Australia-based Digital Voodoo has announced the pending release of the Zenith, an uncompressed 10-bit SDI 64-bit PCI card for the Macintosh. Intended for broadcast designers and visual effects artists, the card is expected to be released in the second quarter of this year.
Zenith sports SD-SDI input and dual SD-SDI SMPTE 259M outputs, selectable between video and video, video and key 4:2:2:4 or 4:4:4:4 (dual link) between two BNC connectors for live key environments. An analog component input and output is also available, for analog tape decks and composite output for VHS client previews. Output can be in either NTSC (525) or PAL (625) formats, and 8 channels of AES/EBU digital audio is handled through an audio break out box that Digital Voodoo calls “The Junction.”
Digital Voodoo product manager Matt Dowling explained that the card enables users who work predominantly with digital video to capture analog source material without the need for AD/DA video converters. “It is all on the one capture card. With the added feature of dual link output users can output full bandwidth chroma 4:4:4:4 to other high-end compositing system,” said Dowling.
Look for the Zenith to be priced at US$5,695. It’ll include Media Transfer, Digital Voodoo’s application that allows frame-accurate capture and insertion from and to RS-422 controllable digital tape decks.