I'm trying to set up a system where a presenter gives short presentations (typically 60 seconds) in front of a backdrop on a daily basis, with the files being ultimately destined for the web.
The limiting factor here though is that ideally the system should be operable by the presenter only - no technical or production staff will necessarily be available to help. So what I'd like is a way for the capture to be triggered remotely by the presenter standing in front of the camera (by a foot switch most likely, but I'm open to other options), and the take will then be recorded to file on the associated capture PC, and will stop after a pre-defined time (60 seconds, 90 seconds, etc). If it's not possible to set a timer, we do have the ability to use a hardware timer device which will send a serial signal.
The studio is all set up and ready, the only missing link is the actual capture solution. We were looking initially at the Aja Ki Pro Rack, but it doesn't make it particularly easy to get at the files - the device has to be put into a different mode, and the files have to be downloaded either through a web interface, or by removing the hard drives and copying the files to the PC.
Then we were looking at various BlackMagic devices, such as the H264 Pro Recorder, but I couldn't see how I could remotely trigger the capture using the bundled MediaExpress software.
I'm open to using alternate software such as Final Cut or Premiere. Does anyone know of a solution that will let me trigger a remote capture with no human operator sitting at the PC, ideally with the ability to set a timer to stop the record as well?