Odyssey Feature Request

[Chris Medico]

Will we be able to "uninstall" or disable a purchased option in the 7Q?

[Ron Aerts]

And another request:
Simplefied filmindustry filenaming:
Prefix_slatenmbr_takenmbr_cam
With auto-increase takenmbr on every rec.end
Filename data, or at least slate and take, should be visible on the screen and a tapbutton to increase slate number. The slate and take should be fixed 3-digit and cam 1 character.
The prefix can be agile so one can fill in for themself, like scene numbr / reel nmbr etc.
Thanx

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Ron,

You may or may not be aware that the Odyssey7Q supports the following metadata that is recorded with each clip. Each field is user updateable at any time.

Clip Number

Reel Number

Scene Number

Take Number

Shooting Day

Camera Number

Project Name


While I used the term "Number", most of the above fields allow both numbers and letters.

The Take Number and Shooting Day fields only allow actual numbers, as this is logical.


When the Scene Number is changed, the Take Number is automatically reset to 001.

For each clip, the Take Number is incremented automatically.


This is in addition to the clip filename.

Whenever possible, the clip filename is setup to match the clip filename as generated in the camera, but this, of course, is camera dependent.

I will discuss your suggestions with our team.

Respectfully,

[Ron Aerts]

Thanks, Dan
What I miss is the slate number, as within a scene jou can have different slates and then an easily accessable slate increase ( like a double tap on a specific area) should reset the take to 001.
In a standard explorer You normally don't have a possibillity to sort on metadata

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Ron,

Thank you for the information.

Here is the trade-off.

If we use the same filename as the camera for its internal recording, then the internal recordings can serve as a backup and they may be useable as proxies.

When we use a new filename scheme, different than the camera, then there it may be harder to match the files. The timecode will still match.


On the slate number, it appears from your post that our Scene Number and Take Number will not work for you.

Please help me understand. Isn't our Take Number the same as your Slate Number?

Our Take Number is automatically incremented on each clip, and can be manually incremented or manually reset to any number, and it is automatically reset to 001 when you change the Scene Number.

Respectfully,

[Ron Aerts]

Scenes are almost never recorded in chronological order. They depent on actors availability, logistics, wheater, location etc.

In the same scene of the script, working with one camera, you have different positions/angels and lenses. These are numbered in slates. The takes are always with the same position/angle/lens.
The slates are numbered chronological
Per example: you start at day 1 for scene 38. you shoot your master/establishing wide, a medium 2 shot, a face 1 close and overshoulder face 2 close. So you have 4 slates from scene 38 and, depending on the actor/camoperator talent, several takes within each slate.
On top of that, day 1 can be over midnight so the date can differ from shooting day...

As I think of it, the slate nmbr should have 4 digits. On my Last shoot they had 17 days and the slatecount was over 650. So a longer shoot could easily exceed 999 slates

The slate number should be in the filename as they are also mentioned in the filenames from the audioguys, the continuaty, scriptassistants, setdressers etc. Slate and take rules...

Using proxies from internal cam recording can give problems because the framecount from the outboard recorder most of the time differs from the internal. It start/stops earlier or later. Some NLE's use first or total frame count. Then the EDL cuts are slightly different with the raws. (I've been there... ) as long as it is embedded timecode based there are no problems. But sometimes it is (evidently for a lot of reasons) not the case.
That's why I would embrace the 7Q function of recording raw and proxies at the same time, as long as they are exactly the same besides the codec.
Then the cam filenames are not so important anymore. Hence, I've seen loads of situations that during the shoot, the cam counted different from outboard due to a cable/battery malfunction. There is normally not enough time to check increments of both devices
Regards, Ron

[Chris Medico]

Hi Dan,

Before the thread here got hijacked could you take a look at my original question?

[Ron Aerts]

Sorry chris. Was not my intention.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Chris,

When I first read your original question, I sent an email to our engineers to get an answer.

I could not test it on my unit, as I do not have any of the extra cost options enabled, so I could not disable one then re-enable it.

I feel that the answer is yes, I am just waiting for confirmation.

Respectfully,

[Chris Medico]

Thanks Dan.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Chris,

Your request, being able to temporarily disable an option, such as Sony FS700 Option, Canon C500 4K Option, the ARRIRAW Option, or any other option, was a design goal of ours.

In our Gemini 4:4:4, we can do precisely that.

I believe that we can currently do this in our production firmware, 1.0.214, but I have just not been able to test it myself yet.

If this is not currently possible, we will definitely add this feature.

The reason that I asked for this feature in the first place was to satisfy a request from some rental companies.

With this feature, the rental companies can have units with many features enabled, but then rent the unit for less when a specific customer does not need some of the options.

This benefits both the rental company and the renter, as the rented does not need to pay for options that they will not be using.

Respectfully,

[Chris Medico]

Thanks Dan. I was hoping that would be the case for the same reason as you point out.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Chris,

I have the answer for you.

Yes, you can disable, temporarily, any of the extra cost options on the Odyssey7Q, such as the FS700 Option, the Canon 4K Option, or the ARRIRAW Option.

To do this go in the menu to Odyssey->Set->Activation->FS700 (or whichever option you want to disable),
then it should bring up an "Active" submenu (assuming it's activated) .

Press the "Active" button, it will change to "Set Demo" .

Press "Set Demo" again, it will change to "0000Demo", then you can change 1st 4 digits to a four-digit code, so it will say "XXXXDEMO" at that point, where XXXX is the four-digit secret code.

Hit "OK" and the option will be deactivated.

Then power cycle the Odyssey7Q.

Later, you may just re-enter the Authorization Code for the option to reactivate it.


One should not disable an option unless one knows the Authorization Code for that option, so that it can be restored when desired.

If one does disable an option, and does not know the proper eight-digit Option Authorization Code, the unit may be disabled until we can provide you with the proper code again.

For this reason, I do not want to publish, on this forum, the four-digit secret code to disable an option.

We will provide this four-digit code, upon request, to owners of Odyssey7Q's.

We want to prevent user's from accidently disabling options and not being able to reactivate them, as this can have serious consequences on-set.

Respectfully,

[Chris Medico]

Thanks Dan. That will work.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Chris,

Great!

We put a lot of thought into this.

We certainly do not want one to accidently disable an option.

Respectfully,