Shogun records 4K in Avid DNxHR

The Atomos Shogun has become the first recorder to implement Avid’s new DNxHR 4K recording format, which is included in AtomOS 6.2 (available as a free download).

The 4K $1,995/£1,299 Shogun has been phenomenally successful, with more than 10,000 sold in just two months. “That was my six-month forecast. 4K is really taking off,” said CEO, Jeromy Young (pictured above), at BVE2015.

Atomos Shogun 4K recorder launched

Atomos has announced a new 4K AppleProRes and RAW capable recorder, the Shogun, which uses new 12G-SDI and 4K HDMI connections.

The Shogun is the first 12G-SDI and 4K HDMI I/O monitor recorder, and features a 1920x1200 SuperAtom IPS 7-inch touchscreen (with 325 pixels per inch), 179º viewing angle and 400nit brightness. The monitor can also automatically switch frequency (48/50/60Hz) depending on video input, to give smoother monitoring and playback. [UPDATE: It also won an award from the IABM at NAB as one of five Game Changers - see end for details].

Convergent Design Odyssey7 + 7Q

A full-featured 7.7-inch OLED monitor that can also be a high-quality recorder (for Avid DNxHD, raw and 4K formats) is the attraction of Convergent Design’s adaptable new Odyssey7 and 7Q products.

As a monitor, it costs from $1,295, with the recording capabilities available as optional upgrades (online licenses for the various formats, such as DNxHD). Given that some users might only need a format like Arrirraw for a few days shooting, the licence for this will also be available for daily rental.

Atomos releases Avid DNxHD support

The new AtomOS 4.0 operating system upgrade for the Atomos Ninja-2 and Samurai external recorders, will support Avid’s DNxHD production codec in addition to Apple ProRes, so that user’s recordings can be directly editable in their non-linear editor of choice.

The update is free of charge and downloadable from the support section of the Atomos web site.

“There has been huge demand from our customer base for Avid support,” said Jeromy Young, CEO and co-founder of Atomos. “Now, editors have a choice of native codec for their editing system. Both Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD provide higher quality, with higher bitrates and 4:2:2, 10-bit resolution. Both are ready-to-edit straight from the Samurai's HDD or SSD, in your preferred NLE.”

AtomOS version 4.0 allows encoding to Avid DNxHD in the following formats: High - 220/185/175Mbps (10-bit); Medium - 220/185/175Mbps (8-bit); Low - 145/120/115Mbps (8-bit). The firmware has apparently been well received by customers who were invited to beta test it following a successful preview at IBC in September.

The HDMI-equipped Ninja-2 and HD-SDI-equipped Samurai field recorders allow the recording, monitoring and playback of 10-bit uncompressed images straight from a DSLR or camcorder directly to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD.

AtomOS 4.0 is being released only for Samurai now, from www.atomos.com. It is a full working version, but Atomos refers to it as a pre-release because it will be further updated to support Ninja-2 in late November.

[[UPDATE: Atomos has introduced new Samurai Blade with a sharper monitor and upgraded operating system (AtomOS5) – it has also cut the price of both the Samurai and Ninja-2]]

Ronin on the rack

Ninja 2, Canon C500 and Samurai

We're used to seeing Atomos Ninja and Samurai units attached to cameras, but it has now launched a version of the popular field recorders for the studio and OB market with a new rack-mountable version. 

The Ronin can switch between battery, mains and DC (D-tap) power, giving it “triple redundancy, which is perfect for OBs,” said Atomos CEO, Jeromy Young.

Battery, mains and D-tap power

Two can fit in a rack, but it also has flip-up feet for desktop use, and can run just off batteries for portable use. The units have dual XLR audio i/o, serial interface for deck control (and can also be triggered from cameras and switchers), and will record ProRes or DNxHD. A unit will cost $2,195 (about €1,650), but the Ronin Duo (with two units in a rack mount will be $3,995 (about €3,000). It can also offer HDMI i/o if used with Atomos’ Connect convertor products and should ship in the New Year.

Atomos CEO, Jeromy Young with his Samurai portrait.

Also on show is a prototype: the Recordinator, another rack-mountable unit built for a customer who does chat shows and wanted a recording system that the director could easily start/stop – via large, friendly buttons. It can have quad recording (with mirroring or ISO feeds) and works with Samurai or Ronin units, which can be used to add metadata to the recordings.

CPUG Amsterdam SuperMeet at IBC

The Creative Pro User Group Network will be holding its Fifth Annual Amsterdam CPUG SuperMeet to coincide with IBC (the International Broadcasting Convention – Europe’s biggest broadcast conference and exhibition). 

There will be lots of presentations and demonstrations, including sneak peeks, and the seemingly endless raffle with more than €31,000-worth of production and post-production kit to be won.

As usual, it promises to be the biggest meet-up of Final Cut, Adobe, Avid and Autodesk editors and independent filmmakers during IBC. Food will be included and there is lots of opportunity to network.

It is being held in the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky on Dam Square. Doors open at 4:30pm with showcase of more than 20 software and hardware developers, such as: Adobe, Autodesk, Avid, Blackmagic Design, Red Giant Software, Atomos, Axle Video, B&H, Amsterdam's College Of Multimedia, Drobo, The Future Store, G-Technology, Mocha, Noise Industries, The Padcaster, pond5, Promise Technologies, Shutterstock, Sonnet Tech and X2Pro (many of whom are donating raffle prizes).

SuperMeet presentations begin at 7pm, and will include (not necessarily in this order):

The award-winning cinematographer John Brawley, who was the first to get his hands on the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera, will show what it can do and talk about how it works and his post workflow using Blackmagic Design’s new DaVinci Resolve 9.

Michael Cioni, CEO of Hollywood post facility Light Iron Digital will lead a discussion about how the changing media ecosystem is changing filmmaking, and talk about new workflow and creative opportunities. One of Light Iron’s specialities is on-site dailies, and it has created a couple of iPad apps: Live Play – an automated digital playback and on-set collaboration tool; and Todailies (below) – which gives directors, cinematographers, script supervisors, and key production personnel the ability to take home and review camera takes or pre-visualizations.

Ken La Rue and Marc-André Ferguson, from Autodesk, will run through the all-in-one workflow of the new Smoke, including dealing with green screen, keying, tracking, colour correction and editing. The Smoke 2013 pre-release trial will be available until December and can be downloaded at: www.autodesk.com/smoke-trial.

Adobe’s Al Mooney will give an update on Premiere Pro CS6, and share a peek at “some very exciting future technology”.

Avid’s Adam Green will be revealing Avid news from IBC, while Filmlight's Martin Tlaskal will show off Media Composer’s AVX2 plug-in architecture with the latest Baselight for Avid plug-in.

Freelance trainer/author, Simon Walker will demonstrate three new releases from Red Giant Software: Trapcode Mir, PluralEyes and Knoll Light Factory, the light effects tool developed by ILM Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll. Webby Award-winner Seth Worley (who made the brilliant Plot Device) has directed another excellent short film, Order Up, to show off what Knoll Light Factory 3 can do.

There are also likely to be other speakers, including independent film makers/editors.

Tickets cost €15 each online (€20 on the door), or €10 for students and teachers. But, you can save €5 off the ticket price by using the promotional code ibcvip when registering.

Also of interest during IBC will be DSLR Meetup 2012 Amsterdam with Philip Bloom on Saturday, September 8th at 8pm, at Café ‘De Pont’ behind Central Station (and a short trip on a free ferry). The theme of the evening is time lapse.

By David Fox

Review: Atomos Samurai recorder

In April 2011 I reviewed the Ninja from Atomos. If you have a DSLR or video camera with a clean HDMI output the Ninja is still a great option for recording at a higher bit rate than your camera can achieve by using its own internal compression and flash memory. In fact a new Ninja has just been launched at NAB.

There are an increasing number of field recorders on the market. The Atomos Samurai, which can record from an HD-SDI output, started shipping a few months ago, but has been in such demand that it was only recently that we could get our hands on it for a comprehensive review.

The Atomos Samurai is a 10-bit portable field recorder with HD-SDI inputs and outputs. It records in Apple ProRes (and very soon will be able to record Avid DNxHD) onto a removable 2.5-inch drive (SSD or hard disk). It has a touch screen interface that doubles up as a simple field monitor.

Atomos Ninja 2 + AtomOS 3.0 launch

NAB 2012: Atomos has unveiled a new version of its Ninja HDMI recorder. The Ninja 2 should be available next month, and new features include: HDMI output; a higher quality screen; and the ability to run the new AtomOS 3.0 firmware that brings a range of desirable features, such as focus peaking, zebra stripes, the ability to record on multiple recorders at once, and do logging and edit selection on the device.

The new operating system will be the same on both the Ninja 2 and the Samurai, but won’t work on existing Ninja devices, although company CEO, Jeromy Young, has promised a low-cost upgrade for Ninja users to the Ninja 2, costing “probably around $500,” compared to a stand-alone cost for the Ninja 2 of £695, €795 or $995.

The Ninja 2 touchscreen is an 800x480-pixel display, with a viewing angle of 170º, both horizontally and vertically, and much improved visibility in direct sunlight. There is also upgraded support for HDMI timecode and HDMI triggering (from the camera), and the recorder should now be able to record from any HDMI device, including iPhone or iPad.

AtomOS 3.0 is promised as a free upgrade for Samurai users from April 30, and addresses several requests users have demanded most.

By adding such monitoring aides such as focus peaking, adjustable zebra, false colour and blue only (exposure check), there's no need for an external monitor. “We're responding to customer feedback by giving even more functionality, but at no extra cost,” said Young.

SmartLog allows you to select favourite clips, and mark in and out points using XML metadata. This means you can effectively do a pre-edit on the Ninja 2 or Samurai before you get to the edit suite and plug it into Final Cut Pro.

SmartControl allows control of any deck, even legacy video equipment, from the Samurai and control of the Samurai from any PC or Mac, which is useful if you need to control recording remotely or are setting up a custom video installation. It was added specifically for James Cameron's Deep Sea Challenge, which used 30 Samurai recorders, and allows start/stop/pause to be triggered on any number of recorders interconnected via their LANC port.

Other enhancements included in this update are: automatic file recovery in the event of power failure; auto-record when an input is detected; Loop Playback; and iPhone/iPad/Mac/PC recording support, which Atomos suggests is “a great feature for gaming and app software companies to record and demonstrate in superb quality how their app or game works”.

The Ninja and Samurai currently record using 10-bit Apple ProRes, but will also add various Avid 8-bit and 10-bit DNxHD codecs.

[[Update: AtomOS 4.0 - including Avid DNxHD support - now available]]

[[UPDATE: Atomos has introduced new Samurai Blade with a sharper monitor and upgraded operating system (AtomOS5) – it has also cut the price of both the Samurai and Ninja-2]]

Related posts: Atomos Ninja Review + Atomos makes the Connection

By David Fox

$2,995 Blackmagic Cinema Camera

NAB 2012: Blackmagic Design has launched its first camera. It includes a built in SSD recorder, 13 stops of dynamic range, and lots of high-end features for a low-end price: $2,995/£1,925, with shipping in July.

It is claimed to provide “feature film quality in an extremely compact portable design.” It doesn’t use a particularly large sensor, although it’s probably large enough for most people to get reasonably shallow depth of field, and there are a few other compromises (such as the lack of XLR audio input), but for the price it should really make Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and JVC worried, as it does seem to offer many features that more expensive cameras don’t.

It has: a 2.5K sensor; an integrated capacitive touchscreen 5-inch (800 x 480-resolution) LCD for direct metadata entry; standard quarter-inch jack audio connectors, refrigerated sensor; takes EF (Canon EOS) and ZE (Zeiss) mount lenses; and can capture CinemaDNG RAW, ProRes and DNxHD files (so high quality and ease of editing).

The Blackmagic Digital Cinema Camera also includes both HD-SDI and Thunderbolt connectors and it comes with a full copy of both the DaVinci Resolve colour grading software (which has just been updated to version 9.0 with a faster to use interface) and UltraScope – so that you can simply plug it into a laptop for on set grading and scopes.

“We have been thinking hard about cameras and some of the limitations in quality that video cameras run into. Working with DaVinci color grading has only made these limitations more noticeable,” said Blackmagic CEO, Grant Petty.

“Some of the reasons why video cameras look like ‘video’ is because they have limited contrast range, are limited to HD resolutions, use heavy compression for file recording, have poor quality lenses and of course they don't integrate into NLE software with metadata management.”

The 13 stops of dynamic range is one of the most important reasons why this camera should look more like film – typical film stock will deliver about 13 stops, and it is one stop more than Canon’s EOS C300 can deliver (and it is probably the best of the lower cost digital cinema cameras). An Arri Alexa can give up to 14 stops, meaning you can get more detail in both the shadow and highlight areas of the picture and cope more readily with very high-contrast shots.

“Often people focus on more pixels, but that is just a larger video image,” said Petty. “The real way to get film quality is to capture a wide contrast range to retain more detail in the black and white levels of the image. Then once you colour grade the images, it looks amazing. Combined with amazing EF and ZF lenses, the result is a true film look.”

This quality is lost or diminished when you compress the images during recording, which is why the Blackmagic Cinema Camera includes an SSD recorder – as it already makes the Shuttle SSD recorder, this was also an obvious choice. This means it can record the full 2.5K (2432 x 1366-pixels) 12-bit RAW sensor data as uncompressed CinemaDNG files, to capture all the detail and quality of the sensor. Frame rates are: 23.98p, 24p, 25p, 29.97p and 30p.

“No files on this camera are custom in any way and this is the first camera that’s designed to make the whole post production process simple,” he claimed. It records into CinemaDNG format for RAW files (which an increasing amount of post-production software can now cope with - the format is also used by a couple of other cameras, such as the Ikonoscop A-Cam dII). It also records 10-bit DNxHD or ProRes in HD (1920 x 1080), for compatiblity with Avid’s Media Composer and Apple’s Final Cut Pro.

The 2592 x 2192-pixel sensor is smaller than the batch of digital cinema cameras launched recently, at 16.64mm x 14.04mm with an active size of 15.6mm x 8.8mm - about half way between a Micro Four Thirds (as used by Panasonic’s AF100/AF101), which is 18mm x 13.5mm (with an active area of 17.8mm x 10.0mm), and Super 16mm film, which is about 12mm x 7.2mm. So anyone looking for the shallowest depth of field might be disappointed, but unless you have a focus puller very shallow DoF makes it more difficult to shoot, so it should be more than adequate for the vast majority of productions.

The integrated touchscreen LCD includes a "slate" window for adding shot information that is recorded into the file as metadata in the Final Cut Pro X and DaVinci Resolve format. Common data like the shot number can auto increment to save time.

You can also change camera settings on the LCD, including frame rate, shutter angle, colour temperature, dynamic range, and focus assist settings. The SDI output has overlays showing all the camera data when monitoring on set, and when playing back recorded files.

The design is very Blackmagic, compact (166.2mm by 113.51mm x 126.49mm excluding detachable sunshade and turret dust cap), simple and well made. It is machined from a solid block of aluminium and weighs about 1.7kg. “It’s strong, very compact and designed to be easily hand held,” said Petty. “I am still amazed we have fitted all this into such a small design, when normally features like RAW recorders and monitoring can be optional extras on cinema cameras.”

Optional Blackmagic Cinema Camera Handles cost an extra $195

For a few examples of test shots, have a look at: www.vimeopro.com/johnbrawleytests/blackmagic-cinema-camera - the third one, Dusk, is worth looking at to see the dynamic range (and higher ISO behaviour - which looks pretty good, a bit of noise but with a fairly pleasing film grain to it).

Also worth a look is John Brawley's blog post about the Blackmagic Cinema Camera.

By David Fox

Meet us at BVE – Free seminars

As usual, we’ll be giving talks at BVE/The Production Show at London’s Earls Court next week (14-16 February 2012). Our five sessions will be part of an extensive free seminar programme, with more than 300 seminars across the three days.

We’ll be doing our Production On A Budget sessions every morning (10am) in the Production Theatre with lots of advice on buying equipment and what to look at while you’re at the show, while Christina will do a session on How To Survive As A Freelancer at 3pm in the Producers Theatre (on Tuesday) and in the Production Theatre (on Wednesday) – both theatres are in the Production Show section right at the back of the Earls Court 2 exhibition centre.

The Production Theatre will also feature sessions on Shooting Sub £15k Music Videos by Den Lennie, budget feature film production, underwater filming, shooting in the cold for Frozen Planet, Fathoming the Fundamentals of Formats from Prokit, and how to make the most of Blackmagic Design's Atem switcher.

The Producers Theatre will include the 99-minute Film School (in less than half that time…), with Raindance Film Festival founder Elliot Grove (who will also do a session on Writing For Low Budget Filmmaking), plus seminars on Strategies for Survival in a Freelance World, virtual production, how to win commissions and funding, motion control DSLRs and special effects make-up.

There is also an Arri Production Skills Centre [Free tickets required], with lots of sessions on lighting (including two each day by Jonathan Harrison), as well as seminars on using the Alexa and colour grading.

In the main Broadcast Video Expo section of the show, there will be 11 theatres/seminar areas, dealing with big picture issues such as the next steps for 3D, new developments in religious broadcasting, cloud computing and brands becoming broadcasters, to practical hands-on workshops.

The 3D Revolution [Free tickets required] will look at the latest developments and where 3D might go next, with keynotes from William Sargent, founder of leading Soho post house Framestore, and Dave Blackham, MD of Esprit Films (who will discuss shooting wildlife and caves in 3D). Panasonic’s Peter Van Hooke will present sessions on the recent Elbow concert shot live in 3D. There’ll be several case studies and sessions on when 3D is worth using and how to use it best.

The Audio Room [Free tickets required] also covers 3D, with a panel discussion on immersive audio systems led by Pieter Schillbeeckx, Head of R&D at Soundfield. There is a wide range of practical advice on audio recording, including Phil Coates on working in extreme locations, Graham Boswell from SADiE on how to eliminate pops and glitches, and Jo Tyler of Bournemouth University on the sonic potential for radio, and sessions on loudness metering, HD Voice (for mobile audio) and audio post.

The Post-Production Theatre [Free tickets required] has one of our favourite trainers, Larry Jordan, with: a practical overview of Final Cut Pro X; Creating Motion Graphics that Don't Suck; Compressing Your Video for the Web - and Making It Look Great; and What Creative People Need To Know About Storage. Other sessions include: the making of a Top Gear Live commercial, and lots on tapeless production.

Broadcast Meets IT picks up the tapeless theme, with Mark Harrison, Controller of BBC North, discussing the issues of file-based production and Shane Warden of IMG World presenting tapeless workflows at the Rugby World Cup. Dr John Zubrzycki of BBC Research and Development will discuss Super Hi-Vision for London 2012, and Phil Rutter of AndCubed hosts a debate on 4K production and delivery.

The Institute of Videography will offer sessions in the IOV Theatre on how professional videographers can get involved with local TV stations, what videographers need in their post-production toolkit, and lots on weddings, including Shooting the Marryoke Wedding Sequence.

The Content Delivery Theatre will deal with all sorts of online and other methods of delivery and making money, connected TV, the use of second screens (such as iPads) while also watching TV, broadcast playout using channel in a box systems, and social TV.

There will also be one-day sessions dedicated to various aspects of a specific topic. Religious Broadcasting on Tuesday 14 February; Demystifying the Cloud on Wednesday; and Brands Becoming Broadcasters on Thursday.

The Sony Experience Masterclass Theatre includes sessions on the FS100 by Den Lennie, the F3, F65, and using XMPilot to speed up logging on the BBC’s Escape To The Country.

Added to these are practical sessions offered by Avid [Free tickets required] and Adobe, and FCP X sessions run by Soho Editors.

There's also the opportunity to try out lots of new equipment...

Free registration is available at www.bvexpo.com/register using Priority Code EBPR2.

By David Fox

HyperDeck Shuttle 2 records DNxHD

Blackmagic Design's latest version of its HyperDeck Shuttle solid-state disk recorder adds broadcast-quality 10-bit recording and playback to Avid's DNxHD format, but still costs the same, at about £250/$345.

The HyperDeck Shuttle 2 can run the HyperDeck 2.0 software (currently downloadable as a public beta), which adds DNxHD for five-times longer compressed recording than the existing uncompressed option. DNxHD recording is already available for the HyperDeck Studio recorder.

The HyperDeck Shuttle is small, affordable and battery powered for field recording, and can be camera mounted using an additional HyperDeck Shuttle Mounting Plate, which provides multiple pre drilled 1/4-inch and 3/8-inch mounting holes.

Users can record via 3Gbps SDI or HDMI directly to 10-bit uncompressed QuickTime or Avid DNxHD MXF formats. It uses SSDs, which are cheaper per gigabyte than other solid-state recording media, much faster and more stable than hard disk drives, completely silent and energy efficient. The 2.5-inch SSD can be plugged into an eSATA or USB dock for instant access to the media files by a computer.

DNxHD will provide full file format compatibility with Avid Media Composer systems. All media is recorded in MXF and immediately available to Avid Media Composer systems and many other video applications including Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve.

The HyperDeck Shuttle can also be used as a video playback source for digital signage systems or connected to a live production switcher for recording events and then used for live playback.

“Recording DNxHD files straight to disk now costs less per minute than recording to professional tape, plus it’s the most efficient workflow possible,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design.

“A 64GB SSD is less than $100 and will record 50 minutes of the highest quality DNxHD video. This update means that both HyperDeck Studio and HyperDeck Shuttle customers can record broadcast-quality DNxHD files for less than $2 a minute.”

Related posts: Review: Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Shuttle recorder + Blackmagic HyperDeck Shuttle ships

By David Fox

Sony XM Pilot + XDCAM workflow

Sony is adding a "second screen", such as an iPad or smartphone, to its XDCAM workflow, to make it simpler to add metadata and integrate the file format with post. It has also started a Europe-wide tour offering day-long training seminars to users.

The new XM Pilot wireless metadata system "speeds up your workflow and reduces your costs in post by allowing you to flow logging information and metadata all the way to post much quicker and more easily, especially compared to paper logs," said David Young, Product Specialist, XDCAM range (pictured).

It uses automatic ingest tools, so you don't have to waste time organising and viewing clips. Users can also create metadata in planning (using a free planner) and import that into the XM Pilot via WiFi, USB or file-copying onto recording media, before going on location.

Users can access and input data on their iPhone or iPad, or Android device (with apps available as a free download for iOS and for Sony Ericsson phones). For post, there are free ingest tools for Apple's Final Cut Pro 7 (an FCP X version won't be available until Sony finishes work on XDCAM support in X) and for Avid Media Composer v5 upwards.

The system requires an add-on WiFi unit for the camera, which sends timecode, synchs metadata and streams proxy video and audio (with a two to five second delay – there is no delay if not streaming proxy). Panasonic offers something similar via WiFi on its HPX3100.

Talkback Thames used a beta version of the Sony system to shoot property series Escape To The Country for the BBC and found it cut logging time per episode from two days to just two hours.

The XM Pilot package consists of two hardware elements (dongle and firmware upgrade) and three software elements (planning tool, smart-device app and NLE integration).

Customers will have to purchase a £533 WiFi dongle, which plugs into the camera, and a firmware upgrade for their camera: a £670 activation board for the PMW-500; a £922 software activation code for the PDW-700/800; a £383 activation board for the PMW-350/320 or TD300; and a £2,375 SxS Card Key for the PMW-F3.

At least the software is free. It includes: XM Pilot planner (PC application with web access via any platform downloadable from Pro.Sony.com); the XM Pilot smart-device app (free download from Apple App Store, and on Android Marketplace); and the NLE Integration plug-ins for FCP7 and Avid.

XDCAM Station

The recently introduced XDCAM Station is a crossover between a server and a traditional deck, but less expensive. "Customers are getting a lot more functionality for less money," said Young.

It can support multiple actions simultaneously, both input and output, so it can add time delay to a recording feed or record to both the internal hardware and a Professional Disc at once. In January it will also be able to playout from SxS cards. It has three hard drives, for RAID 4 protection – if one goes down it can reconstruct its contents from the other two. Editors can access clips as they are recording, via an Ethernet connection, allowing them to edit live feeds as they come in – on Final Cut Pro now and on Avid when the next release of AMA, due this month, comes out. It can also be linked to a shared storage system. The latest version (2.0) of the XDCAM Browser can remotely control the deck over the network.

Sony recently sold 80 of the high-end XDS-PD2000 models (pictured), which use solid-state drives, to WDR/NDR, in Germany. SSDs are a lot more responsive than spinning disks, so everything is quicker.

An upcoming firmware update will allow the XDCAM Station to pack up a 35Mbps XDCAM signal (from an EX1, say) without changing or upconverting it, to 50Mbps files, for broadcasters who use a 50Mbps infrastructure (especially for archive systems).

PMW-500 camcorder

There has also been new firmware released for the PMW-500 (version 1.12), which improves the response time from the record button. "It's primarily used for newsgathering and people don't want to miss anything." It is possible to use the camera with pre-record (up to 15 seconds), but there is a trade off in terms of battery life (although the increase in power used is small).

The PMW-500 has proved popular. The BBC has bought 250 of them for news use, almost all of which have now been delivered. TRT, Turkey, bought 75 recently, while TVN, Poland, bought 12 after IBC. In total, more than 700 PMW-500 units have been sold across Europe – it is made in the EU, at Sony's plant in Wales.

XDCAM Workflow Tour

Sony's XDCAM Workflow Tour offers different sets of users (and dealers) a week of one-day seminars on how to get the best out of the technology and new ways of working, in a variety of locations across Europe.

It started in London last month, followed by Stockholm, and is in Copenhagen this week (28 November - 2 December). It will be in Amsterdam (5-9 December) and Belgium (12-16 December), and resume in the New Year on 9 January for five days in Köln, followed by Munich (16-20 January), Madrid (23-27 January), Lisbon (30 January - 3 February), Paris (6-10 February), Milan (13-17 February), Rome (20-24 February), Prague (27 February - 2 March), Warsaw (5-9 March), and Istanbul (19-23 March).

By David Fox

Alexa to support Avid DNxHD

Arri's Alexa is to gain full support for in-camera recording of Avid's DNxHD format as MXF files in the new year, giving users the same simple workflow it has offered for Final Cut Pro with Avid's Media Composer.

It is something that Alexa users have been asking for, and Arri has been talking to Avid about, for a long time, and will mean that Alexa will be the first digital cinema camera to have built-in DNxHD support, although it is possible using external recorders.

“The Avid editorial environment is an important cornerstone of the broadcast and motion picture postproduction industry, and Arri is very pleased to be able to provide Avid DNxHD MFX file-based recording within the Alexa camera for Avid-centric productions," said Neil Fanthom, Arri’s head of digital camera strategy. "This further confirms our commitment to add significant ongoing value to the Alexa camera family, in this case by allowing customers to choose which workflow suits their own capture and postproduction requirements. No other camera in this industry fulfils such diverse workflow needs.”

“By providing native Avid DNxHD recording with the Alexa camera, Arri is allowing producers to use high quality Alexa cameras and quickly and easily view dailies, and begin editorial, without the need to transcode or re-wrap footage," added Angus Mackay, Avid's pro video segment marketing manager. "Media Composer version 6 now offers the Avid DNxHD444 codec, which will permit customers to preserve the high colour information in Alexa footage while still having a low bit rate codec suitable for editorial. This is great news for Arri and Avid customers, who will benefit from the advantages in quality, speed and streamlined workflows.”

DNxHD recording for Alexa will be available as a paid-for software download in January and is now entering Beta testing with several broadcast productions. The first roll out will support up to 220Mbps 10-bit recording (plus up to 145Mbps at 8-bit), with support for DNxHD 444, at 440Mbps (10-bit) to be provided as a further upgrade for all adopting customers during the first quarter of 2012.

It will mean that Alexa users will be able to record Arriraw uncompressed 3K images as a digital negative for mastering and feature archival use, and/or DNxHD or ProRes for offline, dailies and general broadcast post production.

By David Fox