HD For Indies

JVC's 4k Camera - The Digital Video Information Network

"The camera was in a white metal 'box' style industrial enclosure, with a custom made zoom lens on the front. The footage was being displayed live on an HD monitor. There was also a 4k projection demo including 10 or 15 seconds of live footage from the camera, plus another 1-2 minutes of demo footage shot in Japan. The demo footage all looked good. Before the demo footage, as they were showing off the capabilities of the projector, they also projected some 4096x2400 DSLR captures, which looked very nice as well."

Labels: acquisition, cameras

Reader and long time emailer/contributor Bruce Allen went to the LA based Cinegear Expo this weekend, and submitted this detailed report. he also sent in a big bunch of photos as well. As someone who knows how much time it takes to do this kind of documentation, BIG THANKS to Bruce for taking the time. If anyone else went and has something good to add, please let me know.

You might also be interested in reading Mark Allen's report from the Red presentation at Cinegear as well.

UPDATE - John Ott also posted his own thoughts on CineGear at Making the Movie: CineGear Expo 2007

Below is Bruce's report:

==========

Codex digital recorder - pictures included. Light, small, nice, takes standard Anton Bauer battery power. The "mag" seems to be 2.5" notebook hard drives - they confirmed it was running RAID-3. Cost is supposedly competitive with a HDCAM SR deck. It has optical in and will be able to take RAW data from the Red, do very light JPEG2000 compression (lighter than REDCODE) and store it. It has tons of cool options - ethernet output, H264 proxies, etc. But you get the idea. Cool high-end recorder. They also had huge big uncompressed boxes, fancy workflow solutions, etc. But as far as indies go, I can see us renting a Codex for a day, offloading via Ethernet to our PC at night (their software can output all usual formats - dpx, Quicktime, etc), then returning it the next day. Pricing not set yet - I heard $60,000? Don't quote me.

Mike note - Matthew Jeppsen over at FreshDV has some more on this new device as well, and I regretfully only folded my own coverage into the Friday Blogwad.

Wafian - I saw the HR1 and HR2 boxen. Big fellas, but nicely packaged - fine for a studio or greenscreen shoot. They are renting them - they quoted me something like $500 (per 3-day week?) for the HR1 or $800 for the HR2 (not sure, need to confirm that). They also had a prototype smaller box (picture included). It will run off DC power (yaay). The final one will have a larger screen, be more compact, etc. August. Basically, they are the indie equivalent of the Codex. And friendly too.

Phantom HD camera - I played with the Phantom HD camera (you know, the 1000fps 2k one) at Photo-Sonics (just one of the places that had it). Very very nice, very compact, etc. Records to built-in RAM - can store 4.5 seconds worth of 1000fps 2k x 1k frames. RAM upgrade coming soon. You can review the footage on camera, scrolling through it with a little scroll wheel, etc. It shows you how far you are through it, how much space is used, etc. Connect it via ethernet to dump frames to computer. Rental quote from someone was $2500 per day including lens (a nice 20:1 Cooke, I think) and laptop, I think. Claimed ASA is approx 600 - they were shooting footage live at the show (mix of sunlight & shade) at 1000fps and were at around a 5.6 and 2/3.

Dalsa - remember there are 2 branches - the 4k cine camera, plus the rental department. First off, the cine camera - they had footage playing. It looked incredible. Latitude, etc was nice, shots were very clean, no fixed pattern noise, etc. They had one shot that was available light at night. Wow. Some noise of course but just looked like a slightly high speed film stock. Advantages of this camera over Red are claimed higher latitude, plus definite lack of CMOS motion warping and better sensor alignment for 2:35 (theirs sensor is 2:1 aspect ratio I think?). Next, the rental dept - for a start, yes they are renting Reds.

MIKE UPDATE Tuesday afternoon - Dalsa contacted me to say this is not the case. "We have no plans to rent Red cameras at our facility in LA." according to their spokesman. Apologies for any inaccuracies....or are they? See other update end of article. End update, resuming Bruce's coverage...

I asked them whether you could do something mostly on Red and then switch to their 4k camera for a few days. They obviously felt that their camera's image quality was higher but said yes, as long as you were not cutting directly from one to the other, it'd probably work. Finally, lenses - they had their slightly-anamorphic lenses on display - I played with a 50mm 1.4 one attached to their camera. It was very nice and had that nice oval bokeh that we love out of anamorphics. On a side note - ah man - love that optical viewfinder. Anyway... they are aiming at a set of 6, all under T2.0. Yes, they are PL mount, yes they are for rent. Yes, you could use them on a Red - if you were shooting a 2.35 feature that might be a very good idea because it gets you more usable pixels. They also had a beautiful set of non-anamorphic PL mount primes - mostly Leica glass, plus Canons for the extreme zooms. They feel that the Leica glass is superior to Zeiss and Cooke for 4k acquisition. Again, no reason you can't rent those for your Red.

What else? Lots of Vipers running around - they are small and cute. Wish I'd had time to play with them. The amazing TechnoDolly thing was there again (like a motion controlled Technocrane). Lots of people with Modula HD mini-cameras. Didn't see Silicon Imaging. Red Rock was there with a prototype matte-box ($500, will have swing-away now and 3 rotating filter stages, designed to work with the Red). They also had a HV20 rig similar to what I am building. Many cool follow focus devices running from the Preston to the Bartech, but I didn't see the Red Rock one there (no time!).

I Saw a 18K HMI - it was successfully illuminating the underside of a tree 20 feet away in broad daylight. I played with the always-impressive weatherproof and dual-voltage Kobold HMIs and the O'Connor 1030HD. Looked around at the other LCD monitors - still nothing that competes with mine, yaay. I stopped by Schneider and talked to them about their DigiCon - you know, the latitude improving filter. The thing seems cheap for what you get. I'm going to have to rent some different grades and test.

Also checked out a crazy rotating iris gizmo that gives a supposedly "3D" effect (www.inv3.com) - believe it or not, it actually worked, although it was weird as shit. Basically, the rotating iris thing gives a still shot a tiny bit of parallax motion by, uh, going round and round. It's kinda like the stupidest thing you've ever seen and the cleverest thing you've ever seen at the same time. I'm not sure if I'll be using it on my next shoot, but it did get me thinking a lot about how humans perceive depth - those little movements of the head that we do are important - and also why the gradual dolly shoot has the psychological effect of sucking you into the picture. The human visual system is a fascinating thing...

Otherwise, played with the Petroff follow focus and matte box, the Vocas matte box (very nice, very light and very pro), Innovision's little "bird's eye" camera support tower (not much to rent - was something like $250 per day?), lots of LED lighting systems, the usual impressive Steadicam rigs. P+S technik were doing a demonstration of their Skater-Dolly hooked up to a simple motion control system - it seemed cheap but effective. But I didn't notice their 35mm adapters being talked about much. Abelcine did have the competing Movietube ST. But my tests with the SGpro have really satisfied me - I really don't think you can get much higher quality without going up to a Red or something like that. Otherwise, I saw and photographed a S.two but didn't have time to check it out properly. I had bought a whole bunch of Zacuto stuff on their 25%-off show special for my HV20 rig (yep, I'm going with that whole shoulder-mounted 35mm adapter thing) and was weighed down at that point...

ADDENDUM: he sent this in later:

Finally, the Wafian people were demonstrating the Cineform beta codec on a Mac laptop. So they are trying to get it working with the Mac world. I don't think it was playing full framerate at full res yet (something to do with the codec not being multi-core aware yet).

=========

Mike's Comments - first off, BIG UPS to longtime reader/contributor Bruce Allen for taking the time to write all this up and submit annotated pictures - I welcome and invite well credentialled/qualified/informed submissions from readers.

Dalsa's new smaller form factor camera (as further detailed in the for-pay NAB Premium report) improves their package size and shootability, and if you can team that up with the new much smaller Codex recorder that can do 4K, that's a substantially new package.

The Wafian stuff looks very interesting for an HD-SDI based, Windows keyed green screen shoot (and other usages). I still have a bunch of Phantom HD footage to process sitting around on a hard drive somewhere, it is a very attractive prospect for high speed, high resolution digital cinematography (not to pimp it too much, but the NAB 2007 Premium report includes further info and a long interview with Mitch Gross about the camera's improvements).

Viper with a Wafian (for tethered) or Codex recorder is a very interesting new option as well.

This is definitely an exciting time to watch the progress in digital cameras and recording options. Of course, how reliable and cost effective all this new gear is in the field is a whole other level of analysis to be done.

: )

-mike

UPDATE WEDNESDAY - Then there is this quote on Reduser.net from someone else visiting Dalsa's NAB booth:

I asked the Dalsa rep if they purchased any Reds for the rental department, and he says 'No. We're waiting until they produce a final camera so we can do a comprehensive evaluation. But we're not at any rental disadvantage, because we've already got several reservation holders who've agreed to 'consign' their cameras for rentals as soon it ships.'

So it sounds like they've been keeping their options open (or were at NAB), and have been (or were) considering renting Reds definitely, but may not have publicly committed to doing so. Bruce left CineGear with the impression from the booth reps that they were definitely going to rent them. So MAYBE the rental reps and the PR folks aren't on the same page.

-mike

Labels: acquisition, cameras, Cineform, hardware, Production

Nikon lens tests with the SGPro 35mm adapter and HVX200 at FreshDV

"Matt Garrett and Bruce Allen recently conducted a series of Nikon lens tests with a SGPro 35mm adapter mounted to a Panasonic HVX-200. They tested the 17-35mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 105mm f/2.0, 135mm f/2.0, and 180mm f/2.8 Nikon lenses. That's quite a lineup of glass!"

They liked the sharpness (considering it is an HVX, which isn't super-sharp to begin with). There are downloadable files as well, a 640x360 at 22MB and a 1280x720@367MB. Gentlemen, start your download queues...

-mike

Labels: acquisition, HVX200

Rest In Peace CinePorter (Vaporware, 2005-2007) at FreshDV: "Specialized Communications announced today that the eagerly-anticipated product CinePorter will not go into production."

Between product delays and new, lower pricing on P2 cards, The One That Could Have Been just pulled a Kaisar Soze on us.

Ouch for them, they spent a LOT of time on it.

-mike

Labels: acquisition, hardware, HVX200

OK, short and sweet:

IF YOU WANT TO "MAKE A MOVIE"*

11.) Thou Shalt 16:9.

11.5) Thou Shalt NOT letterbox. This means thou.

12.) Thou shalt 24p, but not CineFrame (once again).

Based on recent client conversations, I felt it needed to be said.

*-and by "make a movie" I mean make something that looks and FEELS like a movie - ya know, widescreen, 24fps...or else feel free to...you know...do it WRONG. Your call. These are follow-ups/additions to this and this.

Labels: acquisition, original, workflow

I threw a few comments about capturing content via analog from living room to studio (HD-DVD and digital cable) on my AppleTV Hacker blog. In short - the analog hole is alive and well, but does imply a quality loss.

And takes a looooooong time to encode/process. Many many times realtime.

Labels: acquisition, AppleTV, AppleTVHacker, consumer, DRM, Final Cut, hardware, HD-DVD, HDTV, home theater, how done

GS Vitec - Digital cine camera noX

It seems that what Jeff Kreines started with his Kinetta camera idea a few years ago has really taken off - first there was (almost but not yet) Kinetta, then the Drake, then the Andromeda, then the SI-2K, then Red One, and now noX. Is it "Knocks" or "No Ecks"?

The quickie rundown:
-up to 2048x1152 res
-1.2" sensor, aspect ratio not stated, presumably 16:9
-records uncompressed RAW frame file sequences to a small RAID (3x2.5" hard drives) that can be configured fault tolerant
-records 45 min of 1080p24 uncompressed RAW in "failsafe" mode that can lose a drve, 90 min in unprotected mode
-file format is proprietary noXRAW format, an uncompressed RAW format, they have a box to convert to standard image sequences
-PL mount lenses, but F & C & other adaptors
-HD-SDI and XLR are available, but as options
-8.4" viewscreen/touchscreen, optional EVF

Way too much info below, if you're in a hurry, scroll to bottom for Mike's Takeaway.

One piece of info noticeably absent is a price point, but first units expected June/July 2007.

Unlike most press releases, they've done an excellent job of giving a bullet point feature summary on their PDF info page, I'll reproduce it here and hopefully they won't mind the free publicity. Their material in italics, then my own questions after each section:

Picture

2K resolution (2048 x 1152 at 25-fps max)
Full HD (1920 x 1080, progressive, 23.98-, 24-, 25-fps)
Downsize possible to 720p (23.98-, 24-, 25-, 29.97-, 37-fps max)
Single 1.2" CCD chip
Pictures have a genuine film look
DOF like film
More than 12 f-stops dynamic range
Light sensitive, small apertures possible
CCD signal conversion via 14-bit A/D converter
ISO 220 sensitivity at 0db (as measured by GS Vitec)


-25 fps max at 2K feels a bit low considering what the competition is offering these days
-37 fps @ 720p is definitely an improvement
-large (1.2") single CCD sensor helps give that 35mm DOF luv
-more than 12 stops - wow, that'll be impressive to see
-ISO rating....hmmph. Would like to see better.

Viewing

8.4" high resolution 400 cd/m2 control monitor with touch screen (zoom & pan mode)
2-4x Digital Zoom for fine focus adjustment
Electronic view finder (optional)
Full resolution 2K and HD viewing output


-8.4" screen - GOOD - what res though?
-optional EVF - what res, what price, color or B&W or switchable?
-full res 2K & HD viewing output via what? HDMI? HD-SDI? Single or dual link?

Recording

Easy and flexible workflow ("always fits your needs")
Raw Bayer data recording
Direct recording to integrated exchangeable HDD data pack raid (min 90 minutes)
Gigabit Ethernet based file access
noXboX Digital MAZ solution for data backup and rendering
15 seconds pre-trigger recording function
18 seconds shock protection
Undercranking <0.12-fps with programmable images/minute (comes as firmware update)
360-degree shutter with variable speed control
Shutter in 1/24, 1/25, 1/32, 1/48, 1/50, 1/60, 1/96, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 sec
Slow-shutter (in software)

-since says RAID, I'll presume uncompressed RAW recording - can't argue about quality loss there...YEP I verified later
-GigE file access - great! But what file format? Any file format options? Are we talking DPX or TIFF sequences or what? Found out - noXRAW, more below
-pre-trigger & shock protection - NICE feature
-limited overcrank, lotza undercrank - good feature, easy to do with tapeless approach
-this opens up further questions - what's the workflow? What format are those RAW files in, and what do we do after accessing over that GigE? Does it show up as a network volume or do we need special software that might not be available on all platforms?

Control Software

Easy-to-use control software with touch screen or remote control
Adjustable HD curves (aka S-curves or Gamma-curves)
Up to thousands of personal HD curve presets savable
Clear menu structure
Clip browser with selectable preview pictures
Instant raw data playback with timeline and review
Integrated pre-cut system for rendering fast previews (aka dailies or quick snapshots)
Auto-file naming and project management with metadata
Any rendering codec possible
Fast access to frequently used setups
System integrated help menu
Safety areas and ratio framings, crosshair, overlay grid
Zebra and tiger mode
Per-channel live histogram display
Waveform display
Vectorscope display
DOF table for most lenses (comes as firmware update)
Easy online camera firmware update via Ethernet
Complete remote control via Gigabit Ethernet

-GOOD that you can remote control via software - mouse/keyboard SO much easier than touchscreen for so many tasks
-saveable presets - EXCELLENT
-clip browse/nav - as expected, but since is from RAW that is tougher so glad they've done it
-"any rendering codec possible" - sounds promising, but I'd like to know more about what that means exactly
-histogram stuff - GREAT, I'm glad this kind of thing is crossing over from print into video - vectorscopes and waveforms are nice, but histogram gives another kind of very useful info, and frankly there is an entire generation of filmmaker that grew up with Photoshop style tools rather than 'scopes.

Interchangeable Camera Heads

HD 2K
High speed (640 x 480 at 200-fps max) (optional)
HD 2K real monochrome (near IR sensitivity) (optional)


-I take it this means the sensor pack is coming out to put something new in - nice option to have, I'd like to see others follow suit - this is a somewhat novel feature

Audio

Stereo mic/line level inputs with 16-bit/48Khz sampling
(breakout box, 5-pin male XLR jack, 0 dBm) (optional)

Default option is WEAK, the optional one is the only professional choice. You can always go DAT, but I didn't see timecode mentioned anywhere on the site, so I HOPE that is there for syncing up later

Camera Body

Robust aluminum alloy body with multiple mounting places (3/8")
15 mm LWS (light weight support) compatible
V-mount rechargeable battery system (min 1 hour)
Fully compatible to 35 mm accessories
Different interchangeable mounts available (PL, F, C and Canon, whatever you want)
Electronic back focus
LCD Status display (temperature, recording time)
12 V two pin connector for external accessories
Cup holder (no joking!)

-Cup holder? So I can spill stuff?...???????
-V mount batteries - good
-good lens mount options, akin to what SI-2K and Red are up to

They mention their MAZ system for "data backup and rendering" but give no further juicy details.

MORE ON THE CAMERA

-buncha pics of camera and sample pics here.

-the sample pics look a bit flat and lifeless - presumably these are unprocessed, non-color corrected shots. Good depth of field is shown, but saturation & range shown looks a bit flat, even if the images themselves may have good dynamic range. They are BMPs, so somebody feel free to torture them in Photoshop and see how they hold up, I don't have time to do so at the moment. All the test footage seems carefully guarded in what they shot - but everybody does that at first.

None of the test footage shoes extremes of dynamic range, such as a broad daylight shot. In this pic, you can see the top side of the white car blowing out, but looking at the shadows and other pics from that set, is definitely a cloudy day - no direct sunlight. How many USABLE stops of lattitude is the true metric to be interested in, not how many mathematically demonstrable stops can be detected.

Perusing the FAQ, more useful tidbits:

-claimed dynamic range is >12 stops, around 4000:1, native ISO 220
-this answer makes me nervous: "Its exposure latitude is comparable to the best film stocks, and its linear range offers at least 12 stops." My (limited) understanding is that the best film stocks can go further than that
-DOES have HD-SDI outputs, mentioned in FAQ, but is optional
-daylight readable touchscreen/display
-with histogram, vectorscope, waveform & zebra, good tools to optimize your exposure settings
-PROPRIETARY RECORDING FORMAT: "noXRAW" files - " lossless, uncompressed, uninterpolated, easily rendered and previewed" - previewed with what?
-datarate - 8 bit 1080p24 RAW is 380 megabits/sec, or 47.5 MB/sec, or about 180 GB/hr of footage - Hey! 8 bit only? That's behind the times of every other new camera out there. Ouch. 10 bits plus, please
-onboard recording capacity - at least 45 min in failsafe mode, or 90 min in non-fault tolerant mode. The noXboX (Digital MAZ for noX) is for transfer over NAS, 50 MB/sec min required
-1080p25 (and presumably 24p) can be done over dual link HD-SDI if you wish
-uses 3 2.5" notebook drives, in failsafe mode can lose one drive and still maintain data integrity
-shock protected drive w/16 min record is an option - solid state I'm guessing?
-camera head can be removed for remote recording up to 3m w/standard cable, or 100m w/fiber link
-overall size comparable to 16mm camera
-can shoulder/dolly/tripod mount like any other camera
-removable PL mount, F & C mounts available as well, but no Digiprimes
-to answer the codec issue - can transcode to whatever you want, "it only depends on the installed codecs on the rendering machine, e.g. noXboX (Digital MAZ for noX)" - TIFF, BMP, TGA, JPEG, JPEG2000, SGI, PNG, etc.. Image sequence or AVI, but no .MOV (harrumph for us FCP users)
-metadata is mentioned elsewhere, but not timecode

-first ones available June/July 2007, Euro market only to start, America thereafter (and rest of world).

Based on the feature set I see here, if it wants to be competitive it'd need to be priced under $15K to compete favorably with the more featured SI-2K and Red One. And that's damn tough to do with a custom developed, low distribution camera.

Mike's Takeaway:
Pros:
-1.2" single sensor
-PL mount for lenses
-uncompressed RAW recording
-FAULT TOLERANT data recording - that's unique so far (Red has hinted at this capability but not offered details yet)
-large touchscreen/viewscreen

Cons:
-proprietary format
-SEEMS to be 8 bit recording, they don't mention higher bit depth recording when discussing datarates, I've emailed to ask about and will update if I hear back
-unknown price point at this time

I'm ALL FOR having more choices in the market. But based on what I'm seeing, I see nothing uniquely compelling here - and even worse, nothing new or better than what we already know is available or coming to market shortly EDIT - not quite true - fault tolerant recording is unique. With other products holding more market mindshare right now, that offer same and more features, this feels like a "me too, but not as much" product. It also looks not as refined - look at the product design, and compare it to the Red One or the recently redesigned SI-2K. Actually, noX looks a lot like SI's 1920 res camera from last NAB - slab sided and bulky, unrefined, sharp edged, lumpy and unfinished.

The resolution matches SI-2K, but SI-2K has more features and better post integration and options overall (see this article from earlier today). The Red One offers higher resolution, higher frame rates, a LOT of vendor support & interest (wait for next week) and based on what I've seen so far, better looking images as well. The one thing that made me wince - 8 bit recording. Yep, it looks like the only onboard recording option is 8 bit. I'd MUCH rather have a good compressed 10 bit image than an uncompressed 8 bit one. 8 bit is yesterday's news, BIG time. If they are claiming >12 bits of dynamic range, the usefulness of that is severely hampered by 8 bit recording. 14 bit A/D conversion is mentioned in the press release, and HD-SDI outputs, so perhaps better choices are available - but if so, you'd think they'd mention them. Both Red & SI-2K offer 10 or even 12 bit options in their recording choices. The only time recording bit depth is mentioned is when discussing datarates, which they want to present as low, but if I were writing a press release I'd add "and greater bit depth recording options are available as well."

So given all that, I'd say they'd need to hit a $10-$15K price point to seriously prick up ears and interest in the camera - there are simply too many (two many) other options that are further along, attractively priced, and offer demonstrably better utility based on information available to date.

If they can refine the physical packaging, get better recording options (higher bit depth and perhaps compressed RAW recording, hey guys talk to the Davids at Cineform!), and a price point around or under $15K, then I think it'll fit into the market in a logical place.

Of course, sensor/image quality counts for LOTS - so I'd need to put'em side by side and shoot the same thing to make a more definitive analysis - I'm just winging it based on specs & posted images for now.

But my gut vibe is exemplified in the headline - a bit of "Sigh, yet ANOTHER RAW shooting, data recording/IT based, large single sensor camera coming to market...what's different about THIS one?" Such riches that we have that we can be blasé about such new products! If they'd announced 12-18 months ago we'd all have been blown away. But technology is only as relevant as its price point and launch date...blow either of those and you can have a great product, but nobody asks you to dance (DALSA is getting better about learning this lesson, and Jeff Kreines, we Miss Thee, Kinetta was a WONDERFUL idea but I think its time has passed as originally incarnated).

We now have two camps - the (hopefully) low cost, high end, PL mounting New Boyz In Town, the SI-2K, Red One, and now noX, and the Big Boyz - the Genesis, D-20, and DALSA, that are rental only, all around $3K/day (last I heard).

For now, I'm skeptical based on the recording options and the unknown price point. Fix both of those to my liking, and there's a ballgame.

-mike


EDIT - BUT WAIT - it IS 1.2" sensor, NOT 2/3" like the SI-2K, so you get better depth of field than the SI-2K. Horses for courses, I may need to back up and rethink my above statements. At the right price point, it may be a "horses for courses" kind of a thing - VFX heavy workflow, removable head needed? SI-2K. Max image quality or higher frame rates? Red One. Low budget, good depth of field? Maybe noX will make sense. The devil is in the details, and we don't have enough of any of those to say quite yet - I haven't taken any of these out in the field as yet myself, nor have many others.

Labels: acquisition, cameras, high end

DALSA Digital Cinema - News
click pic for larger view of camera

DALSA has been busy - taking feedback that the current camera was too large and unwieldy, they've re-engineered one camera and are working on a smaller one as well, and have new recording and lensing options:

First up, an improved version of the Origin, the Origin II:
-modified/improved version of the original Origin
-latest version of their sensor (frame transfer CCD)
-easier touch screen interface
-24 reference white balance curves/display LUTs
-better on set visualization tools
-available for rent NOW
-dual link HD-SDI for monitoring or recording
-battery powerable for untethered operation - record to Flashmag for fully run (OK, careful walk) 'n gun operation with no cables snaking out behind you. Also opens the door for easier Steadicam work (but need a BEEFY platform for that!)

The Big News, to my mind, is the the new DALSA Evolution 4K Camera due in 2008:

-30-40% smaller than the Origin II
-roughly 25 pounds in current prototype trim
-can be completely untethered and battery powered as well with the Flashmag (read about below)
-from Patrick Myles at DALSA answer my question about differnces from the first Origin: same form factor, but latest version of our sensor. (digitalized at full 14bits), plus some new enhancements. Battle tested, production-proven, ready to roll (check out David Stump's 4K footage from "The Trident" with David Carridine this Sunday at the Digital Cinema Summit. Stunning.).

Anybody attending the DCS, please take notes or email me about it as I have other commitments this year unfortunately.

Also, they are addressing the storage option issue - the excellent but large Codex box has been their primary recommended storage solution, and while it elegantly handles a bunch of production issues, it is large, physically cumbersome, power hungry and pricey. Most of those issues have been addressed, and well, with the new Flashmag recording option.

Here's an exclusive photo, click for a larger view:
Vital stats:
-untethered recording for uncompressed 4K RAW
-is high speed, non-volatile solid state memory
-20 minutes 16 bit uncompressed 24p 4K RAW, or
-40 minutes of mathematically lossless 4K RAW (mathematically lossless is ABSOLUTELY the same quality as uncompressed, just lossless compression - think .zip or Stuffit instead of JPEG type compression)
-Flashmag also plays back for on set review in realtime, showing "Super 2K" res via dual link HD-SDI
-early 2008 availability
-battery powerable as well for untethered operation on either the Origin II or Evolution
EXCLUSIVE DETAILS: I emailed Patrick and he got back to me with some further details in answer to my questions:
Q: How big is it in GB?

A: 512 GB

Q: 4.) What are the ports/is the workflow to get data off the mag?

A: 4X infiniband for high speed transfer of data at full res.
Dual HD-SDI for realtime display at "Super 2K" (does realtime image reconstruction - RAW to RBG - in the Flashmag) for dailies or even recording.
HDMI, USB, Firewire outputs

...so presumably plug it in and copy over...what exactly? I've asked, will update when I hear back.

And lastly, they'll be offering high performance PL mount 4K anamorphic cine lenses, designed by Eric Peterson of A&S Precision. It gives full coverage of the sensor and will be available late 2007.

Mike's Commentary: Based on seeing vendor presented, optimal presentation of material from the PRESENTLY SHIPPING cameras that I saw last year including the D-20, Panavision Genesis, DALSA, F900, F950, etc., the DALSA Origin is my favorite in terms of image quality - just a gut reaction, "I likes it." INCREDIBLY robust dynamic range capability, excellent resolution, mechanical shutter for film like motion rendition, etc. It looks GREAT. See for yourself here in their 4K gallery.

The single shot that most convinced me was a hot overhead spotlit shot of Dita Von Tease (Marilyn Manson's current wife) wearing a dark gown with pale skin, and the iris was rolled open and closed to over/under expose. The graceful, filmlike was it responded was a crushingly powerful indicator of the finesse with which the sensor handles highlight details - beautifully. Did I say "crushing" in that sentence? I didn't mean to use it in the traditional filmmaker sense, since the whole point was that the highlights DIDN'T crush, just rolled off extremely gracefully without the usual digital telltale giveaways. A hot/overlit skintone is one of the most glaringly (literally) obvious indicators of digital vs film - and this handled it very well.

That said, it is also a big clumsy beast of a camera in the Origin (I) incarnation I saw last summer, as it had no HD-SDI outputs, and ONLY recorded uncompressed 4K. The victory of the product is that they set out to create a no-compromises optimal 4K image acquisition device, and they achieved that. The problem was, some compromises would have been extremely helpful - HD-SDI out, more readily shoulder mountable form factor, and options other than the massive Codex recorder box for image capture would have been good...but would have compromised their max quality vision of how to do this stuff. Their "4K or the Highway" approach at the time was a hindrance for viable production work. Now, they've addressed those issues.

The Origin II adds the interfaces I felt were missing, the Evolution tackles the form factor issues, and the Flashmag addresses the portability/tethering issues. MAJOR progress. It is also nice to hear David Stump shot some footage with it for The Trident, but I don't know enough about that project to say anything else, hopefully it is a feature or TV project, as I haven't heard of anyone committing to DALSA for a feature project or significant VFX work - I suspect their "4K or the Highway" approach had scared folks off.

EDIT - got an email from DALSA, saying folks are taking a "Super 2K" approach - shoot 4K RAW & downsample to 2K 16 bit RGB. In addition to The Trident, David Stump also shot a project called "No!". Additionally, Super 2K approach is being used at present.

The Flashmag is more than just a recorder, it will also play back and handle demosaic & scaling of the 4K RAW footage to dual link HD-SDI - a huge benefit. For lower cost monitoring, an HDMI output makes for easy client monitoring solutions as well. The Infiniband, FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces are all presumably usable for getting the data off the unit with varying degrees of speed and convenience on set.

Come check out all their new goodies at NAB, in Central Hall, booth 9423. I'm meeting with them, you should too. The image quality is fantastic, form factor and workflow were their challenges and they appear to be making significant progress on that front.

Their next challenge - bringing these new products to market at a sufficiently attractive price point in a timely manner....

-mike

PS - on a related note, Origin and CineForm have been working together on being able to use the CineForm RAW codec with DALSA's camera. The last I heard was that there wasn't enough horsepower to convert the uncompressed RAW to CineForm RAW in realtime, so recording to uncompressed was required, and then the massive datastream could be compressed using the Cineform RAW codec for more efficient storage, transport, and workflow. I missed blogging on this issue, as I do with many, because I wanted to cover it in depth but just never got the time, so it slipped through my fingers (as so many things do).

Random thought - I wonder what the time and efficacy would be like to shoot untethered to the Flashmag, then transcode straight from the Flashmag to Cineform RAW via a laptop on set with an external drive to record the footage...hmmm...and what would the image quality be like compared to the uncompressed. Hmm...think think think....

-mike

Labels: acquisition, cameras, Cineform, high end

Wafian - Direct-to-Disk HD Video Recorders

I'd read something about the HR-2 recently, but didn't realize how close to market it was. For those who haven't been keeping track, Wafian makes DDRs - digital disk recorders. Their big trick is the use of the Cineform codec - they are essentially small ruggedized computers tailored to record high quality HD using the Cineform codecs. So you get data on a drive instead of a video tape, and you get 10 bits instead of the usual 8, and full raster (full width recorded, not horizontally shrunk down). The prices are nice too. For roughly the price of what would get you 1280x1080, 8 bit, artifact laden compressed footage, you can get 10 (or more) bits/channel, full raster (1920x1080), with very light, virtually artifact free (to the eyeball) compressed files ready to go into a Cineform modified Premiere Pro for immediate editing (or soon into Final Cut without as many realtime capabilities - it is in beta for Intel Macs now).

New models:

HR-F1
-PORTABLE (handle on top even!) 1920x1080 10 bit 4:2:2 HD-SDI recorder
-uses Cineform Intermediate codec
-removable drive magazine
-like the HR-1 but smaller, lighter, optionally DC powered
-records .AVI or .MOV formats
-"one button" interface to record & review
-built in touch screen
-up to 10 hrs of 10 bit 1920x1080 24p on removable drive
-optional 160 GB solid state for high shock/vibration recording (think chase scenes!)
-hopes to ship in July '07
-no pricing info as yet, but taking orders

HR-2
-10 bit 4:4:4 dual link HD-SDI recorder
-uses CineForm 444 codec @ 360 mbits/sec
-records .AVI or .MOV
-same easy interface as mentioned for HR-F1
-again, no pricing info as yet
-June 2007 expected ship date

If they are priced as I'd expect, an HR-F1 with the HD-SDI off, say, a Canon XL H1 with a better lens on it could be a very attractive price point for a low budget feature package. It is certainly something I'd consider for a Viper or F900 shoot as well, but the workflow issues need to be thought out...then again, very similar issues but lower datarate as compared to an S.two recorder workflow.

-mike

UPDATE

Got an email back from Wafian regarding price points. They were careful to qualify their statement as TARGET price points, not guaranteed, so keep that in mind over the next few months:


HR-F1 target MSRP is 17k
HR-2 target MSRP is 25k


Considering the quality for the HR-F1 should be comparable to a (now) $75K Panasonic D-5 HD deck in quality, and the HR-2 should be comparable to a Sony SRW-1 (circa $84K last I checked), that is quite the cost savings....and you start to realize what a big deal this can be. Not needing those pricey decks, and not needing a studio deck to ingest from, starts to make a whooooooole lot of financial sense.

Labels: acquisition, advanced, disk based recording

Whew! Taxes are DONE (that's what I've been up to instead of blogging, no fun at ALL), and time to get back on all the cool stuff coming down the pipe for NAB.

Starting off, got a press release this morning, here's the highlights:

-SI-2K camera is SHIPPING...sorta - new orders expected to ship in June (presumably pre-orders being fulfilled now?)
-at some point they redesigned the form factor, and WOW it looks better - before it had that lab/rocket science/hand built prototype feel, it looks so much more like a CAMERA now - I literally got a little jolt of adrenaline seeing it - looks REAL
-uses the AltaSens ProCamHD 4562 sensor, different from what they used before
-single sensor CMOS
-shoots 2K square pixels (2048x1080, not 2048x1556 as film scans are done)
-can shoot at up to 150 fps (most likely by windowing the sensor, don't have details on that yet)
-claimed >11 stops of lattitude
-12 bit A/D, 14 bit processing
-non-destructive LUT/color metadata pipeline that works with Iridas' product line
-SI-2K MINI is just the camera head, which can record if connected to a laptop/computer (a fast enough one, Core 2 Duo spec'd)
-already tools to work with it in a RAW workflow - Cineform's tools to edit in Premiere Pro, and Iridas for color correction
-Also from the press release: SI-2K™, which includes an embedded version of SiliconDVR™ recording software and integrated SpeedGrade technology, is $23,500. Orders are currently available with shipping in June. Silicon Imaging is also announcing a special NAB promotional discount of $2000 off the retail price for orders placed by April 30, 2007.
-check it out at NAB (I will too) in booth SL7826


Mike's Comments Congrats to the team for shipping their product, and with an improved sensor. The good news is that there is already NLE support and grading support as the camera ships due to the reliance/tight integration with Cineform and Iridas.

The price point is good, the toolset already exists to work with the footage. Cineform is working on Mac support, the codec is already in beta for Intel Macs and runs realtime from what I hear. I'd like to see Avid support the format, but that's a tall order - Avid doesn't support non-Avid codecs very often, esp. 3rd party, non-major camera manufacturer codecs. (Apple historically is the same with FCP as well.) So while it is POSSIBLE to edit with FCP or Avid, transcoding is potentially required depending on platform, and that raises issues of making sure metadata comes along for the ride, and that can lose some of the benefits of the RAW w/metadata workflow. But the process is evolving nicely, and they are WAY ahead of the game to have software support as advanced as they do with their just-about-to-ship camera (shipping in June)


----------


...and then I was surfing their site and found some more goodies:
P+S Technik partnership: "Silicon Imaging SI-2K cameras with interchange lens mount, the 2K-35 format converter for use of 35mm optics to achieve increase depth of field control and the 2K-B4 optical mount, for use of 2/3%u201D cinema lenses. In addition, a variety of tripod mounting, rod support and rig accessories will be shown.
....
SI-2K™ camera features a solid aluminum machined enclosure complete with tool-less quick-release mechanism for the removal of the remote-head SI-2K MINI from the SI-2K
...
integrated P+S Technik interchangeable lens mount system now gives users the unprecedented ability to hot-swap between Arri PL, Nikon F, C, and B4-mounts using the new 2K-B4™ lens adapter
...
optical block in the 2K-B4™ lens adapter removes the aberrations that could occur from using a lens designed for a 3-chip prism system in the SI-2K single-sensor architecture. This enables the use of modern 2/3” digital cinema lens designs, such as those from Panavision, Angeniueux, Zeiss, Fujinon, and Canon
...
2K-35™ format converter from P+S Technik enables the use of 35mm optics on the SI-2K cameras to maintain the signature “cinema-like” field-of-view and depth-of-field characteristics of large format lenses. In addition, a new family of 35mm Cinema Prime Lenses, based on the Zeiss ZF series optics, with precision focus gears and distance markings will be offered with the 2K-35™, including 25 mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm models
...
mounting options for the SI-2K™ include compatibility with Sony V-mount quick release tripod adapters as well as compatibility with Arri sliding base-plates and accessories
...
A quick-release rod support system is integrated into the camera body for direct mounting of 15mm lightweight matte-box and follow-focus accessories, without the need for a separate adapter. Rosettes on either side of the SI-2K™ camera enclosure provide mounting points for handle-grips and trigger mechanisms while the full-length top-handle of the SI-2K™ can be quickly removed to facilitate mounting on a Steadicam® low-mode rig. Finally, the full-size Anton Bauer battery mount has been positioned for optimal center-of-gravity distribution, greatly facilitating the needs of hand-held and Steadicam® users"

-also LEMO connectors, rail & rod systems, film base plates etc. Sounds like Silicon Imaging has done a good job of listening to what shooters want & need over the last year

More from press release (no time to translate):

Pricing and Availability

The SI-2K MINI™ Digital Docking camera kit includes:

Universal exchange lens mount system by P+S Technik

CineFormRAW™ encoding license

IRIDAS SpeedGrade Embedded license with integrated keyer

Silicon DVR™ software license for Windows XP Pro

P+S Technik MINI Support for lightweight rods and film bridgeplate connection

10 meter data interface cable

2 meter combination power/trigger cable

Choice of mounts including: PL, B4, or C mount

Pricing for the SI-2K MINI™ Digital Docking kit with PL-mount is $14,500 ans with 2K-B4-mount is $15,500, with a special NAB promotional discount of $1,000. The SI-2K MINI™ is currently available for order with shipment in 2 weeks.
...
The SI-2K™ Digital Cinema Camera includes:

Removable SI-2K MINI™ camera head

Universal exchange lens mount system by P+S Technik

Choice of Lens mounts including: PL, B4, or C mount

CineFormRAW™ encoding license

IRIDAS SpeedGrade Embedded license with integrated keyer

Silicon DVR™ Software License

HDMI, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet (2), USB(2),

Dual L/R mono balanced line input/output and XLR breakout cable

Stereo headphone out

5V and 12V auxiliary power output

Integrated pointing device with two user buttons

Integrated 15mm LWS rods mount

Integrated full-length handle bar

Sony-compatible V-Lock mounting base with Arri base-plate option

Pricing for the SI-2K™ Digital Cinema Camera with PL-mount is $23,500 or with a 2K-B4-Mount is $24,500, with a NAB promotional discount of $2,000. The SI-2K™ is currently available for order with shipment in June.

The 2K-35™ 35mm lens converter is $4,000 and Cinema Primes Lenses at $2,200 each, with availability in early 3Q’07.

The SI-2K™ digital cinema camera series, along with various P+S Technik accessories, will be shown in the joint CineForm and Silicon Imaging booth, SL7826.

Next up, the Iridas partnership announcement

SI-2K can now:
-import .look files made from Iridas' SpeedGrade stuff
-can create & modify looks and apply directly through UI on camera
-no baked in decisions, is just metadata that goes along with the RAW source along for the ride
-don't need to know RGB matrices or any of that stuff to get optimal results
-uses HSL color wheels & tools we're (or at least I as a post guy) used to, instead of color matrix stuff since my brain doesn't think that way
-can integrate grading w/in target color space, so you can't push "out of bounds"
-now has some blue/greenscreen previewing capability to do a sample key on the fly to see how it would composite, using a frame store. HOT feature for alignment and catching problems. Can export key & fill elements right from set. I need to find out more about this, but that sounds like a GREAT feature
-this bodes EXTREMELY well for budget Sin City/300 type looks, and the "the camera is a computer" aspect I've talked about before increases the overall value of the SI-2K proposition. There's even mention in the press release about a feature shot in 17 days doing just that.

Here's the UI:


SI-2K's big advantages:
-high quality compression
-existing NLE support with more coming, and can transcode for others
-existing grading solutions for working with the RAW with SOURCE metadata tweaking - you can adjust the parameters, not adjust over the pre-existing parameters on the RAW - this is IDEAL and EXCELLENT - like Aperture & Photoshop's color manipulation tools in one product, non-destructive and direct from source image all the way - ROXORS, big time.
-since the SI-2K is essentially a computer with a sensor and lens bolted to the front, adding features like look metadata, file format support (.look files), greenscreen keying and pre-comping, etc. are a snap
-I'd like to see images from the new sensor as well

This is all great stuff, and will help differentiate them from competing products...and I'll bet you know who I'm talking about. They have made a LOT of progress since they showed working prototypes a year ago.

After NAB, it'll be time for another round-up and comparison of the stats and capabilities of the current crop of shipping and about-to-ship HD+ cameras. These new features specifically, as well as the capability to rapidly add features of this nature, increase the utility, value, and functionality of this camera substantially. Last year I had a "Gee, great idea, but wrong timing - Red offers too much more." Now, with the added workflow capabilities, I think it'll appeal to a broader range of users, uses, and projects than I had originally anticipated. Good for them.

There are also new entrants, I'll be writing about those shortly, I've just been busy, hang on, it's a comin'....

-mike

Labels: acquisition, cameras, NAB, SI-2K

Got an email from David Taylor of CineForm with a new product announcement. To boil it down:

Cineform announced a new codec - 12 bit "CineForm 444" codec - 12 bits/channel, 4:4:4 RGB. Note that this is different from their Cineform RAW codec that they've been using with the SI-2K.

So, this new codec details:

-targetted at high end of digital cinema & broadcast acquisition
-pitching as a competitor to HDCAM SR
-tested HDCAM SR vs CineForm 444, CineForm bested SR by 3 to 5 dB in peak s/n ratio testing
-used StEM (Standard Evaluation Material, is scanned film)
-see results here
-same results discussed on David Newman's blog here

More on the codec from their press release:
-12 bit RGB
-member of the CineForm Intermediate codec family, called CineForm 444
-up to 2048x2048 pixel resolution (why not 4Kx4K? -Mike)
-Prospect 2K for Premiere Pro supports real-time, multi-stream editing (oh, that's why! -mike)
-a version of CineForm 444 for Intel Mac QT "will be released in the near future"
-"Intended for professional film, digital cinema, and broadcast applications"
-it now offers realtime direct-to-disk capability over dual link HD-SDI onto Windows now and OS X "soon"
-alternative to tape based recording, much lower price point
-setup allow for picking AVI or QT wrappers
-recorded files IMMEDIATELY editable with no conversion or transcoding required IF using Premiere Pro on Windows (currently). Can also open directly in After Effects on Windows for compositing using native, recorded files
-Final Cut support coming
-tested using a Wafian prototype recorder (hardware computer solution using CineForm recording) recording off a Viper, compared to HDCAM SR deck, as well as StEM footage
-comparing peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), the CineForm solution bested HDCAM SR by 3 to 5 dB

Mike's Comments:

This all sounds very good - the Wafian recorder is simply a customized Windows portable system that has the horsepower and storage to record the CineForm codec format, but you could lug a suitably hoss system onto a stage/set for DIY recording for greenscreen etc. shoots. The Wafian makes it easier and productized, but the CineForm codec is the magic inside.

The point being they now have a very high quality recording option to meet or exceed the bit depth of the high end production being down these days over dual link HD-SDI. The F950, D-20, Genesis, & F23 will all kick out a maximum bit depth of 10 bits/channel over dual link HD-SDI.

I know just enough math to know that PSNR is important but not the only factor that matters when evaluating compression techniques. As someone on CML pointed out, 20 seconds or more of rolling footage viewed in a critical viewing environment is one way to evaluate material, and running compressed footage all the way through post processes to make sure nothing non-visible to human eyes but software visible (think keys and aggressive color correction).

The Davids were kind enough to point out all this material to me in recent weeks, but I've been too busy to sit down and thoroughly evaluate the material in the rigorous methods needed to give a comprehensive and definitive analysis.

But this all sounds very good and promising and it is great to have new options.

The ability to have a 2K master that edits in realtime with a reasonable datarate for high quality work. Wait, what datarates? I emailed David Taylor and he was kind enough to respond quickly:

But as a quick summary, using the StEM material (which is a bit more complex than most material, the average bitrates were:

CineForm 444 Filmscan 1: 350 Mbps (=43.8 MB/sec -mike)
CineForm 444 Filmscan 1-Keying: 410 Mbps (=51.3 MB/sec -mike)
CineForm 444 Filmscan 2: 415 Mbps (=51.8 MB/sec -mike)
CineForm 444 Filmscan 2-Keying: 480 Mbps (=60 MB/sec -mike)

Source in all test cases was 1920 x 1080 24p 10-bit dual-link HD-SDI.

David.


Those datarates are stretching beyond the bounds of what is reliably doable on a single SATA drive. Modern single SATA drives run from about 30-55 MB/sec (full to empty rates) for slower drives to 40-65 MB/sec for faster drives. So really, you need a RAID to run these - if you're using 44 MB/sec footage on a drive that falls below 40 MB/sec when full, you aren't going to get reliable, no frames dropped performance. So a RAID of some sort is a practical necessity, esp. if you want a realtime transition (where two streams must be sustained).

But even a small native SATA RAID 0 could suffice, and they are quite affordable (starting under $1000).

That said, some issues:

1.) At present, the only native editing solution is Premiere Pro on Windows. That's at least 3rd on the list of NLEs high end professionals (target for this product, remember) want to work on. Avid is serious editors #1 pick, Final Cut tends to follow, and then it devolves to "everyone else" of which Premiere Pro tends to be at the front of that line. Final Cut support is coming but not quite here yet (it is in beta). When it does get here, will he have realtime support for things like cross dissolves and color correction? That is a mission critical feature as far as I'm concerned.

So no Avid native support at all at present or on the foreseeable horizon (and they historically Don't Play Well With Others unless others are camera companies). But then again, you can always downrez (software easy but slow, hardware realtime but cumbersome esp. for timecode issues) for an offline edit and conform on PPro/AE. Then, if needed, kick out to uncompressed for online if you want to do so on a different system (DPX sequences, SR tape, whatevah).

2.) As the last bit of the above alludes, data migration. Right now you can get that footage into some desktop type apps on Windows, soon on Macs, but lets face it - most shoots working with HDCAM SR are likely to also be using heavy iron production equipment that is often Linux/Unix based, and expects a DPX sequence. While you CAN convert to that format, you're losing the storage, time, and One Master File convenience offered by CineForm. You could acquire and archive with CineForm, then convert to offline editorial codec and uncompressed full res for VFX - your "digital negative" would remain conveniently small.

3.) I have yet to do my own testing to verify how well this compressed format holds up to heavy post - aggressive color correction and green screen keying the two items of greatest concern.

OK, gotta go run...

UPDATE:

Got an email from David of CineForm and that got me thinking:

1.) You CAN just treat this like a deck, with data copied off as your "tape". Wafian HR-2 (designation of new model) DOES have dual link HD-SDI, so you could shoot on set, bring it back to studio/editorial, ingest over HD-SDI any way you want (DVCPRO HD for offline edit, downconvert to SD for edit, whatever), and have SOME kind of sync system to go back for the high res masters.

2.) OR you could batch process the Wafian files down to whatever you want for offline/online/VFX pipelines as needed using After Effects or possibly other tools. After Effects isn't built for batch conversion, but you can do it.

3.) High quality file based compressed wavelet source captured to hard drive that lets you convert to offline/online formats of choice - that's pretty much what Red is doing, but they're building their own conversion utility as well, with the added benefit that there is a shipping solution to edit it now with realtime effects (on a duly pimped system).

-mike

Labels: acquisition, Adobe, advanced, Avid, Cineform, disk based recording, FCP, Final Cut, NLE, post

Studio Daily | Astro Offers Uncompressed HD Recorder/Player

-Astro HR-7401
-will show at NAB booth C4934
-uncompressed HD recorder
-single or dual link
-4:2:2 40 minute record time
-4:4:4 20 minute record time
-recording to removable drive packs
-has fibre channel (2Gbit SFP), Firewire, video outputs for transfer (IN WHAT FORMATS!)
-RS422 for Sony compatible deck control functionality
-26 lbs, half rack wide, 19"
-can gang four together for 3840x2160
-16 channels of audio in/out
-DVI/HDMI output options
-all the "usual suspects" for HD frame size/rate (fractional/whole rates), no 720p24 mentioned specifically

PDF brochure here

Mike's Analysis

Certainly sounds interesting! The capacity is a bit low for what I'd like to see, the size is reasonable, but the price is unknown.

Also unknown is whether the disk packs are fault tolerant or not (RAID 0 or 3/5?), and I'm especially curious what the native recording format is if we have FireWire & fibre channel options to access the data. Is it DPX? TIFF? Proprietary? What? Is there any metadata embedding? Clever audio in DPX header like RaveHD does?

Inquiring minds want to know, but will have to wait for NAB.

In the meantime, S.two already does all this.

-mike

Labels: acquisition, disk based recording, hardware, high end

Filmmaker Magazine | Winter 2007: ARE WE THERE YET?

Nicely done overview article on the state of HD. Some choice snippets:

The straight-talking Savides describes the situation bluntly: %u201CEverybody who%u2019s shooting this stuff is a guinea pig right now.%u201D
%u201CEverything is still R&D,%u201D he elaborates. %u201CI feel like these movies being made are just little experiments for the big conglomerate studios. They%u2019ll see what it%u2019s like, what%u2019s gonna happen, see the best way to handle it down the road.%u201D"

.....

For Savides, meanwhile, “the benchmark is still film.”

....

the Viper setup used on Zodiac was structured around random access hard drive capture.

......

both the sound recording and the slate were integrated into the capture

.....

the capture technician was also capable of offering the cinematographer a color-corrected demo of any given shot as it was being lit and photographed.

.....

INCREDIBLY CRUCIAL OBSERVATION:
Savides was asked to create a series of templates such as Day Exterior, Night Exterior, Day Interior, Night Interior — which he refused to do. He explained, “I couldn’t look at them. I didn’t want the look-up tables to bias my eye. I wanted to work with a neutral slate, and that neutral slate had to be that RAW file. It’s the only way I could understand what I was doing everyday. The look-up table would slant you toward whatever you made that look like.” Furthermore, “there’s no way that you could generate a look-up table for every scene in a movie with the scope of Zodiac.”

...

While the Viper has a recommended ASA of 320, he admits, “You can’t rate it. I wasn’t using my meter after a while. I’d say it’s between 500 and 800. But you do it by eye.”

....

“The toe [the sensitivity to dim light] of the Viper is extraordinary,” he says. “Not as good as the toe in film, though some people will say it is. But it’s not. It will get noisy. It gets very noisy in fact. You cannot do a night interior of a room like you can in film.


....and on and on.

If you're thinking about shooting a movie digitally, this is an incredibly useful and informative article.

And keep in mind, this is working with top-end gear. As you work your way down the budget process, the problems that he describes get worse and worse in terms of image quality.

I like how the Panavision rep defends compressed workflows - not that he's wrong, but guess what - the Genesis works with a compressed workflow.

The author closes with a comment about how when it all gets figured out and standardized, things will get pretty boring. But that's why I like all this stuff so much - its in flux, it is constantly changing, there's constantly things going on.

I can barely just read everything new relevant each day, let alone do significant amounts of research to test the latest gear etc. - there's no way for any one individual to even keep up with everything that's new. So for working professionals to do so is impossible. And that's the niche I'm trying to carve out for myself - consider me your digital flux manager.

: )

-mike

Labels: acquisition, disk based recording, high end

Cinematography - CML is a place for the discussion of Professional Cinematography

OK, all you DPs (or DoPs if you're from across the pond) git yer propeller beanies twirlin'. Or it would, if your beret had one.

Gross stereotypes aside, the CML (Cinematographer's Mailing List) did a Great Thing recently - they got a bunch of the higher end cameras together and shot a bunch of test footage (kinda like the Texas HD Shootout I did last year with Adam Wilt, Omega and Chris Hurd, but with camera budget).

One of the first pieces of hard data to come out of that test was the grey card test to check exposure lattitude. Click on the chart on the page to see the chart and find out more, you'll need to read up on it a bit to get the context and understand what you're looking at if you aren't a DP nerd already (no offense intended, I'm a post nerd).


One piece of useful hard data they derived was the effective ISO settings of all these cameras.

Read on and enjoy!

And BIG PROPS to Geoff Boyle, Steve Shaw, and all the others who took the time to do all this useful testing for our benefit.

-mike

Labels: acquisition, cameras, high end

Studio Daily | IRIDAS Extends Capabilities of SpeedGrade OnSet:

The update includesa new matrix control allowing filmmakers to shift the color space they are working in so that it matches the sensor characteristics of various digital cameras. It adds up to a more accurate representation of the final output
against which artists can develop their creative looks.


The onset version is only $400. The haven't-seen-it-yet HD version I think was around $12,000-$13,000 US. The full film version is what, over $50K I believe?

In any case, an interesting tool, the idea being you can establish looks on set and hand those off to the colorist later. Guy working on Hills Have Eyes 2 said the colorist can work for 3 days with his settings before he even has to show up.

Interesting. Does it save time/money? Sounds plausible. Does it maintain the DoP's vision? Sounds like it may be a good tool for that. Is it feasible to, if not lock into that DI tool, at least be pretty strongly attached to it that early in the production process? That's got to be carefully answered - get all ducks in a row before shooting...

UPDATE - not necessarily so - you can export your 3D LUTs to LUTher box etc. - read Jason's Comment using link below...

-mike

Labels: acquisition, high end, post, post equipment

ArriD20

This guy did a bunch of testing with the Arri D20. He's got uncompressed DPX files, screen grabs of the waveforms, a diagram of his workflow, all that kind of stuff. Turns out the red channel was noisy beyond spec, but other than that the data is solid.

I've yet to sift through it myself.

-mike

Labels: acquisition, cameras, high end

Studio Daily | Panasonic Announces $14,000 2/3-Inch P2 Camcorder, Ups Cards to 16 GB

Goodies galore! First up, a new 2/3" $14,000 camera, the HPX500. Key features:
-3 CCDs, 2/3" each
-upgraded (sounds like pixelshift) version of SDX900 (which is a 16:9 SD camera)
-interchangeable B4 mount lenses
-variable frame rates from 12-60fps
-available in May
-$14,000, including viewfinder (but no lens I'd imagine?)
-P2 based, 4 P2 slots
-16GB P2 cards will ship in May, price TBA, 32GB by year end
-1080i60, 50i, 30p, 25p, 24p, 720p60/50/30/25/24
-4 XLR audio inputs
-8 gamma modes, CA compensation function

New P2 deck: "P2 Gear" - AG-HPG10
-2 pounds
-battery powered
-record or play back P2 media
-3.5" screen
-IEEE 1394 & USB 2.0 interfaces
-$3995, shipping August

-AVC-Intra codec in August for the HPX2000 with 32GB cards

another camera, the AK-HC3500, is 2/3", 2.2MP 3CCD camera for studio/EFP usage, native 1080i sensor, late summer, price TBA

and a viewfinder/monitor, 800x450 pixels, BT-LH80W

Labels: acquisition, cameras, high end, P2

Another day, another post-midnight note taking session.

short version - LOVED color on HVX200, the JVC looked better than my first impressions indicated, setting up gear is Fraught With Horror when you haven't done proper legwork. We got LUCKY we got everything to work. Woops, lost like three paragraphs here. This'll have to do.

The facts: Zane met me a little after 8am and we planned on building a couple of RAIDs with new drives that had arrived priority Fed Ex the day before, and using a couple of enclosures I brought from home I'd dissassembled and removed the drives from. We sit down with a couple of screwdrivers and 16 little bracket parts that require 4 screws each, and discovered that the new drives were...wrong. ATA not Serial ATA. Sigh. Another priority overnight FedEx wasted. Ugh.

So we bailed on that and set out to get all the capture stations up and rolling smoothly, and started assigning computers to cameras. I'd asked a bunch of folks to show up and help capture, and in the end, I got 5 volunteers:

-Rita Sanders, editor on the doc Slam Planet that debuted at SXSW that I did some post work on
-Neil Halloran, local filmmaker and client of mine, who was INCREDIBLY gracious and generous to let me borrow not just his person for most of Saturday, but also his COMPLETE G5 based editing system, including his 19" JVC studio HD monitor.
-Lary Cotten, who deep geeks deeper than anyone I know (and I mean that in the best way), CTO of OpenLabs, makers of bogglingly phenomenal pro audio gear that mashes a computer with touchscreen into an musical keyboard
-Craig Negoescu, co-founder of OpenLabs, and like Lary and myself, an ex-frogdesign employee (he was one of the handful who started the Austin new media office where I worked)
-Jenn White, a friend and local DoP who ended up running the Varicam a good portion of the day while I captured the output from it

The plan was to capture the uncompressed output of the cameras, either via HD-SDI or through a converter attached to the HD analog component outputs of the cameras. Either AJA HD10A converters were used, or the analog HD inputs on my BlackMagic Multibridge Extreme or through an AJA HD10A converter (HD analog component to HD-SDI) to an HD-SDI capture card, either BMD or AJA.

Why? Becaue ZERO compression artifacts since all these sources ARE before compression, beause you get full raster (1080i HDV is only 1440 pixels wide, not the 1920 most assume, for instance), and is 10, not 8 bits of color depth (more subtle color choices available - can your camera reproduce them?). Of course, uncompressed capture is only viable under limited circumstances, such as on a studio set, greenscreen set, or BIG set that already had a video village type of need.

Please keep in mind these are the random floaty brain bits of an exhausted guy after another 14-15 hour day on set. These are preliminary notes and observations, and don't have the qualifying wrapper of serious analystical comparisons and analysis - these are my gut reactions at this late hour.

Duly disclaimered, read on:

NOTES ON SHOOT;

Adam Wilt, Camera King on this shoot, who has a better trained and and more experience in these things than I, commented on some footage we viewed (and I missed a bunch, but here is some):

-ADAM on 18 vs 35 mbit on the F350 - "18 looked like a bit more degradation when sitting 2 feet away from screen, 18 looks better than I would have expected" - (I'm curious about 18 here vs. JVC 19 mbit?). In motion they both looked good when viewed from 15 feet away, but looking at stills, BIIIIIIIIIG difference. (I thought 25mbit HDV from XL H1 held up surprisingly well against 35mbit F350. But F350 is a COMPLICATED camera, and it just started shipping a few weeks ago, and none of our crew had spent huge gobs of time with it).

-F350 harder to focus, something strange about pulling focus with this - a lot closer to the 1/3" focus than 2/3" in the focusing ability - is it viewfinder or depth of field? Viewfinder was hard to use - contrast was all the way down in viewfinder, made it tougher to focus

The thing that panasonic does better is naturalistic color and good gamma, and skin tones (going into overexposure it doesn't blow straight out like the Sony (even F350), skin tones going to overexposure is NICE

----------

-F350 reportedly has only 4:2:0 amount of information in the 4:2:2 stream coming out of the HD-SDI, when asked to explain at 10pm after an 8am crew call, I blurted "It's like saving a GIF as a TIFF." to which I'd now add "...and then smiling like you did a great thing."

-the question that popped into my head - after a CURSORY examination of some of the footage (I ended up running the Varicam capture all day today, so I thought all the footage looked great since that was what was in front of me), I went and looked at some Z1U footage. Comparatively, eww. But hey, whaddaya expect when one camera costs 15-20 times more than the other?

-I then thought about this - esp. on the cameras that don't produce color well at first blush (and based on EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY GLANCING WITHOUT EXTENDED TESTING, EXTENDED "I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE MY MIND DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER), I'd put category of in the "not so great/not so pleasing color rendition" the GY-HD100U and the Z1U.

ANYWAY, for the cameras that don't do nice pleasing color with low noise, even capturing uncompressed (and I gotta look at the uncompressed footage), my gut says it is of lesser value to go to the trouble of capturing uncompressed (see about troubles below) from these cameras, better off going compressed (or uncompressed) from a better camera. that's my gut vibe now, I'll have to see how it turns out later. Because...

...recording uncompressed to disk is fairly complicated. You can say "Well hell, you just buy a G5, a Sonnet E4P card, and 4 or more drive RAID, a BMD or AJA card and away you go!" To which I say, "Kinda sorta." On they fly, later in the day, we decided to shoot some tethered (record uncompressed to disk via Mac with HD-SDI capture card) footage from outside the building. Problem - it's about 175 foot cable run from where the Macs were set up to where we wanted to shoot. We hooked up two HD-SDI cables and used a barrel adaptor to link'em together. We took the BlackMagic Multibridge Extreme box (remember all the brains 'n guts are inthe box, the card is barely anything, just a connector) outside, and run that long HD-SDI back to another capture Mac in the studio. Hooked it up, fired it up, and....nothing. Changed to an HD-SDI camera (not component analog) and....something, but jibberish. I then realized the problem could lie in:
1.) the long cable run, esp. with a barrel adaptor
2.) something misconfigured in the Multibridge
3.) If something were misconfigured in the Multibridge, I'd have to troubleshoot it, and possibly take my laptop out and hook it up via USB to configure it until I got it working...with the G5 200 feet away.
4.) Or it could be a problem with the capturing Mac

...so I bailed on tethered, uncompressed recording, since in addition to the trouble I was having at the moment, I'd be having to switch the HD-SDI cable from capture Mac to capture Mac to put in the right capture bins, or straighten it out later, or possibly troubleshoot any new difficulties.

Now, on a "normal" (if there is such a scenario) shoot wanting to shoot uncompressed, there would largely be one chunk of technical troubleshooting and then you'd be good until something went wrong or broke.

So I bailed on it. Tethered capture to uncompressed is a hassle - gotta have all that extra gear out on set, it's noisy, sucks a ton of power, requires another person to operate, whine whine bitch moan and YEAH, it is a pain. So think twice, nay nine times before going to the trouble.

And practive BEFOREHAND. I could have easily spent 2-5 more days prepping, testing, etc. Only becauase I've been playing with this stuff for 2+ years is it even sane for me to have tried this. To have only failed on a 1080i50 vs 1080i60 issue for a few shots, and had to cancel one test, ain't bad at all I figure, and I was LUCKY. There were many, many possible points of failure in this ordeal today.

FYI, unlike last year, switching frame rates on Varicam didn't crash Macs attached to it at the time. Either an AJA vs. BMD thing (BMD trouble last year), or

-when I lamented to Nate that I'd had a few problems today, Nate said don't sweat it, we'd done better than he'd expected when he heard what we were trying to do. Boy, that helped!

-along those lines, I hoserated myself by NOT Sticking To The Plan. I'd sat down with a spreadsheet and carefully calculated out which Macs, with which capture cards, with which RAIDs, with which RAID cards, would be cobbled together and record from which camera. What size computer monitor, whether it could run out a computer LCD with the video image on it, the RAID speed, the card's capture capabilities, all factored in. It was very specific and limiting. At one point, I'd plotted out that the Z1U should go to the Quad G5 with the Multibridge Extreme. I figured heck with it and used a different Mac running through an AJA HD10A converter - big mistake, the HD10A doesn't do 50i, so I had to have that Mac sit out of some capturing.

GEAR: Oh, MAN, I had a ton of different stuff! A sample listing of gear used:

-Quad G5 2.5 GHz
-Dual 2.3 GHz PCI-X G5
-Dual 2.0 GHz PCI-X G5 (multiple)
-Dual 2.5 GHz PCI-X G5 (multiple)
-AJA Kona2 (multiple)
-AJA Kona3 (and why does the Kona LH have analog HD input and this doesn't?)
-AJA HDP
-AJA HD10A (LOVE these! Had two on set)
-BMD Multibridge Extreme card/breakout box
-BMD DeckLink HD Pro Single Link PCI-X
-BMD DeckLink HD Pro Dual Link PCI-X
-BMD DeckLink HD Pro Dual Link PCIe
-MacGurus 5 bay eSATA port multiplying enclosure with five Seagate NL35 400GB drives
-MacGurus 5 bay eSATA port multiplying enclosure with five Hitachi 400 GB drives
-MacGurus Burly Box enclosures (two 4 bay enclosures) with 8 unknown drives (Seagate 7200.8's if he got what I recommended)
-two arrays comprised of Firmtek Seritek 2 bay enclosures with Seagate 7200.8 drives (set up two of'em, for 4 drive array, partitioned at 560GB to be sure it's fast enough)
-LaCie Biggest S2S 5 bay enclosure (went unused, didn't need after all)
-Trans International Mini-G 4 bay SATA enclosure (one I did a review of)
-huge, dim, blurry, 80-90 pound Power Computer PowerTron 24" CRTs that I never, ever, EVER want to lift again
-Apple 15 or 17" LCD, old plastic style (went unused)
-Apple 23" LCDs (multiple)
-Dell 2405 24" LCDs (multiple)
-Apple 30" LCD (ooooooooooh, I want one - it's so big you could crawl into it through the screen.)
-Sonnet Tempo 4+4 SATA cards
-Sonnet Tempo 8 port eSATA card
-Soonet E4P cards (in both Quad G5s)
-JVC 19" broadcast HD CRTs
-Pansonic 17 or 18" broadcast CRTs with HD-SDI and component inputs, and built in waveform - LOVED these, but Jordan said they cost $-$5K
-then of course the cameras:
JVC GY-HD100U
Sony HVR-Z1U
Panasonic HVX200
Panasonic Varicam
Canon XL H1
Sony F350 (the new XDCAM HD)

HD10A thoughts -
GOOD: rockingly small, lightweight, easy to use, has HD-SDI passthrough (smart!)
BAD: no 50i support (I got bit by that), requires use of dip switches on bottom (doesn't auto-detect in some cases), a touch pricey these days

Multibridge Extreme - a bit complicated since it does so much. Took me about 15 minutes of troubleshooting, even after working extensively with BMD products for a couple of years, to figure out that selecting analog inputs had to be done in the Preferences Pane, not in FCP (or if it is in FCP, I didn't know where to look. Of COURSE, I didn't read the instructions, why do you ask?)

-AJA HDP, BlackMagic Multibridge Extreme's DVI output, and BMD's HDLink - great for checking focus on set, not so great for interlaced or true 24p footage, not sufficient for very fine/finicky color correction work - poor black levels, impossible to calibrate by standard video means, JVC 17" CRT too close to price competitive - just get the real thing rather than a simulator for COLOR, but for DETAIL, they can't be beat for color accuracy, fidelity, black levels, etc.

Is it worth capturing lower level cameras uncompressed? I'm kinda thinking not, just seeing their compressed output. Even without compression artifacts, there are still artifacts.

The HVX200, which was ranking low in resolution tests, and was described as noisier than many if not all others (I'll have to prove that, may well be wrong), looked GREAT as raw footage. Colors were just a bit off from other cameras. I'd think about capturing his uncmopressed. Or at least, the Z1U I probalby wouldn't, dunno on the GY-HD100U. XL H1 looks pretty darned good with HDV footage.

BUT is Varicam worth capturing uncompressed, ever? In theory the answer is a clar yes - you gain:

10 vs 8 bits/pixel color depth
none vs. moderate compression
1280 vs.. 960 recording pixels

Also, specs aren't everything. While the HVX200 kept sinking in the ratings in the objective tests (Chroma DuMonde, etc.), when I saw footage I LOVED it - colors look vivid and real in CineLink-D. Now, liking the color reproduction of a camera CAN be a subjetive thing. But nobody chimed in saying they liked the HD100U, Z1U, or XL H1 color reproduction better. I likes it.

But I'll have to refer to footage and guage for myself.

OK, I just hit the point of about to fall asleep on keyboard.

this should keep you busy for awhile.

No pics tonight, too much work to do now.

All this is totally random, incompete, and inconclusive.

Thunk.

Labels: acquisition, Production, TX HD Shootout