Convergent Designs Flash XDR

[Jim Press]

Even I, who knows nothing about this, knowsd that that is amazing. I wonder how long til it's available in Oz?

[Michael Galvan]

Wow ... I'm very interested in this. When is the planned release date for this product?

Also, any word on the analog audio input option for use with the Canon XL-H1?

Is this something that can be mounted on the XL-mount on the back of the camera?

[Sergio Perez]

Incredible product. Your product is, indeed, a revolution for HD-SDI production. I would love to see AVC Intra 100 Included in a future upgrade of this, but the 160mbps Mpeg2 just looks the part.

Does this codec work natively in FCP?

Another question: Would I be benefiting for using the HD-SDI out of the Panasonic HPX500 vs using the native DVCPRO HD encoding, for 1080p?

[Chuck Fadely]

Originally Posted by Mike Schell

Hi David-
Yes, this very well may evolve into a family of products with different feature sets at different prices. We'll be listening for feedback from intiial customers to determine the configuration of future versions.

Unlike most here, I'd like to go the other way: I'd like a box that would give me ready-to-edit web resolution files -- 320x180 -- preferably in Quicktime that could go straight into FCP for web use. Speed of production is the primary concern.

There are thousands of newspaper photographers that are looking for a solution like this. I'd like to shoot HDV to tape and low-rez proxies with good audio to a CF card at the same time. The ready-to-edit part is the key, though.

[Nikol Manning]

See I knew there was something that I wasn't being told when I first commented. 160 Mb/s 4:2:2 I-Frame! Now that is worth the 5K price tag. Now I can recommend this product with all my heart. You might have some Varicam/F900/ owners buying this product now. Better than HDcam What! Are you telling me that with a 720p24 camera you can up-convert on the fly to 1080p24 160 Mb/s 4:2:2 I-Frame? Also the big question will Final Cut Pro edit it? I guess what I mean is can you drop it into a ProRes Timeline and edit it? Again great job the XDR.

[Barlow Elton]

As an XL-H1 owner, (who has actually recorded live HD-SDI to full raster 4:2:2 codecs via computer) this is a dream come true. Cheap? Not exactly, (at least not to me) but wow, what it offers is damn cool.

Aside from all the great encoding options and CF recording (LOVE THAT!!), the fact that this is actually something a lone shooter could use in the field (pretty much like a Firestore) is the killer feature. Being able to acquire in a high bit rate I Frame codec is wonderful...but the thing that seals the deal is that it'll be a reasonably convenient recording device.

Kudos to the folks at Convergent Design!

[Barlow Elton]

Originally Posted by Sergio Perez

Another question: Would I be benefiting for using the HD-SDI out of the Panasonic HPX500 vs using the native DVCPRO HD encoding, for 1080p?

You would get added color sampling if the SDI output of the HPX500 is pre-compression and full raster.

Full raster 4:2:2= 960x1080 color vs. 720x1080 (1440x1080 50HZ DVCPRO HD) or 640x1080 (1280x1080 60HZ DVCPRO HD)

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by Barlow Elton

As an XL-H1 owner, (who has actually recorded live HD-SDI to full raster 4:2:2 codecs via computer) this is a dream come true. Cheap? Not exactly, (at least not to me) but wow, what it offers is damn cool.

Aside from all the great encoding options and CF recording (LOVE THAT!!), the fact that this is actually something a lone shooter could use in the field (pretty much like a Firestore) is the killer feature. Being able to acquire in a high bit rate I Frame codec is wonderful...but the thing that seals the deal is that it'll be a reasonably convenient recording device.

Kudos to the folks at Convergent Design!

Hi Barlow (and everyone)
Thanks for the feedback and questions. I am just returning from IBC, so sorry if this response comes al little late.

Firstoff, we had great customer response on the Flash XDR during IBC and some excellent meeting with JVC and Canon on incorporating our box onto their HD-SDI cameras. Below I'll pass along some notes from the show and try to answer some of your questions.

We will be adding support for Anton Bauer, IDX and PAG battery mounts to the back of the box (it's starting to look like swiss cheese). But you should be able to mount the box on the back of these batteries (with the appropriate plate). The power input range is +5V to +20V, so we can accpet a wide range of batteries.

We are working with Apple to get native support of the 422P@HL MPEG2 CODEC into FCP (Sony introduced 50 Mbps 422 Camera at IBC). This CODEC should support playback of the 160 Mbps captures in a manner similar to DVCProHD (which is also an I-Frame CODEC).

We are planning to automatically remove the pull-down (reverse telecine) on the 1080F24 mode in Canon and the 720p24 mode in JVC so that we can record the native 24p frames. We are 100% sure this works in 1080 mode, but need more tests to verify 720 operation.

We also plan to add support for image flipping necessary for the T+S cine lense. We can send the corrected image out the HD-SDI port and also to the MPEG2 encoder simultaneously.

We're also working on several solutions to the analog audio issue on the XL H1. Happily we can accept the time-code out of the camera directly into our box. The JVC 250 camera has the audio and time-cdoe embedded already.

Just for clarification, Flash XDR does not perform any up / down / cross conversions. The encoded format always matches the incoming signal, so no 720p <-> 1080i/p conversions are possible.

We're planning to ship Flash XDR during Q1 2008. Lots of Starbucks to drink in the meantime.

Mike Schell
Convergent Design.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Mike Schell

We will be adding support for Anton Bauer, IDX and PAG battery mounts to the back of the box (it's starting to look like swiss cheese). But you should be able to mount the box on the back of these batteries (with the appropriate plate). The power input range is +5V to +20V, so we can accpet a wide range of batteries.

All good stuff Mike, but I'm a little confused by what you say about mounting on the back of these batteries. I'm more used to other ancillary gear being mounted between the camera and battery, typically via V-mount connectors - so clip device onto camera V-lock, then clip battery to V-lock on other side of device, power being passed through, and powering the device as it does so.

We are working with Apple to get native support of the 422P@HL MPEG2 CODEC into FCP (Sony introduced 50 Mbps 422 Camera at IBC). This CODEC should support playback of the 160 Mbps captures in a manner similar to DVCProHD (which is also an I-Frame CODEC).

Can you give any information about exactly what spec of CF memory is required here? In particular, and with reference to the Sandisk range, whether the 160Mbs codec will be recordable with their Extreme III range, or whether Extreme IV is needed?

Obviously the 160Mbs facility may be good to have, but I suspect many may feel 50Mbs is more than good enough if it allows for much cheaper Extreme III to be used - and obviously only requires one third the amount.

I've just checked my normal supplier, and for 8GB CF, Extreme IV is being shown as £110, versus £80 for Extreme III in the UK - tax included. (The latter is also available as 16GB at £135.) Pretty interesting to compare with both SxS and P2 pricings.........!

Sorry I wasn't at IBC - you would have been on my list to visit if I had been.

[E.J. Sadler]

Originally Posted by Mike Schell

Hi Barlow (and everyone)
We also plan to add support for image flipping necessary for the T+S cine lense. We can send the corrected image out the HD-SDI port and also to the MPEG2 encoder simultaneously.

Flipping would be a huge time saver for adapter users.

Did you mean P+S? Or is there another adapter out there I'm not aware of?

[Sergio Perez]

Originally Posted by Barlow Elton

You would get added color sampling if the SDI output of the HPX500 is pre-compression and full raster.

Full raster 4:2:2= 960x1080 color vs. 720x1080 (1440x1080 50HZ DVCPRO HD) or 640x1080 (1280x1080 60HZ DVCPRO HD)

Thanks for the info, Barlow.

Anyone knows if the HPX HD-SDI signal is after or before compression?

Mike, congratulations on your product. It will help on the creation of more quality products from us small independents...

I'm just imagining putting an XDCAM EX HD-SDI output trough your Recorder, at 160mbps, recording the full 1920x1080 signal... Compared to the in camera 35 mbs 4:2:0 mpeg2 long GOP, this would make in theory for some absolutely incredible footage, and attainable on the field!

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by E.J. Sadler

Flipping would be a huge time saver for adapter users.

Did you mean P+S? Or is there another adapter out there I'm not aware of?

P+S is the correct. Sorry too much jet lag.

Mike Schell

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by Sergio Perez

Thanks for the info, Barlow.

Mike, congratulations on your product. It will help on the creation of more quality products from us small independents...

I'm just imagining putting an XDCAM EX HD-SDI output trough your Recorder, at 160mbps, recording the full 1920x1080 signal... Compared to the in camera 35 mbs 4:2:0 mpeg2 long GOP, this would make in theory for some absolutely incredible footage, and attainable on the field!

Thanks! The 160Mbps 4:2:2 1920x1080 I-Frame only should not only look great, but should be much easier to edit, due to the absence of Long-GOPs. However, I will be curious to see the 100Mbps Long-GOP version of this footage, as it should look fantastic. We plan to post comparions of the different bit-rates / Long-GOP / I-Frame captures on our website.

Mike Schell

[Barlow Elton]

Speaking of bit rates...is there any chance, given that the XDR can remove pulldown from the H1's 24F 29.97 1080i HD-SDI output, the 50 mbs mode could be applied to the 24 progressive frames *only*, just like Canon's 24F HDV mode works? This would add 20% more bandwidth per frame and I think might be the actual sweet spot for most shooters.

If the 50 mbs mode looks fine and is truly motion artifact resistant (given the higher bit rate plus VBR and progressive encoding), this would probably be the mode I would use most. If the quality is nearly indistinguishable from the 160 mbs mode, that'd be good enough for me. 50 mbs to 16 GB CF cards would mean about 32 minutes of footage per card, (as opposed to just over 10 min. in 160 mbs) if I'm not mistaken. That would mean signifigantly less card swapping throughout a day's shoot.

Audio question--Is it possible to extract the H1's audio via firewire, even if it's post-compression? I think this might be a better solution than trying to accomodate the analog RCA ports on the camera.

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by David Heath

All good stuff Mike, but I'm a little confused by what you say about mounting on the back of these batteries. I'm more used to other ancillary gear being mounted between the camera and battery, typically via V-mount connectors - so clip device onto camera V-lock, then clip battery to V-lock on other side of device, power being passed through, and powering the device as it does so.

Can you give any information about exactly what spec of CF memory is required here? In particular, and with reference to the Sandisk range, whether the 160Mbs codec will be recordable with their Extreme III range, or whether Extreme IV is needed?

Obviously the 160Mbs facility may be good to have, but I suspect many may feel 50Mbs is more than good enough if it allows for much cheaper Extreme III to be used - and obviously only requires one third the amount.

I've just checked my normal supplier, and for 8GB CF, Extreme IV is being shown as £110, versus £80 for Extreme III in the UK - tax included. (The latter is also available as 16GB at £135.) Pretty interesting to compare with both SxS and P2 pricings.........!

Sorry I wasn't at IBC - you would have been on my list to visit if I had been.

Hi David-
We expect users will mount the Flash XDR on the back of the battery, using the V-Lock. You will be able to mount the "male" plate on the back of our box. Power will go to the camera and our box simultaneously. We'll work out the power cables to make this hassle fee. (Note Fash XDR only draws 8Watts according to preliminary estimates).

The Extreme III Compact Flash card should work fine for data-rates up to 100 Mbps. You will need the Extreme IV for the 160Mbps rate. But, yes you could save some cost if you stay at the lower data-rates.

Mike Schell