New Flash XDR owner

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Paul,

For the Sony EX1, set the following in the "Video Set" menu:

"YPbPr/SDI Display" to Off

I found this on Page 102 of the EX1 manual.

I hope this helps.

[Paul Cronin]

Thanks Dan,

Sorry you had to pull out the EX1 manual to find that. I have the manual on my desk and it will be part of my testing this afternoon.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Paul,

No problem at all, we are here to help.

Dan

[Paul Cronin]

Dan very nice to now have the record button on the the EX start the record on the XDR by way of TC.

[Paul Cronin]

What I thought was a Anton Bauer plate purchased from Zacuto was in fact a Pro-X plate. Do not buy this plate for two reasons. One once screwed to the red plate it will not lock the Anton Bauer battery. Two it is more expensive then the Anton Bauer ANQRCGOLD QRC-GOLD Gold Mount Battery Plate which I ordered from B&H once I tried the Pro-X plate.

When the Pro-X is not screwed to the red plate is locks 75% of the time. Also it is built cheap compared to the Anton Bauer plates.

[Steven Lyons]

I am in australia and own the jvc pro hd 251e
I believe the sdi output on this camera will produce 422 10 bit images uncompressed,
so am obviously excited about the potential with the flash xdr.
1.Has anyone tried the flash xdr with this camera,
2.is there a way to trigger the unit with cameras record button?
3.this camera gives a great picture, but have always been disappointed with the noise in picture in underlit areas, does anyone know if the lack of hdv compression will improve the noise levels?
4.I edit with premier axio le and have been disappointed with results from firestore hd100 drive that records hdv1 mt2 files, it appears the long gop format doesn't translate very well to mt2 and I lose all realtime features in axio when trying to edit these files, does anyone have any experience in trying the 720p or 1080i mxf files from flash xdr in a premier/axio environment?
5.any expected date for shipping nano?
6. It appears there have been no flash xdr units shipped to Australia, Dan do you want a test pilot for a jvc prohd 251e (pal camera) using the flash xdr, and importing to a axio/premier timeline?

[Paul Cronin]

Steve I think you should start a new thread "JVC Pro HD 215e and Flash XDR". That way people will see the topic and know to help you out.

The only question I can answer is #2 yes this came out today with the new firmware. See post for new firmware today.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Steven,

I can answer a few questions.

1.Sorry, but I do not know all of the cameras are being used with the Flash XDR.
However, HD-SDI is a very rigid standard, the Flash XDR should work with your camera.

2. Yes, if any camera has timecode, and can use Record Run timecode, then the timecode on your camera starts incrementing when you start recording. The Flash XDR will detect this and then start recording, and stop when your timecode stops.

3. I do not know, sorry.

4. We are still developing our MXF support. We expect to be done in two weeks. We are currently building an editing suite with all of the main Non-Linear Editors.

Quicktime support is available now and is support by more than one editor.

5. We are not ready to release the shipping date on the nanoFlash, sorry.

6. Yes, there are Flash XDR units in Australia. I will bring up your offer to Mike Schell.

In summary, we are confident, that the Flash XDR will improve the image quality from your camera and you get tapeless workflow with zero dropouts.

[Nic van Oudtshoorn]

There certainly are units in Australia - I am near Sydney and own a Flash XDR which I am using with an original Canon XL-H1 and happy with it.

However, I gather from the documents that came with the latest firmware upgrade (0.0.184) that the original XL-H1 will require me to connect a second cable between the camera's TC out and the XDR's TC in - is that correct and will that ALWAYS detect when the camera's record button is pushed? If not, what kind of remote can I buy that will plug into the XDR's remote slot?

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Nic,

For the original Canon XL H1, yes, you will need a timecode cable from the XL H1's timecode out, to the Flash XDR's timecode in.

The Flash XDR was designed specifically with the original Canon XL H1 in mind.

For the Flash XDR to start recording on incrementing timecode, the Canon XL H1 must be setup to use Record Run timecode. This means that the timecode increments only when the camera is recording.

Then, on the Flash XDR, one needs to set the TC check box in the Timecode>Trigger menu.
This instructs the Flash XDR to start when the timecode starts incrementing, and stop when the timecode stops.

Just like your XL H1, these is a slight delay from when the timecode starts incrementing before the first frame is recorded. On the XL H1, this is about 3 seconds, it is faster on the Flash XDR.

In a future release we will probabaly reduce the delay to the smallest value possible. I understand the current delay is around 1 second or less.

We have a Canon XH G1, an original XL H1, and a XL H1s.

Yes, with the proper settings, it will always start recoding properly.

With the current release 0.0.184, you have the luxury of seeing the current timecode display prominently on the top line of the Flash XDR display.

If you have the proper menu settings on the camera and the Flash XDR, once you hit the record button on the camera, you willl see the timecode increment on the display, and the record light will go on. The reverse happens when you stop recording.

[Paul Cronin]

I have not forgotten about this thread just been busy getting two jobs out the door. Both will be out this week and that will give me the holidays to do some field testing with the XDR.

My power cable arrived last week and the Anton Bauer battery works great under the Zacuto rails.

Also found out today from Dan Keaton that Final Cut does handle long GOP 100Mbp/s 422 along with the 50Mbp/s. It just does not have 100Mbp/s labeled. This is why I was seeing the data rate of 12.2MB/sec for 100Mbp/s which is twice that of the 50Mbp/s at 6.1MB/sec

More soon.

[Paul Cronin]

Tried to shoot some test shots today and could not get the XDR to record.

Dan if you are there I have the newest firmware the unit powers up fine and all connections look great. I have the settings at 100Mbp/s, QT, and TC is checked so recording starts with the camera which worked great on the last shoot. The camera has SDI at HD.

When I start the camera it records on the S&S cards fine but nothing happens on the XDR. Then if I set the TC to not record when the camera starts and hit record on the XDR once the camera is recording i get the message "No Trigger".

[Paul Cronin]

I have been able to resolve the problem. One of the HD-SDI cables was not working. I put the other cable in and all seems fine.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Paul,

Do I need to send you a replacement HD-SDI cable today or tomorrow? If so, I need to know the color of the boots and the length you desire.

[Paul Cronin]

No Dan it was not one of the cables you sent me I was in a different studio not mine. Forgot my cables but will use mine tomorrow.

I did have a problem with the short power cable. The end at the D-Tap has pulled out of the shrink wrap. Not sure how bad this is but I am happy to send it back and have it replaced.