Many of you may remember the Panasonic AJ-PCS060G, the P2 reader with a built in 60 GB hard drive. It was a great device at the time, but the 60GB hard drive doesn’t do much for customers with 32GB & 64GB P2 cards. So Panasonic has come up with a new device for downloading P2 cards in the field. The AG-MSU10 or P2 Media Storage Unit. The MSU10 has two slots, one is a P2 card slot and the other accepts a hard drive enclosure from Panasonic (the AG-MBX10). The enclosure has USB and eSATA connections on it and can be filled with any 2.5″ SATA drive, including solid state drives. The P2 Media Storage Unit features a 3.2” LCD screen that displays a P2 thumbnail screen and supports master-quality 10 bit AVC-Intra (100/50) and DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO and DV recording formats. With a single touch, AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD content can be transferred from a P2 card to the solid-state drive at four times real-time (faster at lower data rates). The MSU10 is battery-operated. We are looking forward to seeing the device, which will sell for under $2500. The hard disk is not included, but can be easily be purchased at any retail store. See the full press release here. 

A couple months ago, I wrote about Panasonic’s mention of a single card reader to come. Well the official announcement is finally here. It’s called the AJ-PCD2, and it will sell for less than $350. So many of our P2 clients have been asking for this type of product for years, and we are happy to see it here. The PCD2 comes with two USB 2.0 cables, which power the device (2 USB connections equals twice the power) and connects it to a PC or Mac. This makes it a very portable device for field use, which is exactly what we’ve been asking for. The device will be fully compatible with PC & Mac and will be available in April. Read the full press release here.

AJA has just released firmware version 1.1 for the Ki Pro, and going up .1 turns out to be a major upgrade. Here is a list of the improvements :

- ProRes 422 LT and Proxy recording has been added. These formats are supported in Final Cut Pro 7, and allow for longer recording times at minimal quality loss.

- 720P variable frame rate support has now been added as well. This is great for VariCam users that want 720p24 (23.98), 720p25 and 720p30 (29.97) native recording.

- 1080p support has also been improved by enabling the auto-detection of 1080p 23.98, 1080p 24, 1080p 25 and 1080p 29.97 signals. This, along with PsF playback, gives the Ki Pro more functionality for high end users.

These updates, as well as a couple other new features, make for one big update. See the full release notes here, including a list of updates still planned for the future. Download Ki Pro Firmware 1.1 here.

Canon has a new HDSLR camera and a new Final Cut Pro plug-in. The EOS 550D (or Rebel T2i as it is also called) is their latest HDSLR camera, with an 18 MP APS-C size sensor and the ability to record full HD video. In terms of video, the specs are very similar to that of the 7D:

• 1080 recording at 24,25, and 30
• 720 recording at 50 & 60P
• Full Manual Video mode
• HDMI output
• Stereo Mic Input

The big differences from the 7D is a lower ISO range (100-6400), and it records to SDHC or SDXC cards instead of CF cards. The sensor is not exactly the same, so some comparison will have to be made, but the price is significantly different at under $1000. Read a full review of the new 550D at DPreview.

The other big news is that Canon is developing a plug-in for Final Cut Pro. It will allow importing of ‘EOS Movie’ footage into FCP through the Log and Transfer mode. The plug-in will convert the QuickTime movies created in Canon HDSLR cameras into Apple’s ProRes 422 codec at approximately twice the speed of Apple’s standard conversion. Additionally, users will also be able to add timecode, reel names and metadata to footage quickly and easily. This is great news for anyone working with Canon HDSLR cameras. A beta of the plug-in will be available in March.

This has been out for a while, but it doesn’t seem to have been widely circulated. Sony has a white paper on S-Log which describes the intended use of S-Log gamma, from production to post. Of particular interest to compositors and colorists are the formulas for translating between S-Log and Linear Light.

Download the S-Log White Paper here.

This week Convergent Design will be releasing a new firmware for their nanoFlash recorder (version 1.1.131), which contains some significant improvements. They have bumped up the data rate options once again to 180 Mbps LongGOP and 280 Mbps I-Frame. This is great for really pushing the premium video quality. But the new feature that excites me is not a new data rate, but a small change that makes the MXF files generated by the nanoFlash compatible with those on the XDCAM ProDisc. The nanoFlash utilizes the same Sony codec found in the PDW-700 and PDWF800, just at many different data rates. So CD and Sony worked together to make the two MXF files compatible. This means that material recorded in the nanoFlash at 50 Mbps LongGOP (the highest quality currently supported by the disc) can be put on a XDCAM ProDisc and played back on an XDCAM deck. This is a great option because, not only is the XDCAM disc a terrific format, but many television networks require it as a deliverable. On top of that, it makes for an excellent archiving solution. I decided to test out this new feature by combining the PMWEX1, nanoFlash, and PDW-U1 (inexpensive ProDisc reader/writer). Keep reading to see my process.

…continue reading How to Put nanoFlash Video on an XDCAM Disc

Sony recently released a new version of their XDCAM EX Clip Browser with a couple of great new features. If you aren’t familiar with the software, it is Sony’s free tool for working with XDCAM EX clips. It allows users to download, subclip and add metadata to clips. It’s the best tool out there for working with EX material…and it’s free.

In this latest release, Sony added a Flash Band correction function. This will scan your clips and look for banding created by flashes. It is very similar to what the Panasonic HPX300 does in-camera. This is an important function for anyone shooting live events, or anywhere where there’s flash photography.

…continue reading New Features in Sony’s EX Clip Browser 2.6