to use. No easy thing for someone who isn’t naturally from a ‘live’ background. As one of my team said: "The idea of being able to manage a set of several cameras through a single piece of equipment is a game changer". And not only that, the whole bit of kit can fit in the back of my hatchback!