Second Public Beta Discussion Area

[Dean Harrington]

Originally Posted by Andrew Stone

Barry, I have an EX3 and have updated the Sony firmware to 1.20

Just loaded up the new beta firmware and will put it through it's paces. Pretty sure the EX1 and 3 are fundamentally the same camera as far as the electronics go.

Like you, I am very interested in the SD functionality of the nanoFlash. I will make a point of shooting some SD footage over the coming days to see if I can replicate what you did and see if the issues are the same on my end.

Thought the EX3 firmware was 1.10?

[Andrew Stone]

You're correct Dean. I assumed the version number 1.20

I've corrected the offending post.

[Barry J. Weckesser]

Andrew - perhaps you misunderstood - I only shoot in HD 1080 30p - don't use SD at all.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Dear Dan,

I'm happy to report that my newest Beta testing so far goes OK. Specifically, the crank function works as supposed to.

In Vegas 9.0c, there are still green frames in MXF clips, and random single frames missing (black) in I-frame only.

As to my problems with the PhotoFast cards, after the initial freezing incident, they seem to work OK so far, too. I'm however afraid that since they're not qualified any more, some minor change in one of the future firmware versions may render them unusable again. Therefore, please conclude our e-mail thread on the subject somehow, so that I can count 100% on my nanoFlash and cards reliability.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Piotr,

I can assure you that we will not withdraw support for the PhotoFast cards.

The Second Public Beta has many improvements in how we work with CompactFlash cards.

Previously, we saw SlotDpc:0003 errors and some DMA errors.

One of the reasons that it took us so long between our First Public Beta and our Second Public Beta was to investigate these errors, determine the cause, fix the problem, then test the solution. We were able to duplicate the SlotDpc:0003 errors in our lab. Then, after we found and fixed the problem, we thoroughly tested the solution and we never saw the error again.

In other words, we have confidence in our solution to the problem.

We determined that some of these problems occured when coming out of Power Save mode.

Both the SlotDpc:0003 and DMA errors have been fixed.


If your two PhotoFast CompactFlassh cards are working with the Second Public Beta, then you are good.

The PhotoFast cards were removed for our list of qualified cards, temporarily, since there were a bad batch of cards. These were DOA cards.

As you may imagine, it reflects poorly on us if we recommend a card, then a customer gets cards just in time for his shoot, and they turn out to be DOA.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Barry J. Weckesser

When I press clip review button on the camera (have it set for entire clip) - the Nano doesn't record right away but for the last 2-3 seconds (of a 10 second clip) it will record. This time however, when I go to record again it will start recording - either right away or with a couple of seconds delay.

Barry,

I wonder whether your setting of "last clip review" to entire clip rather than the last couple of seconds is the culprit for the delay. When reviewing a long clip, the nanoFlash may enter the low-power mode - and this may be the reason it takes some time to start recording again.

I have tested the TC>Last TC triggering option thoroughly with my EX1, and it works flawlessly - the nanoFlash resuming recording the moment I press my EX1's Record button, without any lag. BUT, I'm only previewing the last couple of seconds...

[Andrew Stone]

Originally Posted by Barry J. Weckesser

Andrew - perhaps you misunderstood - I only shoot in HD 1080 30p - don't use SD at all.

I shouldn't post when I am tired. I scanned your post, saw the MPG reference and assumed it was related to the bugs related to shooting in SD that were noted a week or so ago. Sorry for the confusion.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Dan Keaton

Both the SlotDpc:0003 and DMA errors have been fixed.

If your two PhotoFast CompactFlassh cards are working with the Second Public Beta, then you are good.

Dear Dan,

Thanks for confirming support for my cards.

It should be stressed however that my severe problems with PhotoFast cards started after I first installed the first Public Beta, and persisted even though I quickly reverted to the official 1.1.154 firmware.

As suddenly as they surfaced, all problems have vanished now (at least it seems so, after 2 days of testing) - also after firmware change (this time, to the second Public Beta).

Since other CF cards' users didn't report similar problems, it's safe to say that PhotoFast cards are particularly prone to the way communication between the nanoFlash and its card slots is carried out. Luckily, the changes to this communication process that the new Public Beta introduced have cured the problem with my particular card units.

It'd be interesting to know whether the batch of DOA cards that made you withdraw PhotoFast from the list of qualified cards could also be "cured" with the new firmware.

I know the above hypothesis might sound unlikely, but it was yourself who stated in another thread that the PhotoFast "were losing their chip code internally" (or something to that effect). Also, they way my own cards behaved might indicate just that.

When I first upgraded my nanoFlash to the newest firmware lately, the first result was scary - my nanoFlash wouldn't see those cards at all; it couldn't even format them and, when one was present in the slot, even the nanoFlash menu buttons were dead. Only after formatting the cards on my PC did they start to function again... All this shows something went deeply wrong in my PhotoFast cards' internal chip code, and this was done by the nanoFlash Public Beta 1.5.31

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Piotr,

The DOA cards would not work in a PC, a Mac or a nanoFlash.

Yes, we have heard of the PhotoFast cards losing the "code" or internal firmware for their on-card controller chip.

We understand that PhotoFast has a program to that corrects this problem. But this is hearsay as we have not heard this directly from PhotoFast.

[Barry J. Weckesser]

Originally Posted by Piotr Wozniacki

Barry,

I wonder whether your setting of "last clip review" to entire clip rather than the last couple of seconds is the culprit for the delay. When reviewing a long clip, the nanoFlash may enter the low-power mode - and this may be the reason it takes some time to start recording again.

I have tested the TC>Last TC triggering option thoroughly with my EX1, and it works flawlessly - the nanoFlash resuming recording the moment I press my EX1's Record button, without any lag. BUT, I'm only previewing the last couple of seconds...

Piotr - haven't tried that setting yet but what concerns me is the 1-4 second delay when I have not used the clip review function - this is exactly how the previous beta worked - are you using v. 1.20 (new Sony EX1 firmware)?

[Piotr Wozniacki]

No Barry - I'm still on the 1.11.

And frankly - at least with my current settings - I don't see any delay of the nano entering record mode. Did you say you have the record buffer on (cache recording)?

[Barry J. Weckesser]

I have tried it with buffer on or off - same result (delay)

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Barry,

Could you, for a test, turn off the Trigger on Incrementing Timecode?

Then, watching the timecode display on the nanoFlash, press the Record Button on your camera. As the camera starts rolling, check to see if the nanoFlash's timecode display starts rolling at the same time.

If there is a delay in the timecode starting to roll, then this will explain why we do not start to record immediately.

Another Idea:

How are you determining when the nanoFlash starts to record?

Are you waiting for the "Recording" to display on the LCD? If so, this may be after the nanoFlash has actually started to record. Our messages are usually delayed.

Or are you watching one of the Status LED's on the sides of the unit?

For a more definitive test, one can focus on a clock with a second hand then start recording, noticing the position of the second hand.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Friends,

I thought it might be helpful if I post the release notes for the Second Public Beta here.

(Note: Some of these changes were implemented in our First Public Beta, but they are included here for your convenience.)

Our goal was to post the Flash XDR firmware version the same day; we will post it as soon as possible.

Second Public Beta Version nanoFlash 1.5.126 ( 26–Mar-09 )

o Added menu option Video->720p60 to 30, 720p50 to 25.
Cuts the frame rate in half for incoming 720p60 or 720p50 signals.

Useful, for example, with cameras with a 720p30 or 720p25 mode, which then double
the frame rate of the camera's internal recording mode to create the HD-SDI output.

The nanoFlash bit rate in this mode is applied to the reduced frame rate.

For example, @ 280 Mbit from a 720p50 source reduced to 720p25, the 280 Mbit applies
across 25 frames. This increases the effective bit rate per frame, thus offering better quality.

o Added menu option System->Trigger->Remote & Record, in which either the Remote Switch or the Record button can be used for triggering record.

o Added separate menu option System->Trigger-> “TC > Last TC” .
In this mode, the nanoFlash will only trigger to record if the incoming timecode is greater than the ending timecode of the last recorded clip.

This helps to minimize unexpected recordings, for example when inserting or removing media in the camera, or playing back video off of the camera's internal media.

Be aware, however, that if the camera's timecode is re-set to a lower value, the nanoFlash may not trigger from the timecode unless the nanoFlash is then turned off and back on.

o The menu option System->Trigger->Timecode can trigger at any time that the timecode is increasing, unlike the above mentioned “TC > Last TC” . This may create unexpected short recordings due to camera timecode behavior.

This is the default mode, as this is actually safer than Trigger-> “TC > Last TC”, since if the timecode is reset to a lower value, then recording will not resume until a higher timecode value is seen by the nanoFlash.

o Added menu option Audio->Audio Channels Monitoring, for monitoring specific channels on the headphones output.

Choose between channels 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, or 7 and 8.

o Added clip skipping during playback, press up arrow during playback to move to next clip, press down arrow to move to previous clip.

(A clip is a single record session, a clip may be composed of several files for a long record. )

o Fixed bugs in cranking, which extends compatibility of 720p24 / 25 / 30 at 50 Mbit and above to Sony Vegas, Edius, and Adobe Premiere CS3 / 4 (with Main Concept plug-in) in addition to the already supported Final Cut Pro.

Other PC-based NLE's may additionally support. 720P24/25/30 50 Mbit and above is not supported by Avid, however, at this time.

o Fixed slight pixelation in playback of Quicktime files from nanoFlash, a problem introduced in version 1.5.31.

o Fixed static on audio channel 1 in standard def MXF recordings, a problem introduced in version 1.5.31.

o Fixed MPG reversed audio channels.

o Repaired 720p pulldown removal embedded timecode.

o Added support for true 30, 60 video formats in Quicktime
(true 24 was already supported).

o MPG playback: pause is disabled, not supported by codec in MPG mode.

Known issues (1.5.126):

o 720P24 / 25 / 30 playback from the nanoFlash is not supported at this time.

o Pulldown removal from JVC 700 requires turning the nanoFlash on first, then the camera, to work properly.

o Playback from nanoFlash (all MXF, QT files): 2 frames out of sync.
Files are in sync when played on a computer.

o HDMI in / out: 2 channel audio support only.
HD/SD-SDI in / out supports 0, 2, 4, or 8 channel audio.

o HDMI Loop Through: Audio missing
When looping from HDMI-In to HDMI-Out, any audio present on the HDMI-In will be missing on the HDMI-Out
(This will be corrected as soon as possible)

[Luben Izov]

Dear Dan,
I just turn on the NF and noticed that it takes a long time for the NF to boot. Also, a message appears on screen and if you do not press the OK button the NF it seems that is not ready to shoot, simply because, after the OK button gets pushed the NF continues to boot for a few more second. Is there any possible way that Mgs. to bypassed by me or by you (I am guessing is in the firmware)? Is there any need of that Msg? Thank you Dan
Luben