4K/ProRes dual drives workflow?

[Dave Allen]

So I have a 7Q on its way with a pair of 512SSD's. Dealer says it is 4K Raw and 4K ProRes enabled and I'll be getting the Sony FS700 version.

It is my understanding that once you start shooting in slo-mo, you cannot revert to shooting in standard frame rates till you offload all from the SSD's.

Conversely, what happens if you start shooting in standard rates, then switch to slo-mo at 240fps?

What is the proper workflow for offloading 4K in standard frame rates or 240 fps? If 4K is written to two drive,s how does one reassemble them into one?

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

The firmware for 4K and prores is not yet available so do not expect it to arrive ready for either... They said that firmware is coming in February at the earliest. Once prores is available it may allow you to avoid having to write to two drives at once and so allow you to write multiple frame sizes and framerates to the same single SSD since they will all just be prores files and won't require changing folder structures or between RAID and non-RAID. CD hasn't confirmed 240fps prores will be possible yet, though. It sounded like they were working on solutions for RAW DNG to for HFR and still do other formats on the same drives, but its not clear to me which combinations will work or what they are prioritizing.

[Dan Keaton]

Originally Posted by Dave Allen

So I have a 7Q on its way with a pair of 512SSD's. Dealer says it is 4K Raw and 4K ProRes enabled and I'll be getting the Sony FS700 version.

It is my understanding that once you start shooting in slo-mo, you cannot revert to shooting in standard frame rates till you offload all from the SSD's.

Conversely, what happens if you start shooting in standard rates, then switch to slo-mo at 240fps?

What is the proper workflow for offloading 4K in standard frame rates or 240 fps? If 4K is written to two drives how does one reassemble them into one?

Dear Dave,

I need to correct some information.

Our website is in the process of being updated, and I hope to have a new, definitive spec sheet for the Odyssey7Q by tomorrow.



At this time, the Odyssey7Q FS700 Option supports 2K Raw up to 240 fps.

One can record on one SSD, either 256 GB or 512 GB, up to 120 fps.

One needs two SSD's to record 2K Raw over 120 fps, so 200 fps and 240 fps modes require two SSD's.


In our current production firmware, one needs to have "balanced SSD's", meaning the same number of files on each SSD when starting to record in any mode that requires 2 SSD's.

This means that one can start with two freshly formatted SSD's (balanced, no files on the SSD's).

Or one can record some 2K on the two SSD's (at over 120 fps so both SSD's are used), and then continue to record using the modes that use two SSD's. In this case, the SSD's are still balanced, as they have the same number and types of files on each.

But, if one then records in any mode that requires just one SSD, then the SSD's will not be "balanced" and one will get a "Mismatched SSD's" error message when attempting to record again in a mode that requires two SSD's.


If one is recording 2K at 120 fps or below, then there are no issues.

And most importantly, once we deliver our next firmware release, expected in February 2014,
then these current restrictions will be eliminated.


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Currently, our FS700 Option does not support 4K, either 4K Raw or 4K Compressed.


We will be adding, with our Sony FS700 option, for free, the ability to record 4K, up to 30 fps, from the FS700, to a compressed codec.

We expect to add this in the next few months.

We are nearly done with our compressed codec, in HD (1920 x 1080), for the Odyssey7Q.

We expect this to be released in February 2014, but first we have to obtain certification.


We have already completed a project to take the Sony 4K Raw, and deBayer it, so that we can record it in the 4K version of a compressed codec.

So, we will be adding this, but first we are working to finish the HD version of this codec.


Also, we have already completed a project to take the Sony 4K Raw and deBayer it to HD.

This is part of a project to allow one to record HD from the FS700 at a bit-depth higher than the 8-Bit output of the camera.

This also will be released as a free firmware update to those with our Sony FS700 Option.


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We have already implemented and tested the code that allows us to record 4K Raw from the FS700.

If we receive permission from Sony, then we will add this to our options available in the Odyssey7Q.

One will need our FS700 Option and this will be a free firmware update to this option, again, providing Sony provides us with the required permission.

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We have a great tool, for both Mac's and PC's for combining the files recorded to two SSD's.

This is our CD Clip Merger:

Downloads | Convergent Design, Professional Video Recorders


To use this, one uploads the contents of the Clips folder from one SSD to a destination folder.

Then one uploads the contents of the Clips folder from the second SSD to the same destination folder.

Then one runs our CD Clip Merger.

If one uploads 512 GB of clips from one SSD, and 512 GB of clips from the second SSD, the CD Clip Merger will perform its magic within one minute.

The result is the same as if all of the files were recorded to one SSD.


Respectfully,

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Noah,

I hope to have a new Odyssey7Q spec sheet ready for publishing by tomorrow.

I updated this earlier, and it is currently under intensive review by our team to help ensure accuracy.

Also, I hope the post that I just made helps explain our current restrictions when switching from using Two SSD's to One SSD, and then Back to Two SSD's.

And, as I noted, we expect to remove this restriction with our very next firmware release, due in February 2014.

Respectfully,

[Dave Allen]

Dan, your product support rocks. Your involvement sure is helpful!

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Dave,

Thank you very much.

This is very much a team effort and I will let everyone on our team know!

Respectfully,