A Little Un Happy

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Thursby

I will explain again,
We supply footage directly to the BBC, and a very famous car programme you will know world wide.
We can not supply the XDR units to the edit suite to digitize from, as we shoot for 4 months solid while the edits go on.
We only have one chance to get the sound level correct in a variety of machines from F1, World War 2 Spitfires to the latest Bugatti Veron.
The edit is extremely tight on time as one 8 min piece in an hour show normally takes 4 weeks to edit and grade.
If they have to import into Avid via further software transfer, cost and time goes up extortionately.
I really have no problem with the fact this is a prototype unit that in theory will get better.

What I really have the problem with is these points.

1. I have paid retail price for a unit that is not fit for purpose and not a lesser price for a unit that is for testing only. I was sold on the features and have not got them, in the UK this is called misrepresentation and is a very serious matter.
2. I will help the manufacture improve the unit with feedback and receive no monetary help.
3. Not told how bad the prototype is.
4 I presume that once the unit is fully working then the price will go up again.

This unit is no where near usable in the British Broadcast area yet, I am sure it will be, but when?

An exact date with no maybe`s etc include in the quote would be very helpful.

I have to go HD rec next January and at the moment will be forced to pick other formats as this unit is just not ready.

Hi Jonathan-
Just to be fair, we have been very open on this forum with regard to suggested features on Flash XDR as well as the exact development status. I apologize if this information was not fully communicated to you.

That said, we do have a fair number of customers who are successfully using the Flash XDR to capture airplane and high performance car footage with good success. Every report, without exception, has praised the video quality, especially at the 100Mbps level.

We have Quicktime (Final Cut Pro) support now and will add MXF (Avid, Vegas, Edius and Premiere) in about 2 weeks. Line level audio is working fine and we will post new firmware today that adds phantom power and microphone level control.

I understand that the Flash XDR is a work in progress. But, please tell me which feature is missing that will not allow you to record and edit your video as planned (understanding that MXF is 2 weeks out).

[Justin Benn]

Originally Posted by Mike Schell

I seriously doubt the 160Mbps I-Frame will look as good as the 100Mbps Long-GOP.

I would like this option retained please - I wouldn't want any of the initial purported functionality to be discarded.

Also, presumably uncompressed 10 bit options have been pushed back on the timeline a bit?

Justin.

[Bill Brock]

Hi Guys,

Why don't you just create a topic in this forum where you post the current features the latest firmware supports...entitled "Current XDR Capabilities (see here for listing of what functions are currently operational)" That way anyone coming here can see what it currently does and if it meets their needs.

Bill

[Chris Hurd]

That's a great idea, Bill -- if Mike is willing to write that up, I'll make it a "sticky" at the top of this forum.

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by Justin Benn

I would like this option retained please - I wouldn't want any of the initial purported functionality to be discarded.

Also, presumably uncompressed 10 bit options have been pushed back on the timeline a bit?

Justin.

Hi Justin-
The 160Mbps I-Frame is still in the plans. Yes, the uncompressed has been pushed back a bit to finish all the other features. I'll have a projected date in the near future.

[Mike Schell]

Originally Posted by Bill Brock

Hi Guys,

Why don't you just create a topic in this forum where you post the current features the latest firmware supports...entitled "Current XDR Capabilities (see here for listing of what functions are currently operational)" That way anyone coming here can see what it currently does and if it meets their needs.

Bill

Hi Bill-
Outstanding idea! I'll put a list together of the current features, know bugs and a list of planned features with approximate rollout dates.

Chris- I'll email this list to you directly. However, we will need to update periodically as new features are added (and unfortunately new bugs discovered).

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Jonathan,

Good Morning.

You have correctly stated that the Flash XDR's audio level meters are not implemented at this time. These will come in a future firmware release.

In the meantime, I would like to make some recommendations for recording audio.

You can record audio, via the external audio inputs. You have your choice of microphone or line level inputs. You can monitor the audio via the headphone outputs and/or the audio outputs.

I fully realize that you can not monitor the audio during the races or flights, but it is appropriate to montior the audio during while setting the audio gain levels.

Here is the important part: (Please forgive me if you are already aware of the following.)

With 16 bit audio, it is most important to set the gain levels appropriately. If they are set too low, the quality of the audio suffers. If they are set too high, then clipping occurs, which destroys the audio. Most, but not all cameras record using 16 bit audio. A select few professional cameras record use 24 bits.

With 24 bit audio, you have the luxury of setting the gain lower than normal, to ensure that clipping is highly unlikely for any expected audio levels.

If the gain is set lower than normal, with the 24 bits of resolution, you can easily raise the gain in post, without the audio quality suffering.

The Flash XDR always records using 24 bit audio. You always have the luxury of setting the audio gain to a normal level, or to a low level to ensure great audio in widely varying conditions.

Of course, if taken to the extremes, one could set the audio gain level to 0 or almost 0, and then the audio quality will suffer. But, any reasonable, low gain level, will allow you to get good audio.

With 16 bit audio, there are only 65,565 different possible levels.

With 24 bit audio, you have 16.7 million different possible levels. This dramatically higher resolution ensures that audio can be recorded at low levels.

To fully achieve the benefits of 24 bit audio, a device has to have a world class audio preamplifier for the mic inputs and a world class analog to digital converter. We are using the best parts that we could find for these circuits in the Flash XDR.