Dear Dan,

I believe I've had read somewhere that the NanoFlash would be able to record in SD. This is rather crucial in the case of the EX1 / 3 since they are not capable of recording in SD and unfortunately there are still clients out there not willing to pay for HD.

I'm particular interested to know about the quality of the SD footage. I'm asking this as I still haven't seen a decent HD-SD downconversion whether via the camera itself or via software. The HD-SD downconversion ends up with a very soft picture - much worse than if it had to be filmed by a SD camera.

And if the Nanoflash is able to record SD, will it do the downconversion itself (ie a video signal is fed from the HD SDI output of the EX3 to the Nano and the signal is down converted to SD) or does one have to feed the Nano with an already downconverted signal from the camera itself?

Dear Brian,

Our intentions were to add support to both the Flash XDR and nanoFlash to accept an SD-SDI input signal, as opposed to the standard HD-SDI signal.

We had not planned on downconverting an HD-SDI signal to SD for recording, as far as I know.

I will bring this up with our engineers, but I think that it is a tough problem. Especially, if in your experience, nothing that you tried so far lives up to your standards.

We do have one advantage in that we have a lot of computing horsepower to throw at the problem, but the development time and expense may be a problem.

If we do add downconversion, it will be available on both the Flash XDR and the nanoFlash.

Dear Dan,

I believe I've had read somewhere that the NanoFlash would be able to record in SD. This is rather crucial in the case of the EX1 / 3 since they are not capable of recording in SD and unfortunately there are still clients out there not willing to pay for HD.

I'm particular interested to know about the quality of the SD footage. I'm asking this as I still haven't seen a decent HD-SD downconversion whether via the camera itself or via software. The HD-SD downconversion ends up with a very soft picture - much worse than if it had to be filmed by a SD camera.

And if the Nanoflash is able to record SD, will it do the downconversion itself (ie a video signal is fed from the HD SDI output of the EX3 to the Nano and the signal is down converted to SD) or does one have to feed the Nano with an already downconverted signal from the camera itself?

Hi Brian, Dan-
I can assure you we have no plans whatsoever to add a up, down, or cross converter to the nano or Flash XDR. This conversion requires too much circuitry (and power) for professional results.

As Dan mentioned, we now support HD-SDI and in the near future (Q1 09) we will add SD-SDI support. I am very confident that the quality of the recorded video will be spectacular, but ultimately dependent on the quality of the SD-SDI input. We plan to support the 20, 30 and 50Mbps IMX format.

Hi Mike & Dan,

Thanks for the info - so basically it all depends on how well does the EX3 does the downconversion internally. So this means that I can record full HD on the SxS card within the camera but at the same time configure the camera's menu so that a downconversion is outputted from the SDI of the camera into the Nano's SD-SDI input (after Q1 09). By this way I would have identical footage - HD quality on the SxS cards and SD footage on the compact flash. Am I right on this?

Dear Brian,

I will need to read the Sony EX3 manual to determine that, if during the downconversion process, it changes the HD-SDI signal to the SD-SDI standard. If it does, then yes.

I also have concerns about the word "Identical".

The Sony EX1 and EX3 record 4:2:0 internally, but provides 4:2:2 quality out the HD-SDI port.

The 4:2:2 images are substantially better in quality. To quote others: "The difference is huge!"

Thus recording internally to the SxS cards and recording to the Flash XDR will never be truly "Identical" in one sense, but the footage will be of the same identical scenes.

If, during all of your downconversion tests, you have been using the files created on the SxS cards, for the source (which are always 4:2:0), then you have been missing out on all of the quality that your EX3 (or EX1) can deliver.

When using the Flash XDR, we always use the HD-SDI input as the source, which provides the highest quality images that you camera can deliver. This applies to almost all cameras and is the real beauty of HD-SDI.

Dear Dan,

Yes, according to page 119 on the instruction manual, the EX3 can be set to output a downconverted SD signal from the SDI output.

Yes you're right - I forgot all about the 4:2:2 output as opposed to the 4:2:0 recording mode. So theoretically I should be able to have a very good quality SD footage!

Can you kindly remind me what SD format shall the Nano record please? Or is it still under consideration? I hope that it would be a format that is already widely supported by exisitng NLE (especially Premiere in conjuction with Matrox Axio - as this is the sytem that I'm currently using).

Dear Brian,

On Page 129 of the Sony EX3 Manual (English Version), it discusses the SDI output of the camera.

The EX3 comes factory set to provide HD-SDI output.

You can select SD-SDI output by using the "YPbPr/SDI Out Select" of the "Video Set" menu, you can select SD-SDI.

Be sure to read this section carefully, as it also describes how to remove all of the camera data details (Camera setting (Viewfinder data), etc) from the HD-SDI signal. This is important if you record the HD/SD-SDI signal.

Also, if your Firewire (i.Link) connector is active, the HD-SDI/SD-SDI output is turned off.

I monitor my EX1 output with a Panasonic BT-LH1760 connected to the SDI port. The image is absolutely breathtaking. Now, all I need is a nano-flash...hint, hint.

Dear Bill,

We're working on it!

Mike Schell has much more time to devote to the nanoFlash now that I am on-board.

Dear Dan,

Yes, according to page 119 on the instruction manual, the EX3 can be set to output a downconverted SD signal from the SDI output.

Yes you're right - I forgot all about the 4:2:2 output as opposed to the 4:2:0 recording mode. So theoretically I should be able to have a very good quality SD footage!

Can you kindly remind me what SD format shall the Nano record please? Or is it still under consideration? I hope that it would be a format that is already widely supported by exisitng NLE (especially Premiere in conjuction with Matrox Axio - as this is the sytem that I'm currently using).

Hi Brian-
We plan to support 480i and 576i on the nanoFlash, which is the predominate SD-SDI standards. The video/audio is compressed using the same MPEG2 CODEC, at selectable bitrates of 20, 30 and 50 Mbps. We plan to support the IMX format, which should be compatible with Matrox Axio, but we will do lots of compatibility testing with all the major NLEs.

I suppose if we all stop asking Mike questions he can spend more time on the Nano Flash getting it finished so we can have our cake and eat it too. LOL

I can't wait to have it in my hands.

Michael Palmer

Dear Michael,

I liked your "LOL" comment.

Now that I am on-board full-time, Mike has much more time to work on the nanoFlash.

Mike made substantial progress on the nanoFlash over the weekend.

We are happy to answer questions. It actually helps us, as we want the nanoFlash to be what our users want it to be.

I suppose if we all stop asking Mike questions he can spend more time on the Nano Flash getting it finished so we can have our cake and eat it too. LOL

I can't wait to have it in my hands.

Michael Palmer

Hi Michael-
Thanks! We have just finished the board designs and hope to build our initial units in a few more weeks. We are reusing 95% of the technology from XDR, so the debug should go very fast.

We are adding a couple of cool features to nanoFlash. For example, nanoFlash will have an automatic power-down mode. In normal operation, the nanoFlash is expected to consume about 8 watts of power (the EX1 draws aout 12.5 W, by comparison). However, the nanoFlash has a second low-power mode, in which the power consumption drops to less than 0.5 watts to further conserve battery life.

To enable this power-saving feature, the nanoFlash has a special HD-SDI detection circuit. So, when the HD-SDI signal is removed (you turn off your camera), the nanoFlash automatically goes into power-down mode. When you turn your camera back on, the nanoFlash comes back to full power mode in about 3 seconds, ready to capture more video/audio. (This auto power-down can be disabled, if desired). And, if you select record-trigger based on incrementing time-code, the nano will automatically start recording as soon as you press the record button on your camera.

Our goal is to make the nanoFlash as unobtrusive as possible, while retaining the stunning video and audio quality of Flash XDR.

Of course we have more very cool features, which we will announce in the near future, but for now, it's back to the schematics for more final checks.

May I suggest to have a in-built monitor to review the clips with the recorder in future upgradable chassis of XDRs or NanoFlash recorder / player.

Like this : KINOR Digital Cinema equipment - HD6 HDSDI 3G (http://kinor.ru/en/products/monitor/hd6/)

Many Directors or DOPs can review their clips on set or on the road in anywhere to view their clips with their CF cards.

Just my little 1 cent.

Stewart Chong
Alchemist
Tapeless Workflow
from HD to 4K
Wow Holdings
HKG

Hi Stewart-

Thanks for your recommendation. We agree this would be a good addition to the product, but I can't give a definitive timeline for this feature as it does require a considerable amount of additional engineering.

In the interim, you can playback the clips on your laptop computer, assuming you have one of the NLE programs installed (FCP now, Avid, Vegas, Premiere, Edius soon). We will also have some enhanced playback features on the nano which will be announced soon.

But, a built-in monitor would still be a valuable addition.

Sorry if this has been answered before, but - what happens when camera is in overcranked mode?

Say, Sony EX1 can record 720p24 overcranked up to 60p.

With 60p, what comes out of its HD-SDI then, and how is it recorded by XDR/nano?

Hi Alex-

Can you connect the HD-SDI output to a monitor and see the resulting format? Most monitors will briefly display the incoming format. I expect we would record at the monitor's format.

Mike, I do not have HD-SDI monitor at this point, but will ask on the other forum about the HD-SDI signal in overcranked mode.

Just connected my EX1 HD-SDI out port to my Panasonic BT-LH1760 SDI port. In S&Q mode, the monitor reports 1080 59.97i with HQ1080 modes and 720 59.97p with HQ720 modes.

Bill, 60i would be a standard output in all recording modes.

I understand this is for compatibility purposes.

So if the cam records, say, in 24p, it employs a pull-up 2:3 to still output 60i on HD-SDI. This is similar to how TV signal is transmitted in 60i, even if it originates with 24p film.

However.... in overcranked mode... camera supposedly has much higher temporal resolution than usual, which is prooved by the increased memory bandwidth requirements in the overcranked mode.

So, thsi should translate into a higher HD-SDI output bandwidth too? Or does the cam not ourput its smooth slo-mo over HD-SDI at all but rather only allows it properly recorded on its internal memory?

The Sony manual states that slo-mo is available only with playback from a recorded file. I would assume this to mean the compressed file is manipulated, but, not the HD-SDI realtime output.

Bill, that's what I was fearing. So it appears impossible to capture slo-mo over HD-SDI, which negates advantages of the external recorder (4:2:2 color space, lesser compression) for this kind of work.

I've failed to see much difference between native S&Q motion as recorded by my EX1 and slowmo generated in post with Avid FX.

I am fairly certain that the recorded data is identical in slo-mode, normal mode or fast-mode. All that is added is metadata to increase or decrease the playback speed.

We plan to test this feature in more detail in the coming months.