The Pinnacle of Digital (Pinnacle Aladdin to Digital-S story)

The setup for the Aladdin is quite simple. SDI connections from source decks (up to four) are fed into the back of the unit and the Pentium computer (in our tests, a Compaq Deskstation 6000) is connected via a SCSI cable (we were using the Adaptec 2940UW). Pinnacle's StudioPak software is installed on the computer and is used for all Aladdin control.

The interface is very intuitive and any editor can start creating stunning effects immediately on booting. All of the standard effects are shown as large, identified buttons on the screen. Simply click with the mouse on any button, hold down the mouse and execute the effect by dragging. For instance, an X-axis move is made by clicking the Placement button and dragging the picture off to one side. Leaving the picture off set, tells the system that you want to create a keyframe position at Frame 1. Below the buttons is a simple timeline with graduated marks across the bottom. Click the mouse at 30 frames, for example, and a colored bar is created, representing the length of the effect. Now move the frame to another position on the screen and that position becomes the keyframe for Frame 20.

Extending or shortening the timeline, adding and subtracting keyframes is as simple as clicking and/or dragging the mouse. Additional effects can be inserted into the timeline or added to effects already on the timeline by simply clicking on the appropriate effect buttons and setting the picture appropriately for each keyframe. In minutes, an editor can create highly complex moves that once took hours on an Ampex ADO.

Below the timeline is a four-bank switcher (Layer A & B, Program and Preview). Each bank has seven buttons (Off, 4 sources and 2 graphic busses). Each button can be identified to source names (such as "VTR-1" or "Beta") and the off switch merely passes the SDI signal, unaffected, through the Aladdin (though the Aladdin must be on and the host computer booted).

One item to consider in choosing the SDI version of the Aladdin is that all inputs are exclusively SDI digital. While the output is both composite and component (makes monitoring inexpensive), all inputs must either be SDI or be fed through an A/D converter. We found an ideal combination to be the low cost JVC BR-D52U player and the BR-D85 recorder (each under $22,000 with SDI options). Using the pre-read functions of the JVC recorder we were able to make one scene with twelve individual zoom-down inset shots over a background that looked first generation all the way to the last layer.

The Aladdin supports up to four GPI triggers that can control any function on the timeline. We used the simple JVC RM-G820U, cuts only, two-machine edit controller to run our test system, employing the controller's four GPI's to control forward and backward play of the Aladdin timeline as well as the park and fly-out times of the inserts.

In addition to the tape-based sources available to the Aladdin, the user may also access the included Inscriber character generator software on one graphic bus and any standard still image on the second graphic bus, each of which may be controlled as if they were tape originated. In some cases, the graphic bus may be activated at the same time as a tape source, thereby creating a three-source edit with only two machines if the recorder has pre-read capability.

Once sophisticated effects are created on the timeline, the user may also save these effects on the computer's hard drive, using unique names and icons so that they may be recalled at any time. We found this to be a jaw-dropping feature with clients who would drive us to create a complex effect and then, hours later, shudder to consider the time needed to apply a similar effect to the project . When we resurrected the original effect with it's own button, the client sighed with relief and then forged ahead making even more work for us (and of course, more money!)

While the combined cost of a two-machine Digital-S, SDI Aladdin system will run around $60,000, we felt that the superior quality results and instant-everything effects more than justified the cost. Certainly, there are nonlinear editors with some real-time capability, selling at prices well below $60,000, but they do not yet offer SDI, the wide assortment of keyframable controlled effects of the Aladdin or the ease and reliability of a half-inch tape based system.

Further consideration will yield the obvious conclusion that the Aladdin may represent the easiest, most immediate and perhaps the least expensive means of turning a render-based nonlinear edit system into a real-time, 3-D everything system. Assuming that the Digital-S deck becomes the de-facto choice of mastering nonlinear edits to tape, and that you already own some kind of nonlinear editing system, the cost of augmenting the Aladdin for the addition of transparently dubbed effects is just $16,000 (less if you don't go SDI). For that reason alone, we are acquiring both the Aladdin 601 and at least one Digital-S recorder for our DPS Perception room. Depending on the volume, our next purchase would be a Digital-S camera back that we could mate with any rental camera a client would want. Like most of you, we are cautious, but it seems that step by step the world may soon be dancing to an SDI tune and it seems we have JVC to thank for making a whole lot easier to pay the piper.