Ki Pro and dual-system sound recording

[Micheal McAlexander]

Hey everyone,

Ramping up to do my first feature next month using the Sony EX3 and capturing onto the Ki Pro. My sound mixer is saying he'd like a 4-track recording solution so we are looking at some options (like Sound Devices). My question:

Does anyone have experience with a dual-system recording with KiPro and a separate audio recording device?

My concern is sync... we are trying to leave the KiPro and the sound recording system untethered for mobility, but I don't if there will be any drift between the audio and video (we'll sync with a slate and clapper).

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks!

Micheal

[Jon Thorn]

Micheal M. - The Ki Pro can record sync audio and video from synched sources. Your concern is whether the Ki Pro will be in sync with your external audio recorder and it's recordings. The short answer is that it should be in sync if the sound recording device is set up appropriately. A short test using a slate/clapper would seem appropriate (always a good idea for dual system in my opinion).

One helpful hint; since you are using the Sony PMW-EX3 camera, you should consider simply using the on-board audio as a "guide track" for audio that will be recorded to the Ki Pro. The Sony PMW-EX3 will output audio embedded in the SDI stream so that the Ki Pro can record audio as well as video from the simple SDI connection to the camera so that no further cables are required. Using this method, you can assure that you have an audio track with a/v sync on the Ki Pro that you can compare to your external sound device's recordings.

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

[Micheal McAlexander]

hey jon

thanks for the info... we are going to do some testing once the Ki Pro arrives, but I was hoping to get someone that already had in-the-field experience doing a double-system with the Ki Pro :)

Micheal

[Jon Thorn]

Micheal M. - I'm sure someone has done double system with Ki Pro... but the reality is most people use the Ki Pro audio recording as it's very high quality at 48kHz 24-bit.

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

[Micheal McAlexander]

Hey Jon.

Don't get me wrong... I'm totally sold on the Ki Pro. We've already ordered one :) But what we're trying to do is get a 4-track audio recording solution to go along with Ki Pro's amazing video recording capabilities.

Micheal

[Marc Colemont]

In theory one could add extra audio channels to the SDI stream with boxes like the BlackMagic-design Audio-to-SDI miniconvertor. You add this box between the HD-SDI camera output and the Ki-Pro.
This way you can add the audio channels. If you setup the box into the higher audio channels 5-8, you could still have your on-board camera audio aswell recorded.