Tech Talk 2 (5 Dec 2008)
Convergent Designs Flash XDR HD-SDI recorder
For full specifications visit the Convergent Designs web site for the Flash and all of their great products.
My Flash XDR, 32GB Transcend 133x Compact Flash cards, Anton Bauer Dionic 90 battery, and the needed cables arrived this week. This is designed to work with my Sony XDCAM EX1 HD camera.
First impression of the XDR is the unit is well made and has a solid feel. I made a mounting solution for my Zacuto rails. The system works very well and can be adjusted for my three shooting needs. The Anton Bauer Diconic 90 battery goes under the lens up front to help balance the rig. This powers the XDR by way of D-Tap to XLR power cable. The XDR can slide forward when on the tripod and Heli gyro rig so I can see the screen. Then when shoulder mounted I slide it back and the EX1’s LCD with viewfinder options works perfect. The whole rig is a lot lighter then my hand held Kenyon KS-8 two-gyro rig plus the balance is perfect and adjustable.
If all goes well in the next month testing the XDR on my assignments which I expect to be the case I will be upgrading to an EX3 (EX1 with removable lens) and purchasing a few HDTV broadcast HD lens which will upgrade my optics to match the higher bit rate and better color spacing offered by the XDR.
Some people are waiting on the Nano Flash for the lower cost and lighter weight. I am sure the Nano will be a great unit but I went for the XDR due to the 4 compact flash cards longer recording and the unit is out now and the Nano could be months or more. The longer recording times are important in the helicopter so we can keep the shoot rolling. Plus the Flash XDR had a few more features then the Nano that will help down the road.
I have been in business for along time and it is rare to deal with people as responsive and helpful as Dan and Mike from Convergent Designs. I look forward to a long business relationship.
One feature on the cables that Dan built is the coupler to prevent the HD-SDI ends wearing out the camera or XDR connection. It is reported that HD-SDI connections have a 1000 plug/unplug life span. I am not interested in finding out if this it true so the coupler gives me options.
Starting to test the Flash XDR.
First I upgraded the firmware, which is a piece of cake and took 3 minutes. Directions are easy to follow.
While installing the fourth card for the first time the eject button got stuck my fault. I called Dan and in 5 minutes he talked me through the easy fix pulling the side cover off and resetting the eject button.
First test was 1080p 30p 50Mbps 422 two clips. I shot both sitting at my desk so not very interesting footage. Both clips went from CF card to Mac Pro easy and imported into FC as HD CAM 422 1080p 30 (50Mb/s). I did the same with 100Mb/s and it imported in FC at the same 50Mbps since FC does not support 100Mbp/s yet. But interesting the playback “Data Rate” in “Item Properties” is twice what the 50Mbp/s is at 12.2 MB/sec compared to 6.1 Mb/sec. In the FC manual this is what rate is needed to play back the time line. But I found it interesting it was twice at 100 so FC does recognize the difference. Either way the footage is stunning. I also recorded on the XDCAM EX1 HD SxS cards, which you can do at the same time the difference is easy to see. Less skewing, better color spacing, and just crisper clearer footage. The XDR give me the picture quality close and some say as well as the Sony XDCAM 700 ($70,000 with one lens) at 50Mbp/s and better at 100Mbp/s. Well I think with the right optics on the EX3 this could be the case.
In QuickTime the 100Mbp/s imports just fine and shows the proper codec HD CAM 422 100Mbp/s. But we now need FC to do a release so we can edit 100Mbps natively. The Apple people are on top of their game and I am sure it is coming soon. Lets hope January.
One question I am trying to solve is how do I change files names with out loosing data? Dan from Convergent Designs is working on this for the next firmware release. And it is important to mention that Convergent Designs is on it when it comes to Firmware updates. There have been two in the first week of owning the XDR. This is leading edge technology and takes constant adjustments and tweaks to stay with the workflow which I love to do as part of my business. And my clients will love the jaw dropping results.
What I thought was an Anton Bauer plate purchased from Zacuto was in fact a Pro-X plate. Do not buy this plate for two reasons. One, once screwed to the red plate it will not lock the Anton Bauer battery. Two it is more expensive then the Anton Bauer ANQRCGOLD QRC-GOLD Gold Mount Battery Plate, which I ordered from B&H once I tried the Pro-X plate.
Stay tuned for more Tech Talk where we will give examples of the stunning footage and show the XDR being field tested.