nanoFlash Public Beta 1.6.226 Firmware Comments
 

Dear Friends,

Please use this thread to post any comments about our nanoFlash Public Beta 1.6.226.

V & H Flip + more
 

Hello Dan et all,

I just did a small test with HV40 and my authorized 3D NF unit preinstalled with the new beta 1.6.226 firmware. I didn't have much time to test and experiment with everything, but a few of the new features in this firmware.

So far all the power saving options worked very well. Flip V and flip H worked just as described and I love it. I don't have to set the camera upside down anymore with DOF adapter!! The option to make and preserve your settings for specific shooting is a great addition. Although you can not save your settings on CF2 slot. Only CF1 slot permits that, but, you could install your settings from any of the slots. I've created and renamed on my Mac, 5 different settings I wished to try with HV40. The names must be short and clear for the user. It works great and it would be one of the very popular feature for the NF users. I wish my EX3 could have this option too. I Love it Dan!

NF lost the last settings i was shooting the test after power off and on again. I am not sure, but it seems that could be the default settings for that firmware OR the last settings I was working on before loading a setting I have pre made and saved. Not sure!

I tried the new feature of double pressing the record button to close the recording clip and switch to the other slot. I did that and removed the card after a several seconds. NF continued recording to the next card without a problem. Then I insert the same card I removed and after a several seconds pressed record twice quickly to try hot swap again on the other CF card. For my surprise NF stopped recording and both cards indicator on the very top showed that they are full. I was not in Timecode Trigger mode! I was in Trigger/Record button mode. It works but my CF cards were not useful any more after that – both was showing full for NF, although they weren't…
That is so far…
This firmware is a new milestone Dan! Thank you
Cheers
P.S.
I try to record to the CF that had my newly saved settings, but, no go.

Dear Luben,

Thank you for the feedback, it is greatly appreciated.
Our team works very hard to provide these new features and loves to hear when their hard work is appreciated.

One should use a newly "Formatted in the nanoFlash" card for saving the settings.

A small capacity card, as long as it is one of the qualified card types, should work fine.

Once you store the settings on the card, we do not recommend recording to the card.

Note: If you format the card with the settings, you will loose all of your settings.

I would recommend that you keep a backup copy of your settings in a file on your computer.


I am very surprised that you lost your settings during a power off.

We will test this in our lab as soon as possible. I can not test at my location right now, as my nanoFlash and Flash XDR's are one on assignment.

Could you please run a carefully controlled test again by changing a setting, then powering off, then checking the setting?

We will also test your scenario of switching cards.

Luben, thank you for your feedback.

Hi Dan,

I have just installed the new firmware, and run some very basic, quick tests.

Everything seems to work OK, though not always:

- the first time I forced "Skip to Next Card" it closed the file on Card1, displayed it as FULL on the LCD, and continued recording on Card2. I simulated the "not enough cards in the field scenario" by off-loading the Card1 to my PC and deleting the CLP folder on the card. Then, I re-inserted Card1 to the nanoFlash (still recording to the Card2), and - what a joyful moment - the "card full" bar for Card1 disappeared, signalling free space available...

- so I "Skipped to Next Card" again (this time from Card2 to Card1, also while recording), and the situation repeated. Except this time, after I re-inserted the off-loaded Card2 into the STILL RECORDIG nanoFlash, not only didn't the "card full" long bar disappear for Card2, but it also displayed for the Card1 (?!?), and recording stopped altogether...

Don't know yet what made the second attempt fail to continue recording on the card off-loaded in the PC (this is what hot swapping is realy about, isn't it)... What's weird is that the nano stopped recording (logical if it thinks BOTH card are full), while NOT displaying any warning message! The displayed timecode was still incrementing, yet no recoding was done.

I had to re-format both cards in the nano to make it read the free space properly again.

I suspect the reason for this behavior might be that in the case of Card1, I deleted the CLP folder entirely, while on the Card2, I deleted its contents, leaving the folder empty.

I also tested storing/loading the settings file; it works as expected.

Thanks for the Beta; I hope it won't take CD a long time to refine it :)

Piotr

Dear Piotr,

Please note that we do not support deleting file or folders from CompactFlash cards:

"Please note that, as before, if any files are manually deleted from or copied onto a CF card from a computer, the card must be formatted again before use for recording in nanoFlash."

The above is from our release notes and there are other important notes in this section of the release notes.

You may, however, reformat the card, as a Fat-32 volume in your computer prior to re-inserting it back into the nanoFlash.
Our release notes that you should test this to ensure that it works for you, prior to using this technique in a production environment.

We, of course, may have a problem with Hot Swapping.

Another person posted problems going from Card 2 to Card 1, or a problem with forcing a card switch.

Thank you for testing the new firmware.

Dear Dan,

Yes, I do realize deleting as opposed to formatting isn't officially supported - just wanted to check various possible scenarios (and it worked, though not always).

I'll repeat my tests, this time formatting the cards as FAT32 - AFAIK the cluster size should be 32k, is that correct?

Also, formatting on the computer will erase the card name (Volume), which will interfere with the automatic number incrementing by the nanoFlash, which is a useful (though not critical) feature...

Dear Piotr,

Deleting files from a card, then re-inserting a card is more than "not officially supported".

It is a practice that we specifically recommend against, to help ensure that your files will be recorded correctly.

I have not found an easy way, at this moment to determine what "Allocation Unit" size, or "Cluster Size" we use. It could be 32K, but I am not certain.

Dan,

Even though you advise against it, I have never had any single problem related to the fact that I deleted the }CLP{ folder from a CF card on my PC, then reinserted it into my nanoFlash.

Of course I'm only stating this in order to set the facts right - not that I'm questioning CD policy. It might be right for Mac users, or even for some Windows versions users - but with Vista x64, there is no need to format the cards. Deleting works OK.

And please note that people are not going to follow the tedious "format in the computer, not just delete" rule if an easier and faster way exists. Again I'm speaking now for Vista only, but there is no GUI way to format into anything else than NTFS or exFAT - one must use the following command line:

format CFdrive: /FS:FAT32 /A:32k

where CFdrive is the drive letter of the CF reader, and 32k stand for the allocation (or cluster) size (yes I've checked how nF itself formats the cards, and it indeed is 32 kilobytes).

Anyway, I have also established the right procedure for hot swapping:

- when I need to off-load a card, I force the nanoFlash to "Skip to Next Card"
- I eject the card, off-load it in my PC, and simply delete the entire }CLP{ folder
- I re-insert the card into the nano, and it's ready for recording.

Note that you MUST actually eject the card and delete its contents (or possibly format it) after off-loading for the nanoFlash to be ever able to record on it again - if you don't, the usage indicator will remain "Full" (long bar), and the nano will not record to such a card - even if there is a lot of free space on it.

Hope it helps,

Piotr

Dear Piotr,

I must be very clear about this.

Deleting files, depending on various circumstances can leave a fragmented file system.

With a fragmented file system, the nanoFlash can not perform up to its normal level of performance.

If one deletes files, and then inserts the card back into the nanoFlash without formatting, then important files may be lost.

Dear Dan,

I'd appreciate some more specific explanation of why formatting is necessary. What you have said so far is not very convincing - after all, we've been using solid state media for quite a long time and I never encountered such a strict recommendation from any other vendors.

For instance, some people recommend formatting SxS cards, while others (including myself) have always just deleted the contents after off-loading...

Another example could be the SSD drives - you can write and delete files, just like with any other drive (of course there is some wear off factor, but I never heard performance will suffer if I delete files from SSD without formatting it).

But, of course, some specific reasons may exist with the nanoFlash - so please explain.

Thanks,

Piotr

Hi Dan,

The new firmware sounds great. I am a couple of firmware back. Can I go right to the new one or do I need to step my way up.

Keep up the great work.

Piotr,
Formating is not that hard and once done you know the cards will work well. I don't see the need to push Dan on the inner workings of the Nano.

Dear Piotr,

Deleting files from CompactFlash cards is specifically prohibited as it leaves a fragmented file system on the card.

If you delete files, then use the card in the nanoFlash you are putting your recordings at risk.

If one attempts to record to a fragmented file system, there is a chance, sometime, that the nanoFlash will not be able to write to the card fast enough to keep up with the incoming video and audio.

While you are perfectly free to use whatever techniques you wish with your nanoFlash, please do not recommend this very dangerous practice to others.

Dear Paul,

It is nice to hear from you.

Yes, you are free to jump forward to any firmware version.

And you are free to go back to a previous firmware version.

I attempt to maintain an archive of all released firmware versions, and we keep recent ones available on our website.

As always, I must remind everyone, that at this time, 1.6.226 is a "Public Beta" and not for production use yet.

Hi Dan,

I will go to the previous version and not use the "Public Beta" at this time.

The Nano is one hard working bit of gear, nice to see all the cameras that have adopted the unit.

Dear Piotr,

The "Cluster Size" or "Allocation Unit" is 32K.

Hi Dan,

I have used the NF on two occasions doing start/stop takes, flipping on the fly to various bitrates in camera with high bitrate settings in iFrame mode in the unit. Only hickup was pushing the bitrate up to 280 on a Delkin 64GB card.

The flip mode is great for doing a quick and dirty "low mode" switch with a Steadicam. I thank you and whomever solved the puzzle in being able to do this in firmware.

Finally, I know I asked you this before... is it technically possible to do image flip particularly in "E to E" mode but on the "monitor out" image and have it rolled into a future firmware update?

-Andrew

Dear Andrew,

As you probably know, the Delkin 64 GB card only supports 220 Mbps, not 280 Mbps.

If I understand you correctly, you want to enable E to E, and Image Flip and have the nanoFlash record normal (not flipped) but send the flipped image out the HD-SDI or HDMI outputs.

Could you please let me know if I do understand correctly what you want?

It would be an either/or scenario. Here are the scerarios. A nanoFlash on a Steadicam. The operator has to invert the sled (i.e., upside down) so they are operating in "low mode" so the camera is close to the ground rather than waist to head height. Sometimes the operator doesn't have time to take the camera off the sled to invert the camera. This is where your veritical image flip is a boon. They just invert the sled, quickly rebalance and normally hit the image flip switch on the monitor. However, some of those operators will have a monitor that does not do image flip. Presently, there is a very attractive one made by Marshall right now that has superb daylight visability but no image flip. It costs about 1/2 the price of comparable monitors with good visibility in broad sunlight. A lot of operators are snapping this one up despite it's lack of image flip. Presently the solution for this is to physically remove the monitor from the bracket and turn it 180 degrees and bolt it back on. This can slow down production and flow on a set.

It would be best if CD was to be able to setup menu options that would allow image flip whether or not the recorded image was flipped, as sometimes the camera will be physically flipped in low mode and other times not. Best to have both scenarios factored in.

"E to E" mode would be on as the operator wants as close to real time preview as possible. I understand image flip in E to E may add some latency but I would hope it would still be close to real time in the monitor.

Thank you and the developers for considering this. I hope it is doable.

EDIT:

Almost all Steadicam people are going to be using the HD-SDI port to their framing monitor but there may be some in the future using HDMI based gear if the newer DSLRs begin to issue a proper signal via HDMI.

And yes, I know the Delkin is only rated to 220. The nanoFlash allowed me to go to 280 iFrame so I thought I would give it a go thinking CD may have done some tweaking to get more out of the Delkin 64GB card.

Dear Andrew,

I have already spoken with our Chief Engineer about your request.

I am not hopeful that we can do it. I wish I could say yes.

Image Flip does, inherently, involve a processing delay.

Are the recorded files just for you, or are they going to be used as part of the production?

I will send you a Private Message so we can talk about your application.

Good chatting with you this afternoon Dan. Unfortunate, that it is technically complicated to do an image flip switch on the monitor output. Would have been another practical addition to the long list of production focused improvements your team have brought to the nanoFlash since it has been released.

I really hope one of your programmers has a 3 in the morning "a ha" moment figuring out an unforeseen elegant way of pulling this off.

Just a suggestion. It would be really helpful to have a switchable T/C display on the HD-SDI out.

Dear Ernie,

I agree, that would be a very nice feature.

I know that some monitors have that feature built in, and many do not.

However, we will be unable to implement your request.

Displaying characters, superimposed on the HD-SDI or HDMI output requires either very specialized circuitry, or takes up a lot of code.

Regretfully, the nanoFlash, with all of the other features that we have implemented, we can not add the "Character Generator" that would be required.

Dear Dan,

I understand it's currently not possible to keep the }CFG{ folder permanently on the "production" CF cards, i.e. those cards that are used for actual recording. Also, whenever a card with the }CFG{ folder is inserted, the nanoFlash will automatically prompt for loading one of the configurations...

Is it necessary to be that way? I mean, the }CFG{ folder could be present on each card, and only accessed on user demand. Also, it'd be nice if the nanoFlash could record to such a card.

This is how the SxS cards can be used by the EX cameras.

Do you think it's possible to implement in future firmware?

Thanks,

Piotr

Dear Piotr,

Yes, that would be very nice.

If we think outside the box, we could conceivably:

1. Prior to a Format, load the }CFG{ files into memory.
2. Format the card or cards.
3. Recreate the }CFG{ file on the card.

Then redesign our CFG support so that the files could be on the same card as a card that we write to.

Alternatively, we may be able to load the }CFG{ files into memory.

It is all just a matter of time, resources, and priorities.

Today, one can just purchase a very low capacity card, of the same brand and type of a qualified card, and use it for the config files. Or use an old card that has been replaced by a higher capacity card.

We highly recommend that one keep their config files backed up, say on a computer, or other device.

Absolutely - but don't you agree that the need for inserting a separate card in order to load a desired menu setting configuration can be more tedious than setting such a configuration in the menu, manually?

I mean, the configuration "store" is a great idea, but a need for separate card sort of denies it. Therefore, please consider assigning a high enough priority to my suggested modifications :)

Thanks,

Piotr

PS. BTW, all the complications you described above again result from the need of formatting cards, rather than simply deleting files...

HDMI, .mpg Video Malfunction
 

Just FYI, I loaded the firmware, and today, prepared to depart on a 2 day job. In testing the system, I found the HDMI colors were reversed or something of the sort. I am using a Sony HDR-FX-1000 and recording HDMI in and out of the Nano with .mpg file format at 35mbs rate and analog audio input. i had a similar episode about a year ago, thankfully that made this easier to diagnose.

Backing up to the earlier 1.6.213 version beta, all is good again.

HDMI Inverted Colors
 

Hello Clarke

Inverted Colors may Occur on all Code version, with an HDMI Input, What would be the best test to see if it is a HDMI MPG Input Issue would be disconnect the HDMI and Reconnect it, Most times that will fix the inverted colors that is pretty rare to see, but does happen only with HDMI input. Once in a while,

In our Lab we have had multiple units running HDMI Input all with normal color with the beta,

If you could check that, that would be very beneficial for us to know. And i will double check this in our lab today as well.

Thanks

Andy

I don't agree at all.

(1) Setting all the different configuration settings takes a VERY LONG TIME, and requires you know exactly what every setting does, where it is in an ever increasing nano menu system, and how it's going to impact your current job. The opportunity to screw up is great. Dumping a pre-checked configuration file takes very little time, and you can spend any extra time you gain by checking to make sure everything loaded properly. Hence the desirability of configuration files.

(2) I don't want a configuration file on the same card as I'm recording. Keeping separate (small, inexpensive) CF cards, CLEARLY LABELED, for each different setup, is the safest, easiest, most sensible scenario. If CD, in some future update, allows for multiple different configurations on a single card, with a menu system in the nano to select which configuration to load, that would be great, but I still don't want my configuration file(s) on the same card(s) that I record to.

Think about the different scenarios in which the nano is used. If you're using a single card to record your whole leisurely shoot, and the nano configuration is unchanging, and you know what all the nano settings are supposed to be, then you don't need a configuration file at all. (You are going to check the settings, aren't you, even when you use a configuration file). If you're shooting something that requires multiple different settings, particularly if fast changes are necessary, do you plan on having a different CF record card for each setup? Do you really want to tie specific configurations to each record card? What if the client wants all his footage on a single card? What if one setup only has five minutes of footage; are you going to "waste" a 64GB CF card on it? What if you have no idea beforehand how much footage is going to be shot in each different nano configuration?

How about when it's not you using your nano? Isn't it easier and safer to tell someone "There are 'Configuration' cards and there are 'Record' cards. When you shoot the inside stuff, put this card labeled 'Inside Configuration' in the nano and load its settings. When you go outside, put this card labeled 'Outside Configuration' in the nano and load its settings. When you get to the stadium, put the card labeled 'Time Lapse Configuration' in the nano, and load its settings. Then just record as appropriate to however many of these 'Record' cards you need to record the footage at each location."

/rant on
Oh, and while we're talking about the new firmware, it's taken two plus years for CD to implement hot swapping. They're the only one in the business to implement anything like it, and many of us have been faithfully waiting all this time for a feature that's very important to us. CD has (patiently) explained why using freshly formatted CF cards is so important to making hot swapping work, and there are still complaints. So my "plea" is to give them a break and accept the fact that this remarkable feature has a minor requirement to make it work.
/rant off

Dan: Please concentrate on finding (and fixing) any bugs in the firmware, and don't waste time and resources by adding new features until you're satisfied everything is stable. Thanks (for everything).

Billy

HDMI inverted colors
 

Andy,
Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately I had a fllight schedule to make and had to go another route. I did reboot the Nano a couple of times with no change. I then reloaded 1.6.213, and immediately upon the reboot, everything was great. I use exclusively HDMI, and have only had this once in the past. It was about a year ago, and came with a firmware upgrade, and was fixed with a firmware upgrade. I really do think there is a bug in the software somewhere, or possibly I had a corrupt 1.6.226 load? Would the Nano know this, and give an error message?
I will be done with the flight by Friday morning, and if nothing is discovered, I certainly can try 1.6.226 again and report back my resluts.

Clarke

Interesting. Would that be caused by a bad HDMI cable?

Dear Billy,

I wish to personally thank you for your post!

For many applications / situations, putting one configuration file, on one configuration card is a great way to go.

And this technique makes it very easy, and helps prevent menu option errors. "Just load the configuration file from this card, then shoot...".

For others, having multiple config files on one card is very desirable.

While we may, or may not have made it clear, we actually support up to 20 custom configuration files per CompactFlash card.

You can setup your nanoFlash for a specific configuration, then save it.

Then you can load it by number, or you can rename each config file using a computer.

If you need more than 20 different setups, just use another card.

You can save any number of config files on a computer. Just be careful not to overwrite previous files, if you have not renamed them.

My nanoFlash is on assignment, thus I have not expanded on how to use this new feature.

I tested it before and found it very workable, one just needs to rename the files or keep a list of the purpose of each config file.

In the situation where one is handing a nanoFlash to a new person, one with very little training or experience with the nanoFlash, one confiig file per card can make things very easy.

Thank you for your support.

Please feel free to call me any time. Just send me an email and I will send you my phone numbers.

Guess I will pile on here...

As someone who is not constantly using the NF, this ability to easily and correctly configure the NF for the myriad of setups now possible with the NF is supremely valuable.

A month may pass before the NF is needed for a shoot and I am always fumbling around and having to test to be sure. I can remember an early shoot (actually on the XDR with an original XLH1) where I screwed up the audio settings and all I captured was hum - 1 man job and I didn't bring headphones - so stupid. So now I am in the middle of taking audio off the HDV tape and synching it to the video edit. Lots of stupidity here. If I were using our NF with this easy config ability I would have been done with the edit.

It is just so reassuring and am thankful for it. As the NF capabilities have grown, the value of such a sure-fire config setup is greatly appreciated. Even if you work with the NF every day, there is still the chance of screwing up an intended setting.

Hope this config capacity comes to the XDR soon.

I don't know how these guys keep this feature improvement pace up, but so many of us are quietly grateful.

Since this thread is about comments on the latest Beta software, here is some from me - but please do not treat them as ranting :)

After placing on Vegas timeline, and synchronizing by TC, clips recorded simultaneously to SxS (XDCAM EX HQ) and nanoFlash (220 Mbps I-Fo), I have noticed 2 things:

1. The nanoFlash embedded audio is lagging by 4 milliseconds. Not a big deal, but when mixing the two for any reason, there is a slight echo (empty bucket effect)

2. The video scopes differ for the two clips; the difference is very subtle, but if you compare e.g the histograms (take a close look at the very left side, for the blacks), or the Vectorscopes - you will see there IS a difference.

Now a little quiz: which of the 2 pics below is for the XDCAM EX, and which for the nanoFlash 220 Mbps I-Frame, do you think? If you agree they differ, why do you think is that?

I'm very curious about your explanation, cheers

Piotr

I'm wondering if the software scope sampling is creating the very slight differences in the scopes? Software scopes use sampling vs. hardware scopes which look at the whole image. Can you see this difference with the naked eye. For example, do you see a very slight deeper red saturation that matches the software scope showing the higher red in the vectorscope shown in your photo? interesting

Could this have to do with 420 vs. 422?

Of course this seems to be the only logical explanation, as the 2 pics should be identical otherwise - but does it also explain different black levels?

And, which is which - still waiting for your votes :)

My vote is lower black 422.

JPG 1 is 422 is my guess. Seems to show more color and black info. They are very close though, could change that much from one frame to another, because both are compressed.

Thats due to the so call "Presentation".
SxS clips and NANO files use different "Aperture" , so QT display both pictures in a different fashion.
This also affects how FC canvas display the picture, and how look on the VideoScope. The difference is small but noticeable when you shift between pictures.
rafael

Keep guessing guys - this is becoming interesting :)

I won't tell you which is which at this point - but I will inform you that the same can be seen with other nanoFlash formats (like 100 Mbps L-GoP), and with the previous nF firmware...