The Motu V3HD, which I mentioned back in June, has finally been released.

It has a plethora of video connections, HD SDI, Component, composite…etc…and connects to your computer via firewire. It will take any HD format and convert it into DVCPRO HD…great for offline editing. And any SD format and capture Uncompressed or DVCPRO 50.

“Choose your input source, then log and capture HD and SD clips directly into Final Cut or Premiere, converted on the fly and ready for fast, CPU-efficient editing in pristine native DVCPro HD quality, without the costly overhead required for uncompressed HD. Monitor simultaneously in HD and SD with real-time SD-to-HD up-convert, HD-to-SD down-convert and real-time pull-down insertion or removal.”

It is available at a lot of stores, including my favorite, B&H Photo, for roughly $3000.

This is a GREAT LOOKING box that has all sorts of connections:

Video I/O

* 1 x HD-SDI in and out (4:2:2 10-bit) on independent BNC connectors
* 1 x SD-SDI in and out (4:2:2 10-bit) on independent BNC connectors
* 1 x extra HD-SDI output connector
* 1 x extra SD-SDI output connector
* 1 x HDMI output (4:2:2 10-bit, YCbCr or RGB)
* Support for DVI output with HDMI-to-DVI adapter (sold separately)
* 1 x HD component in and out (10-bit, YPbPr or RGB) on independent BNCs
* 1 x SD component in and out (10-bit, YPbPr or RGB) on independent BNCs
* 1 x composite in and out (10-bit)
* 1 x S-video in and out (10-bit)
* 1 x 400 Mbit (1394) FireWire A
* 2 x 800 Mbit (1394b) FireWire B

And of course, MOTU being an AUDIO company, you KNOW the audio interface on this box is stellar:

Audio I/O

* 32 channels of simultaneous audio input and output V3HD Audio I/O
* 8 channels of analog in/out at all standard sample rates from 44.1 to 192kHz
* 4 x XLR analog in/out — 4-channel direct connection without a breakout cable
* 8 channels of AES/EBU digital in/out at sample rates up to 96kHz
* 2 x AES/EBU connectors — 4-channel direct connection without a breakout cable
* 8-channel HD-SDI and SD-SDI embedded audio in/out, 24-bit at 44.1 or 48kHz
* 8-channel HDMI embedded audio output, 24-bit at 44.1 or 48kHz
* 8-channel ADAT optical digital audio in/out — includes a second bank of optical connectors for 8-channel operation at sample rates up to 96kHz V3HD Digital Audio I/O
* Front panel headphone jack with dedicated volume control
* CueMix DSPTM built-in monitor mixer — 32-channel, 16-bus mixer for monitoring live inputs from cameras, mic preamps or other audio sources with no delay. Set up send/return loops to digital mixers and outboard audio processing. V3HD Audio Meters
* Multiple CueMix DSP mixes — create 16 separate stereo monitor mixes (8 stereo at 176.4 or 192kHz) for main outs, headphones, outboard gear send/return loops, etc.
* Audio delay compensation — both fully automated and programmable controls ensure that audio always remains perfectly in sync with picture
* Audio only mode — operates as a 32 channel cross-platform audio interface
* Stand-alone operation — mix and monitor with no computer connected

While this is a competitor to the AJA I/O HD, it isn’t portable…it is rack mountable. And it doesn’t have an onboard ProRes hardware encoder, like the I/O HD…but I wonder if you can use it in conjunction with a MacPro Intel machine and capture ProRes, because Apple states that you need an Intel Mac to capture ProRes using third party capture cards like the Kona or Decklink series. If I had a MacPro I’d love to test it. But I don’t…so…we’ll have to see what others say.