Update: AJA Ki Pro is shipping... at DVinfo.net

Aaron Newsome · September 21st, 2009, 12:18 PM

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places but has anyone actually received their Ki Pro and started shooting with it? I see that it started shipping more than a week ago. I expected to see a flood of people posting about it but it's been pretty quiet here.

Do you have a picture of your rig outfitted with the Ki Pro? Sample footage? Thoughts in general?

If so, please post them.

Tom Daigon · October 2nd, 2009, 09:44 AM

I was told by Markertek that the back log of orders is huge and they will be in stock in JANUARY.

Tim Brown · October 2nd, 2009, 11:11 AM

Not sure if you've checked the following thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/aja-io-k...ml#post1310975

... but Gary from Video Guys says that they may have some available sooner than that.

Aaron Newsome · October 5th, 2009, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Daigon

I was told by Markertek that the back log of orders is huge and they will be in stock in JANUARY.

january? this doesn't make sense. i read here on this forum that aja had started making shipments to dealers weeks ago. dealers should have started filling backorders at least a week ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Brown

Not sure if you've checked the following thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/aja-io-k...ml#post1310975

... but Gary from Video Guys says that they may have some available sooner than that.

Yes Tim, I followed that thread. The last post in it is more than a month old!

I guess that answers my question, no one has actually received an AJA Ki Pro.

Lance Librandi · October 5th, 2009, 08:33 PM

Hi Aaron I had an ordered the KiPro back in June and had to cancel the order August because AJA could not deliver. I would also love to see one.

Question : Was the delayed of the KiPro due to announcement of Apple’s release of Snow Leopard?

Jon Thorn · October 6th, 2009, 12:36 AM

Aaron N. - I'm sorry, but this is an inaccurate statement for you to make: "I guess that answers my question, no one has actually received an AJA Ki Pro." In fact there are posts by end users of Ki Pro on other forums on the internet, but I'm not going to refer you to those out of respect for the forum here on dvinfo.net. For the benefit of everyone who is posting on this thread implying that there aren't any Ki Pros to be had anywhere, here is an outline regarding how AJA fulfillment works. AJA does not do direct sales; we use a reseller channel to provide our products to the public. So, when AJA begins accepting orders for products, those orders are made by our resellers around the world, not by the end customers. We fulfill these product orders by our resellers in the order they were received. This means that if one reseller orders units immediately, then they should get their units in a fairly timely fashion compared to another reseller who may order their units at a later date. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances before shipment can be made to specific regions, such as the clearance of region specific certifications. Because AJA seeks to comply with all regulatory items on a per region basis to the best of our ability, there are many notations on the product such as CE, RoHs, UL, etc. You should also take into consideration that we test each individual product before shipping - not just Ki Pro, but all AJA products go through this process. AJA does this in order to keep the number of "dead on arrival" units as low as we possibly can. We want people to receive properly working products and when they do, on very rare occasions, arrive and do not work properly, we make our very best effort to replace them in quick fashion.

But, to the point, the product is shipping, but considering all of the factors I've noted, coupled with the popularity of the product, not everyone has Ki Pro units available to sell at this time. And yes, AJA is working hard to fill the back order for the product, but some resellers may very well not receive units until January. You can contact resellers in your region or AJA directly to inquire when a unit might be available in your area.

Lance L. - You asked, "Was the delay of the Ki Pro due to the announcement of Apple’s release of Snow Leopard?" No, not directly or any more than any other factor. Let me put the delay in perspective; Ki Pro is an extremely complex product, with many components and, as such, it also had a very elaborate QA testing process. Each input and output had to be tested with a variety of sources and since Ki Pro has HDMI, SDI and component analog connectivity, this is a pretty extensive set of tests. Each one of these inputs and outputs also had to be tested for upconversion, downconversion and crossconversion for both 50Hz and 60Hz. We also had to test for timecode accuracy via embedded SDI and via the LTC input. We had to test for compatibility with Final Cut Pro 6 and Final Cut Pro 7, and yes, test under both Mac OS X Leopard and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. And these are just a small sampling of some of the tests that the product had to undergo. Unfortunately, all manufacturers, not just AJA, sometimes feel that products and their testing will be completed by a certain date and then those dates sometimes slip. We sincerely wish this was not the case, but the reality is that it does sometimes happen. When it does happen, manufacturers typically have your best interests at heart.

You may have noticed that I have not been posting much lately; I am taking my first real "vacation" in literally years... as well as getting married during this brief time off.

Hope the information I've provided regarding the shipping status of Ki Pro is helpful and clarifies the questions you have posed.

Regards,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.
California

Aaron Newsome · October 6th, 2009, 09:28 AM

Jon, I wasn't aware of a more authoritative forum for AJA Ki Pro users. I get a lot of information on products, directly from end users on internet forums. I value this input a great deal, especially when I'm about to drop $4k on a product (that is, if I can find one).

As you probably know from my previous posts, I also own a Convergent Designs XDR but I'm planning to pick up a Ki Pro as well. These forums are excellent for the XDR, since all the users post their issues here. Might have something to do with CD linking to this forum directly from their site.

Thanks for your input.

Chris Hurd · October 6th, 2009, 10:05 AM

Thanks Jon,

DV Info Net is at the very top of Google page one returns when searching for AJA Ki Pro + forum:

http://www.google.com/#q=aja%20%22ki...15299a959dbb33

Much as we have done for other professional video hardware and software systems, our goal is for DV Info Net to become the single best forum on the Internet for all online discussions involving the Ki Pro and other AJA products. Please let me know what else we can do to make that happen.

Congratulations on your newly married status! Best regards,

Eric Emerick · October 7th, 2009, 04:19 PM

Got the notice just now. Ki Pro, Exoskeleton and rod endplates all shipping. Actually, Exo and plates were available to ship 2 weeks ago, they emailed me to ask if I wanted partial ship and I said no, I'll wait. Won't say who from as I did not use a DVInfo sponsor. I usually do, just didn't work out this time. Oh, and of course I'm leaving for 10 day vacation to NY on Friday. So cruel!

Tom Daigon · October 7th, 2009, 07:09 PM

Yup, I spoke to Markertek today and they said they had 1 in stock available for purchase . I just couldnt rationalize spending $4,000 today. Maybe tomorrow ;-)

Daniel Doherty · October 14th, 2009, 10:38 AM

Hello, I received my KIPRO last week. I have only performed minimal tests using my EX3/Letus Elite. After comparing the SxS footage to the ProResHQ I found that there appeared to be more information in the KIPRO footage on the waveform monitor (in FCP 6). To the naked eye the footage looks identical (on my Apple 30" Cinema Display/MacPro tower 2x3 Ghz Quad-core Intel/NVIDIA Geforce 8800 GT/12gigsRam). I am kind of a newbie so any ideas for testing the footage would be greatly appreciated.

This is my first post and I am glad to be a member of DVinfo!

Thank you, Daniel

Chris Hurd · October 14th, 2009, 10:41 AM

Great! Looking forward to more. Thanks a bunch, Daniel, and welcome aboard!

Dave Stern · November 9th, 2009, 02:03 PM

so is the kipro shipping?

Jon Thorn · November 9th, 2009, 02:12 PM

Dave S. - Ki Pro has been shipping for a while now (since the beginning of September). Note that not all of our resellers have units on hand for sale. Some resellers have simply sold out of their first allotment of units while other resellers, who did not place orders right away, are still awaiting their first shipment of the product.

AJA is working hard to build Ki Pro units to meet the demand.

Regards,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.
California

Dave Stern · November 9th, 2009, 02:32 PM

thanks .. any indications who has one, or when the next batch would be expected at B&H?

September 21st, 2009, 12:18 PM	#1
Aaron Newsome Major Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Rancho Santa Margarita Posts: 590	Update: AJA Ki Pro is shipping... Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places but has anyone actually received their Ki Pro and started shooting with it? I see that it started shipping more than a week ago. I expected to see a flood of people posting about it but it's been pretty quiet here. Do you have a picture of your rig outfitted with the Ki Pro? Sample footage? Thoughts in general? If so, please post them.

October 2nd, 2009, 11:11 AM	#3
Tim Brown Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Richmond, Virginia Posts: 263	Not sure if you've checked the following thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/aja-io-k...ml#post1310975 ... but Gary from Video Guys says that they may have some available sooner than that. __________________ Tim Brown www.conceptwax.com

October 6th, 2009, 12:36 AM	#6
Jon Thorn AJA Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Grass Valley, CA Posts: 252	Ki Pro is shipping Aaron N. - I'm sorry, but this is an inaccurate statement for you to make: "I guess that answers my question, no one has actually received an AJA Ki Pro." In fact there are posts by end users of Ki Pro on other forums on the internet, but I'm not going to refer you to those out of respect for the forum here on dvinfo.net. For the benefit of everyone who is posting on this thread implying that there aren't any Ki Pros to be had anywhere, here is an outline regarding how AJA fulfillment works. AJA does not do direct sales; we use a reseller channel to provide our products to the public. So, when AJA begins accepting orders for products, those orders are made by our resellers around the world, not by the end customers. We fulfill these product orders by our resellers in the order they were received. This means that if one reseller orders units immediately, then they should get their units in a fairly timely fashion compared to another reseller who may order their units at a later date. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances before shipment can be made to specific regions, such as the clearance of region specific certifications. Because AJA seeks to comply with all regulatory items on a per region basis to the best of our ability, there are many notations on the product such as CE, RoHs, UL, etc. You should also take into consideration that we test each individual product before shipping - not just Ki Pro, but all AJA products go through this process. AJA does this in order to keep the number of "dead on arrival" units as low as we possibly can. We want people to receive properly working products and when they do, on very rare occasions, arrive and do not work properly, we make our very best effort to replace them in quick fashion. But, to the point, the product is shipping, but considering all of the factors I've noted, coupled with the popularity of the product, not everyone has Ki Pro units available to sell at this time. And yes, AJA is working hard to fill the back order for the product, but some resellers may very well not receive units until January. You can contact resellers in your region or AJA directly to inquire when a unit might be available in your area. Lance L. - You asked, "Was the delay of the Ki Pro due to the announcement of Apple’s release of Snow Leopard?" No, not directly or any more than any other factor. Let me put the delay in perspective; Ki Pro is an extremely complex product, with many components and, as such, it also had a very elaborate QA testing process. Each input and output had to be tested with a variety of sources and since Ki Pro has HDMI, SDI and component analog connectivity, this is a pretty extensive set of tests. Each one of these inputs and outputs also had to be tested for upconversion, downconversion and crossconversion for both 50Hz and 60Hz. We also had to test for timecode accuracy via embedded SDI and via the LTC input. We had to test for compatibility with Final Cut Pro 6 and Final Cut Pro 7, and yes, test under both Mac OS X Leopard and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. And these are just a small sampling of some of the tests that the product had to undergo. Unfortunately, all manufacturers, not just AJA, sometimes feel that products and their testing will be completed by a certain date and then those dates sometimes slip. We sincerely wish this was not the case, but the reality is that it does sometimes happen. When it does happen, manufacturers typically have your best interests at heart. You may have noticed that I have not been posting much lately; I am taking my first real "vacation" in literally years... as well as getting married during this brief time off. Hope the information I've provided regarding the shipping status of Ki Pro is helpful and clarifies the questions you have posed. Regards, Jon Thorn Product Manager AJA Video Systems, Inc. California

October 6th, 2009, 10:05 AM	#8
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Thanks Jon, DV Info Net is at the very top of Google page one returns when searching for AJA Ki Pro + forum: http://www.google.com/#q=aja%20%22ki...15299a959dbb33 Much as we have done for other professional video hardware and software systems, our goal is for DV Info Net to become the single best forum on the Internet for all online discussions involving the Ki Pro and other AJA products. Please let me know what else we can do to make that happen. Congratulations on your newly married status! Best regards, __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

October 7th, 2009, 04:19 PM	#9
Eric Emerick Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Melbourne, FL Posts: 171	Mine shipped today Got the notice just now. Ki Pro, Exoskeleton and rod endplates all shipping. Actually, Exo and plates were available to ship 2 weeks ago, they emailed me to ask if I wanted partial ship and I said no, I'll wait. Won't say who from as I did not use a DVInfo sponsor. I usually do, just didn't work out this time. Oh, and of course I'm leaving for 10 day vacation to NY on Friday. So cruel! __________________ esquared

October 2nd, 2009, 09:44 AM	#2
Tom Daigon Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 170	I was told by Markertek that the back log of orders is huge and they will be in stock in JANUARY.

October 5th, 2009, 08:33 PM	#5
Lance Librandi Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: South Australia Posts: 374	Hi Aaron I had an ordered the KiPro back in June and had to cancel the order August because AJA could not deliver. I would also love to see one. Question : Was the delayed of the KiPro due to announcement of Apple’s release of Snow Leopard?

October 6th, 2009, 09:28 AM	#7
Aaron Newsome Major Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Rancho Santa Margarita Posts: 590	Jon, I wasn't aware of a more authoritative forum for AJA Ki Pro users. I get a lot of information on products, directly from end users on internet forums. I value this input a great deal, especially when I'm about to drop $4k on a product (that is, if I can find one). As you probably know from my previous posts, I also own a Convergent Designs XDR but I'm planning to pick up a Ki Pro as well. These forums are excellent for the XDR, since all the users post their issues here. Might have something to do with CD linking to this forum directly from their site. Thanks for your input.

October 7th, 2009, 07:09 PM	#10
Tom Daigon Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 170	Yup, I spoke to Markertek today and they said they had 1 in stock available for purchase . I just couldnt rationalize spending $4,000 today. Maybe tomorrow ;-)

October 14th, 2009, 10:38 AM	#11
Daniel Doherty Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Los Angeles, Ca Posts: 58	Ki Pro has arrived! Hello, I received my KIPRO last week. I have only performed minimal tests using my EX3/Letus Elite. After comparing the SxS footage to the ProResHQ I found that there appeared to be more information in the KIPRO footage on the waveform monitor (in FCP 6). To the naked eye the footage looks identical (on my Apple 30" Cinema Display/MacPro tower 2x3 Ghz Quad-core Intel/NVIDIA Geforce 8800 GT/12gigsRam). I am kind of a newbie so any ideas for testing the footage would be greatly appreciated. This is my first post and I am glad to be a member of DVinfo! Thank you, Daniel

October 14th, 2009, 10:41 AM	#12
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Great! Looking forward to more. Thanks a bunch, Daniel, and welcome aboard! __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

November 9th, 2009, 02:03 PM	#13
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	so is the kipro shipping?

November 9th, 2009, 02:12 PM	#14
Jon Thorn AJA Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Grass Valley, CA Posts: 252	Ki Pro has been shipping since September Dave S. - Ki Pro has been shipping for a while now (since the beginning of September). Note that not all of our resellers have units on hand for sale. Some resellers have simply sold out of their first allotment of units while other resellers, who did not place orders right away, are still awaiting their first shipment of the product. AJA is working hard to build Ki Pro units to meet the demand. Regards, Jon Thorn Product Manager AJA Video Systems, Inc. California

November 9th, 2009, 02:32 PM	#15
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	thanks .. any indications who has one, or when the next batch would be expected at B&H?