Call for new technology - cheap SSD "DECKS" to do away with HD decks

[Michael Dalton]

Ok folks lets push the industry a bit here. I'm a TV producer who works on a budget. I'd love to have a deck to produce masters. But they are expensive. Lets do away with tape and go for SSD's as new format for digital deliveries.

With the price and possibilities of the Black Magic Hyper-Drive and the AJA Ki-Pro, lets get them to alter this technology to replace decks and tape once and for all!!!

One major device that I'm looking for is something that can be used for creating Digital Broadcast Masters on SSD. A device work like a deck, where I can take my final edit, set it up with; timecode,bars and tone, black, slates etc, and put it on a SSD card. It would work like a tape, so if I have errors I can do insert edits etc. I can then submit a SSD as my master.

Since they can do un-ccompressed 10-bit out of SDI, Why doesn't someone use this technology to finally get rid of TAPE and the expensive and dreaded TAPE DECK?

The price point can be so low everyone can afford to adopt. 1-3k range.

All home edit station can have one, all post houses so they can go to tape and make dubs without having to go through a suite, networks can use them so we can avoid going to TAPE, and give digital deliveries of our EPISODE masters on SSD.

Just storing SSD's would take up significantly less space. I think they are robust too. Existing technology is there, somebody make it work with our edit suites!!!!!

Life would be good!!!

[Adrian Frearson]

I wonder if the change is now inevitable anyway? I took a look at the Blackmagic products and it's pretty impressive. To think it's now possible to equip a small van of kit for a multi camera event, like a concert and edit and deliver on the spot, for less than the cost of a deck from a few years ago.

I presume that some kind of software/codec combination could take care of the timecode on the masters, being then cued by the hardware.

[Michael Dalton]

I think your right. Both seems to have the capabilities of working with some software changes to interface with FCP and AVID. It just seems that the tech companies have been focused on acquisition that they may have overlooked delivery. I wonder if they can interface with a deck?

If you've tried to buy tape stock recently since the earthquake you see that this is the perfect time to push a new idea.

The idea of using this as a method of delivery excites me!

[Adrian Frearson]

SSDs are also a lot easier to buy in a hurry, in most parts of the world. If you happen to be near a major city, then okay, you can pick up tape stock the same day. But otherwise..

[Michael Dalton]

I think pushing this idea will be a game changer (I hate that term) for the smaller indie and budget TV shops, but will also be awesome for all other markets.

Networks get bottlenecks because of the lack of decks, so they can benefit. Big expensive technology like HD decks is always a financial burden for moderate companies, as well as big. Renting decks is a hassle!!

SSD are already in production, and can easily be massed produced. Price points are dropping every day. With bigger cards we can send is 5-10 episodes per card. Awesome!!!

[Steve Game]

One big problem for all solid state storage, (including SSDs). If they fail, either through mishandling or just a random hardware failure, you usually lose the lot. That may be OK for non-professional or casual commercial use, but for mission critical pro use, whatever the cost savings of SSDs are, all that could be wiped out by the total loss of just a day's work.
Tape on the other hand does not usually have a total failure mode without warning. Even a tape drive handling failure will normally only destroy a short length of tape. That's one of the reasons why tape is still used professionally in many areas.

Steve

[Michael Dalton]

Steve, what I'm calling for is a delivery device for way to submit shows to networks. Not mission critical stuff. I'd assume that you have a version on your avid/fcp machine. I've had problems with tape too.

Networks would take your SSD, and pull it into their system or make a dub to tape. It's just a way of smaller producers to avoid having to do Onlines. Edits suites are expensive, as to are dec rentals. If you have to HD and SD masters your looking at several hundred dollars per episode or more. Here you can make a HD and SD master. Network have SSD deck in their ingest and make a copy.

[Bob Hart]

I think I heard somewhere that the outfit which makes the CRU Dataport25 boxes and edit computer dockling bays for the SI2K and I think the OneBeyond recorder systems are doing something like that in the way of hotswappable media for distributing media product. Online distribution might sideline it though.

The Dataport25s are capable of carrying two notebooks SSDs and can be RAID configured. The OneBeyond/Cinedeck/Wafian style computer-based recorders might evolve into what you are looking for if enough marketplace for the product becomes apparent. It may also be driven by any move from traditional PCs towards smaller Ipad style devices directed towards consumers.

Of course what is now is already obsolete so online for all things might the way of the future, with shipped and carried media the bridge to less developed marketplaces.

[Allan Barnwell]

I'm all for using SSD instead of tape - but one thing to watch out for with all the devices using them is that SSD's are not designed for constant connection and disconnection - the connectors wear out very fast.

Look for manufacturers who provide carts with more durable connectors to contain the SSD's. Otherwise, just be careful to limit insertions and ejects.

I've been playing with the Hyperdeck Shuttle since our first shipment arrived, and it I like it. It has a few design shortcomings and limitations, but is otherwise a really great solution.

Allan Barnwell
Omega Broadcast Group - Professional Video Sales, Rental & Services

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Michael Dalton

One major device that I'm looking for is something that can be used for creating Digital Broadcast Masters on SSD. A device work like a deck, where I can take my final edit, set it up with; timecode,bars and tone, black, slates etc, and put it on a SSD card. It would work like a tape, so if I have errors I can do insert edits etc. I can then submit a SSD as my master.

Is it not software you want, rather than hardware?

I think what you are asking for is file based delivery, so presumably any computer can create the file - with the right software? The question is whether it's stand alone, or an add-on to the NLE.

The stumbling block may be agreeing a defined standard - the last thing TV stations want is a variety of files arriving with a variety of codecs, wrappers, etc etc, let alone arriving in a variety of physical forms. It's far more straightforward for them to simply say "deliver on XYZ tape". At least at the moment.

In the UK, HDCAM-SR seems the de-facto standard for high end tape delivery at the moment, and I believe some of the decks do support a file mode, with the HDCAM-SR compression system. This may well be a way forward .....

[Joe Carney]

First you have to get the industry to settle on a common digital standard. HD-CAM SR is an excepted standard. There are dozens of digital based intermediate formats. The closest to a standard is MPeg-2.
Hopefully things will firm up with the demise of tape. Though LTO4 or 5 is still a great option for long term archive.

[Michael Dalton]

My point is more about tape being EXPENSIVE!! and outdated. We need some sort of option that meets lower production points instead of having to go through post house to output HD tapes.

The technology today is more then capable to adapt a variety of technology, and not only that can play a variety of formats.

Have a player capable of handling several common codecs as standard.

Proress and Proress HQ
Mpeg2
Avid DNX 175
Avid DNX 115

The whole point is not the codec so much but timecode with sync lock, and SDI that can talk to a tape machine, or something like like Avid Airspeed. These shuttle can do 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 files, all they need is the timecode structure.

Most networks will dub anything sent to them and return the masters to you, why not do it digitally.

Lets face it, the faster tape goes the happier we'll be.