When will the Flash XDR ship?

[Tim Polster]

Just wondering when these units will be on the market?

It seems we have been reading and posting about the unit like it exists for quite some time.

Is it close to becoming a reality?

Also, will the Nano ship when the main unit ships?

Thanks

[Mike Schell]

Hi Tim-

We are scheduling a small production run for the last week of May. Assuming all goes well, we should deliver a few units in early June followed by full production in late June.

This schedule is still very tentative and based on component delivery and debug of the firmware.

The nanoFlash is still in design and a few more months away. We are re-using 95% of the code from XDR, so we expect nanoFlash will follow quickly.

[Tim Polster]

Thanks for the update

[Dean Harrington]

Have any of the units been shipped?

[Mike Schell]

Hi Dean-

To the best of our knowledge, the hardware design is finished and we're working on the final code. All the components are due next week, so we should be able to do the production run the week after next.

So, we are still shooting for initial deliveries this month.

[David Schmerin]

Given that you are so close to delivery of product... Two weeks in theory... Why no sample videos yet?

Has anyone determined if this will work with FCP?

Thanks

David Schmerin

[Dan Keaton]

Dear David,

There is a logical answer to your question.

Mike Schell wanted the sample videos to be created with the final revision of the circuit boards.

Convergent-Design has a Canon XL H1 and a XH G1 in house and has arranged for a Sony EX1 for the creation of the sample videos.

We have been discussing the type of footage to be included in the sample footage.

Your suggestions would be most welcome.

[Thomas Smet]

High color scenes and maybe even some blue/green screen shots. This could be one of the most important uses for the XDR. This will really help to show off how important 4:2:2 color is.

Other shots need to include fast complex motion with lots of detail. Nothing breaks a mpg2 encoder faster then high motion with high detail. Try to shoot some nature shots such as fast running water or blowing trees. Sudden changes in lighting also break a mpg codec pretty fast such as rapid stage lighting. It would really help to show how the XDR will hold up in these situations when compared with HDV.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Thomas,

Thanks for the suggestions.

For the fast motion, such as running water or blowing trees, what shutter speed would you like to see?

[Mike Schell]

We should have a formal announcement on the file formats shortly, so please stay tuned.

Not trying to discount the need for file support in an NLE, just trying to keep in mind that Tapeless workflow is a fairly new innovation and that as an industry we are still working out all the kinks.

With that said, I am quite certain you will be pleased with the upcoming announcement, because we also agree that NLE support from the CF cards w/o transcode or file re-wrap is an important feature.

[Ray Bell]

I think most of us are expecting the concept to work, we just want to see video footage
where the concept is at its maximumwith less than optimum footage taken in less than ideal situation....

some non-compressed footage will never look different than compressed footage as long as the the compression is good and the footage fits that compression...

the objective is to get as good as non compressed footage as you can... and later they
expect to upgrade the XDR to full non compression. It don't get much better than that...

As to NLE, I'm still playing with Premier Pro CS3, some issues I'm seeing, but I'm trying to eliminate the GOP with Cineform in my testing, but After Effects seems to handle the footage without any issue that I can see at this time.. you just need to import the footage and tell AE to interpret the footage for the pull down and the progressive footage looks very good.

[David Schmerin]

What is in question here is will we be able to do the same with files created by your system. I am glad you agree that file support without the need to re-wrap or transcoding is an important feature. Is it important enough to see that it this IS a feature?

David Schmerin

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

I think most of us are expecting the concept to work, we just want to see video footage
where the concept is at its maximumwith less than optimum footage taken in less than ideal situation....

some non-compressed footage will never look different than compressed footage as long as the the compression is good and the footage fits that compression...

the objective is to get as good as non compressed footage as you can... and later they
expect to upgrade the XDR to full non compression. It don't get much better than that...

Hi Ray-
Agree with you 100%. As time permits, we will continue to post more footage at various bit-rates, so everyone can evaluate various scenes and lighting conditions.

If you or anyone has some uncompressed footage that your like us to process, then please send me an e-mail (sales@convergent-design.com) and we'll do our best to get it processed. Ideally, we need uncompressed Quicktime files, which we can load into our FCP system and then output HD-SDI into a Flash XDR box. I can try to set up an FTP site for uploads, or you could send a DVD directly to our office.

Just started a new thread on the uncompressed option...

[Mike Schell]

Hi David-

Just wanted to point out that Flash XDR and nanoFlash also have HD-SDI output, which, by the way, is the only way you can ingest HDCAM and D5 material (there is, to my knowledge, no software HDCAM or D5 CODEC for file-based transfers).

Maybe you did not realize this capability (HD-SDI out) was also part of Flash XDR / nanoFlash?

Yes, file based transfer is absolutely the best way to "ingest" your video. But, if your editing system does not support our file formats, then you can always use the HD-SDI route, just like HDCAM.

As I mentioned, we should have a major announcement on more file format support shortly. (We already announced MXF file support).

[David Schmerin]

Originally Posted by Mike Schell

Hi David-
Not trying to "start a fire", just wanted to point out that Flash XDR and nanoFlash also have HD-SDI output, which, by the way, is the only way you can ingest HDCAM and D5 material (there is, to my knowledge, no software HDCAM or D5 CODEC for file-based transfers).

Maybe you did not realize this capability (HD-SDI out) was also part of Flash XDR / nanoFlash?

Yes, file based transfer is absolutely the best way to "ingest" your video. But, if your editing system does not support our file formats, then you can always use the HD-SDI route, just like HDCAM.

As I mentioned, we should have a major announcement on more file format support shortly. (We already announced MXF file support).

As a child I was a great fan of Mad Magazine. I recall they used to (and may still) run a regular series of What They Say Vs What They Mean.

When you say, "Maybe you did not realize this capability (HD-SDI out) was also part of Flash XDR / nanoFlash?"

What I hear is... Be prepared to have a 2nd unit on hand strictly for in house use unless you want to send your field unit to back to the office every time you need to send in footage because you can not count on being able to read the data files into your NLE.

The other thing I hear is if you want to send your raw material directly to another house, they should be prepared to have both a Flash XDR unit AND an HD-SDI capture card. Again because there is no assurance the data files will be able to be read. Perhaps you were not aware but when shooting in HDCAM, at the end of the day, I can simply leave the tapes with the client and walk away. Leaving behind Flash XDR units with clients can get to be very expensive.

When you say, "But, if your editing system does not support our file formats..."
What I hear is be prepared for it not to because we don't know. If we knew we would say XXX works and YYY will not work.

I suppose it is the not knowing that bothers me the most because I really want for this product to be amazing and I want for it to work really well with no issues being caused simply because of a choice in editing platforms. And I want these units in house here ASAP.

Based on everything I have read, this product if it has not actually started shipping yet is so close to shipping you can taste it. C-D obviously have Final Cut Pro in house. C-D should have as most recent a model of the Flash XDR unit as could possibly be obtained...

At this time, do the data files captured by the Flash XDR unit work in Final Cut Pro with out the need for capturing via HD-SDI? __YES __NO (Please check one)

My guess is because you are using the HD-SDI out on the Flash XDR to feed into your Final Cut Pro, the answer to the question is No.

David Schmerin