I just got an email back from a Specialized Communications rep and it states:

"We have recently redesigned the chassis and are dealing with a few manufacturing issues. Currently we're looking at shipping in the fourth quarter. There will be new pictures on our website soon..."

I'm betting we see 16GB P2 cards and a major price cut on 4GB and 8GB cards before we see the final Cineporter.

Waiting almost a year for something to come out...

They never promised earlier than the summer. That's not bad in this world. Stop grousing. If it works well we'll be happy they tested it.

They never promised earlier than the summer. That's not bad in this world. ...If it works well we'll be happy they tested it.

I'd much rather wait and be sure it works well right out of the box. The folks building it are contributors here, and have been up-front about it all along. Plus, they know what this community wants. For myself, I'm anxious to get one, but am willing to trust them to release it ONLY when they know it will work correctly. (It's kinda' like a little kid trying to rush Christmas. Hopefully we'll find one "under the tree" by then).

Hi Everyone,

I know how difficult it is to wait for a product release. There are still a couple issues that need resolved before we can post a release date. We are still working hard to release it this year, however, don't hold off on your projects because there may be delays.
The CinePorter™ chassis has been redesigned and the delay has allowed our engineers to redesign some electronics as well. The positive side to this is that the shipping unit will be like buying V.2, even though V.1 never shipped.

I attached a picture of the exploded view and am glad to answer any questions.

David

I really appreciate this exploded diagram. Very cool of you.


1. What is the diameter of the fan? How many RPMs (variable?)? Decibels?
2. Are the SATA drives 3.5" or 2.5"?
3. Can we replace the drives ourselves?
4. What is the total weight of the unit?
5. What length will the P2 card cables be? Will extension cables be available?

1. 40mm Mag-Lev variable speed fan. We'll have the DB figures on our web site when the chassis testing is complete.
2. 2.5"
3. Not at this time.
4. Less than 2.5lbs
5. The cable is just long enough to be used on the HVX or the SPX. (1ft) Extensions up to 6 ft will be available.

David

Yes....

I'm betting we see 16GB P2 cards and a major price cut on 4GB and 8GB cards before we see the final Cineporter.

I Spoke to my contact at Panasonic during the CEATEC, the 16GBcard should be released soon... but HOW SOON I have no ideas.

Already a P2 Card at 8GB cost in Japan 1500 USD, if the price could drop more I would love to treat myself with another 8GB one.

Expect 16gb cards to be released at the same time the new HPX2100 body comes out, which is due in the US market late winter/early spring. No solid date yet.

Perhaps we made a mistake in announcing it too early in the development stage. I realize that everyone is impatient and are itching for this solution. Just FYI, it would take a company like Panasonic 2-3 years to bring a product like this to market. It's been less than a year and we are almost done. Besides, you'll understand when we make our next announcement. We have a surprise for you. I think you'll be happy!

Best,

David

David,
I think people are just quite excited about it, me included. So well done, keep up the work, make us the best product you can, can't wait to get my hands on one, as I expect we all do.
Drink at the bar, but don't let the bar stewards get you down.
John

Is there a waiting list?

I want one bad.

Sam,

There is no waiting list at this time. If you want to be on our mailing list, email Jasmine. jasminer@spec-comm.com

David

Does anyone know what the ISO rating for the Panasonic HVX 200 is? haven't performed the gray card test yet.

Also wondered what users were thinking about the significant noise coming from the tape engine when shooting DV. Any great tricks to bypass that?

Also a question for David re: sound interference from the Cineporter itself, i see you have a fan noise reduction in your exploded diagramme - will the Cineporter be quiet to use?

thanks

Hi Isabel,

The CinePorter is very quiet. The new design is even quieter. We are experimenting with different fan control algorithms and pulse type drive, as well as sound control for the HDDs. We will have the noise figures published when ready.

It has been said the the on-board mike on the HVX is not to be used for "serious" audio, just ambient. You may want to consider an external microphone that can be isolated from the camera.

I don't think there is an official published ISA rating for the HVX

David

The ISO rating for the HVX is around 320 according to Barry Green.

I just had to order a Firestore, even though the Cineporter looks like a much better product...

Gunleik

Thank you David,

that's very useful. Am shooting a film in the Atacama desert of Chile in February and was so hoping to use the cineporter on my camera... wondering whether you would consider me beta-testing for you - the images would be amazing!... (just a thought)

and in the meantime thanks for the ISO rating Gunelik, do let me know how the firestore performs for you - just in case i need to look at it too!

thanks

isabel

www.isabelrocamora.org

Thank you Isabel for offering to beta test the CinePorter. I am sure that your project in Chile will be spectacular and I hope that you have a lot of fun doing it.
At this time all the beta testers have been chosen. I will add you to the stand by list.

David

David, not meaning to leave the subject of this thread, but is there any chance that Spec-Comm will use some of the experience and R&D gained in the development of the Cineporter and apply that to Firewire based HDV/DV camcorder drives? With the sales of the new Canons and the latest Sonys coming in, I bet your company could make a fortune going head to head with the Firestore products...

Hi Philip,

I have to bite my tongue for now. :)

David

thank you David for adding me to the list, do keep us updated of any developments and of course release dates!

very best

isabel

Web site now says that the Cineporter will be available in Summer 2007.

Gotta help firestore sales

Eesh!

The only good news for me is that my P2 Store was definitely a worthwhile investment. I guess I'll be sticking with tape for long-form work... the Firestore doesn't seem 100% reliable.

"Dual ruggedized interface cards"?
"Now with removable hard drives"?

Maybe my memory is off, but I thought the original design included only 1 interface card and a fixed drive.

If summer '07 is expected availability date, then manufacturing s/b starting soon, yes? I hope I have $$ left to buy one then.

hi David, i see you are online right now - tell me where you saw the release date for the Cineporter, as i can't find it and need to make some decisions...

thanks!

isabel

If you go to the Spec Comm Cineporter site:
http://www.spec-comm.com/cineporter.php
you can see the latest developments and it also shows the expected release date when the wind blows the cover off the box in the animation on the page.

aha!!! hadn't noticed! thanks, i guess that could mean anything up to end of September 07...

isabel

Isabel & others,

I can tell you from conversations with David that the engineering team is working both frantically and logically to "get it right" for the CP's first release. The redesigns that have taken place are all part of the pre-launch product development cycle. The end result is that we'll have a much more robust and logical device than what was originally planned.

As to the release date? I don't know myself, but I'd expect that more information should be forthcoming at NAB.

Got my FS-100.

Out shooting for now...


Gunleik

thanks Robert and Gunelik,
do let me know what your experience is like with the FS-100... and yes... patience will get us a robust and reliable piece of equipment on the cine front!

isabel

I have only good experiences with the FS-100, but that's because I've been watching out. I do not doubt that the Cineporter will be a superiour product (not yet, at least) I just need to shoot now -;)

I have the bebox with the FS and never use it, because I can not doublecheck that the FS is actually recording - which is neccesary! So I gaf the FS to the camera or a jib or something to always be able to watch its screen...

I always copy THE WHOLE content of the disk to a local HD before importing to FCP. In that case WHEN things go wrong on import - I just re-import.

As smooth as P2?

Nope.

All in all the best solution for me?

Yes indeed.

Gunleik

I wish that Communications Specialties were not so fast to pull the trigger on the Cineporter. Sort of a bit of a tease. Everyone wants a solid product on release but seriously folks 4th quarter!!! I think they are a little gun shy at this point. Bought several Panasonic cameras for clients with the intent of purchasing 6 of theses drives and now I am stuck with a couple of 4 gb P2 cards and DV tape. November is a long time. I hope for Communications Specialties sake that someone doesnt bump them out of the market. David, thanks for the updates, at least I know the product is real.

I sure hope "summer" doesn't mean August... I need it by early June otherwise I'll have to go with another solution... :(

Gunelik, when you say a local HD, what do you mean exactly?

isabel

She is referring to a local hard drive (HD) on her computer .

I don't blame you for being confused. It's bad enough that there are so many different formats of HD (high definition), but there are also two different meanings to HD in the video world.

That doesn't even count HD (Home Depot) HD (Harley Davidson), or even the poet HD (Hilda Doolittle).

or even the poet HD (Hilda Doolittle).

lol... yes, this often a source of confusion :)

I prefer using HDD for hard DISK drive. Less confusion that way...

OK
I surrender -;)

She is a he

... and he should have been using the term HDD. -;)

Still:
The firestore has its quirks and the Cineporter looks like a better bet - agreed.

Thing is: I have the firestore here right now, and...
its making my living - that is of course together with the rest of my gear.

Gunleik

My humblest apologies sir. As you can tell from my last name I am of Norwegian heritage, but alas, it was too many generations ago to have any of the wonderful language or culture in my up bringing. All the same I should not have assumed.

New slideshow up featuring a beta (?) unit.

http://www.spec-comm.com/cineporter.php

That looks great! Removable hard drives is a wonderful idea. Too bad it's so late in the game, however many should be able to benifit from it.

I sincerely hope the housing is extremely solid, for the camera mounted to the unit and the unit mounted to the baseplate could make for a lot of play, especially if you have a monitor or other heavy items - makes for unstable dolly moves and timelapse.

That thing is massive. ...I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet.

Nice to see it's one step closer - a lot of people have been going insane waiting for this.

If it comes out this summer (and works!), maybe it'll get Panasonic rolling on 32 or 64GB cards. And then maybe a P2 cam w/ removable lens, image flip, CA correction, VFR in 1080p, and an optical adapter... all for under $20k. Pipe dreams, I know.

Will there be a beta version at NAB 2007?

Barry, did that Cineporter unit ever make it to NAB?

Not at NAB but at the DVXuser party... still seems like they have a ways to go and generally, with new P2 card prices, it seems bulky and too expensive. For the price of the 320GB Cineporter you could get a bunch of P2 cards, a laptop, an external HDD and P2 Genie. Great idea, just not sure they pulled it off...we'll see though.





ash =o)

yeah it seems they have been too slow to market on this one.

Its a pity as it seemed to have promise, IMO they should have sort investment to get it going.

Doesn't make much sense that a CinePorter would cost that much.
A 320 gig RED drive is $900 - Same cost as a 16 gig P2 card?

It is a testament to how difficult the P2 tech actually is. Each drive for the Cineporter must have custom firmware so you have to order the drives from them. The beta unit was very heavy and had a max battery life of 2 hours. Seeing that 32GB cards will likely be here by fall for $1500 or less, the Cineporter just no longer seems relevant. You could shoot 720/24PN for 3 hours on two 32GB cards... It will be useful for some but their market is shrinking every day IMHO.




ash =o)