AJA Ki Pro @ NAB (WOW!)

[Christopher Drews]

This is by far the most exciting thing at NAB for me: The AJA Ki Pro Pro-Res 422 (only) recorder.
According to the Rep at AJA, it will be out in less than 60 days, record all framerates (23.98 PsF) and have timecode over HD-SDI (something that Matrox 2 still cannot do).
The price was estimated at 4K. Like the MXO2 it can be run from batteries. It will also mount on a tripod or in a backpack.

I see great potential for this product.
It also speaks volumes that Canon has a prototype at their booth, almost displaying it more than their cameras - why not, it enables them to enter a digital workflow without a redesign.

I just wanted to give you guys an the heads up about this - truly exciting.
KI PRO - AJA Video - Serial Digital Video Interface and Conversion

Best,
-C

[Martin Voelker]

but being notoriously low budget I'm especially curious about the up-rez functionality.

[Christopher Drews]

Yeah, I wish I asked. What does it upconvert when you give it 4x3?
Also, how does it deal with framerates?

-C

[Jon Thorn]

Sorry for the tardy reply, I actually had an issue logging into DVinfo.net from Las Vegas and NAB for some reason... To answer your questions...

Christopher D. - Thanks for the kind words regarding the product! We are also very excited about the unit. Yes, it will record a variety of formats and frame rates just as we do with the AJA KONA and Io HD products. As you noted, we have an excellent relationship with Canon and the product is a great companion for their excellent digital video cameras... Canon optics and sensors alongside a 10-bit 4:2:2 recording is something that is indeed very exciting! In fact, most of my public demos have been done with the Canon XH-G1s unit - a great product at a great price point. In the AJA booth at NAB we used a wide variety of cameras: A Canon HV30, a Panasonic AG-HMC-150, a JVC GY-HM 700, a Canon XH-G1s, and a Sony PMW-EX1.

Martin V. - Like the AJA products for the desktop, you will have control over your upconversion from SD to HD. We can upconvert a 4x3 image to fill the 16x9, or pillarbox it, etc. Most exciting - since it will produce the best results - is the upconversion of anamorphic SD material - such as that produced by the Panasonic AJ-SDX-900.

Christopher D. - How does it deal with frame rates during conversions? Like our desktop non-linear products, we refer to our conversions as "like Hz to like Hz"... meaning that you can upconvert from 525i 29.97 (59.94 Hz) to 720p 59.94 (59.94 Hz) without issue. Or crossconvert from 720p 59.94 (59.94 Hz) to 1080i 29.97 (59.94 Hz)... Make sense? We do not perform what we refer to as standard conversions or "Hz jumping."

Hope this information is helpful,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.
California

[Gary Bettan]

KiPro is going to be HUGE! While the price tag may be high for some, if you can get it in your budget, the return on investment will be well worth it. You are going to save so much time - and time is MONEY!

We've been selling the FireStores for years, and customers like them, but one of the biggest complaints / requests we've been getting over the past year is why don't they have a more professional unit that goes straight into ProRes or Avid DNxHD.

My hope is that come next NAB (or sooner) an Avid SNxHD version is available!

We are accepting pre-orders for KiPro

Gary
Videoguys.com - AJA Ki Pro

[Boudewijn de Kemp]

Originally Posted by Gary Bettan

KiPro is going to be HUGE! While the price tag may be high for some, if you can get it in your budget, the return on investment will be well worth it. You are going to save so much time - and time is MONEY!
Videoguys.com - AJA Ki Pro

Saw this unit at the IBC this year, and was very impressed.
But for some reason the pricetag seems alittle to steep for me at the moment.
But if they could get the price at 2k or 2.5k somehow, I will know for sure they will sell 5 till 10 times as many units. Cause this is something people would really want for sure!