what the heck are these things?
April 25, 2011 7:14 AM   Subscribe

Please help me identify the device seen here (3 pics) what i'm looking for is the specific brand etc.

I'm in broadcast enigneering, so i know that they are edit controllers for VTR, VCR etc for linear editing (or perhaps more related to film). They are semi modern electronics (magnetic rheostats etc) so they aren't super super old. They have no appreciable markings to brand on them other then a nebulous "VC CORP" as listed on the PCB, but this might be the PCB or SMT company and not the device itself. as you can see the units are designed to drop in as modules into something else and total size is just about 8x11" (as pictured they are on top of a sheet of letter sized paper)
posted by chasles to Technology (14 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Maybe a long shot, but is this in the US, and do they have an FCC ID anywhere on them?
posted by routergirl at 7:50 AM on April 25, 2011


huh...this one's gonna be hard...date from ca. late 60s-80s...def a 'niche' product...if i were to hazard a guess, the 'something else' these were designed to drop into were the reel area of a film editing table (thats why the circular shape, and seems about the right size)...probably for local news stations making the transition from film to video (and i'd say that based on the economics of the thing...a larger studio would just buy a whole new-fangled rig, right?), though what aspect of the film table would be useful for video, i'm not really sure...the monitors? the table itself?
posted by sexyrobot at 7:55 AM on April 25, 2011


can we have a picture of the bottom?
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:01 AM on April 25, 2011


If you have the inclination to search longer than I did, some of the google image results for linear editing control look promising.
posted by amyms at 8:10 AM on April 25, 2011


Hm. I'm scratching my brain on this one...

The keycaps look vaguely like 1970s-80s vintage Sony gear, as does the drop-in design. Our BVE-9100 looks like this.

However, the digitizer/rheostat thing doesn't look like a Sony Jog wheel, and the giantic early-1980s "panel-style" Sony gear (like the BVE-3000) looks like it uses slightly different keycaps and very different wheel controllers, so...back to the drawing board.

The idea that this was tailor-made for news editing seems like it could be a good lead... If it weren't for the splice/join buttons, I'd swear this thing came from a switcher. My gut instinct is that it's simply too damn big to have come from an editing controller.
posted by schmod at 8:15 AM on April 25, 2011


The Museum of Early Video Editing Equipment and Techniques (archived here and here) might be helpful.
posted by amyms at 8:47 AM on April 25, 2011


Response by poster: ok, i added 2 more pictures to the bottom. it never occurred to me that it would drop into a film table. This makes a lot of sense as its got a mixture of film and video terminology on it. Perhaps a professional film-to-video transfer device or console....

pix here (link updated so be sure to refresh)

posted by chasles at 9:02 AM on April 25, 2011


Response by poster: oh and to routergirl, nope, no FCC ID. i thought of that as its been insanely helpful in the past. the serial numbers are handwritten (and LOW!) and there's not much else on the PCBs.
posted by chasles at 10:22 AM on April 25, 2011


Well, a mixture of film/video terminology would almost certainly imply it's from a telecine console.
posted by schmod at 10:27 AM on April 25, 2011


Best answer: According to Stuart Bass, who would know, this is the controller from a Montage Picture Processor. In answering my question he posted on Facebook a photo of himself using one in 1987.
posted by mzurer at 4:50 PM on April 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: @mzurer AMAZING!!! any chance you can link to his fb (or mefi mail me) or perhaps scrape the pic and post it etc? i'd love some visual confirmation of this thing for myself. if i email him at the adress on the page you linked, will he be likely to answer??
posted by chasles at 5:00 PM on April 25, 2011


Response by poster: thanks mzurer... stuart bass emailed me and these are indeed from the Montage Video Processor. INTERNET WIN!!!
posted by chasles at 6:06 PM on April 25, 2011


Can we see what the thing looks like? I'm curious!!!
posted by schmod at 7:27 AM on April 26, 2011


Response by poster: you can see the montage video processor here (courtesy of Stuart Bass, ACE)

the top is cover and speakers
the middle is b/w monitors for viewing stuff
left hand shuttle is to mark the in point
right hand shuttle is to mark the out point

computer is on the right (essentially an electronic EDL)

somewhere, not pictured, are a dozen betamax decks....

for more info read up on a thing (with slightly more info available) called the editdroid developed by george lucas.


-c
posted by chasles at 9:50 AM on April 26, 2011


« Older Tell me about yourself   |   What are little things I can do each day to lower... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.