Sony PMW350 vs the Sony F800 need advice

[Paul Cronin]

Thierry here is the method.

I shoot with the Nano and if the bit rate is higher then the Optical Disk XDCAM 422 50Mbps I drop it on a Final Cut timeline and then render out and use clip browser to Optical disk.

And if I shoot at the 50Mbps I copy to the Optical disk with clip browser.

Both methods I am told will give proxies and meta data. Andy at Abel figured this out last month. We discussed it in detail at the release of the PMW-350 at Abel on Dec 3rd in NYC. I know there is a thread here that will get active on once I start the process over the next few days.

So you need:
Convergent Design Nano or XDR
Final Cut Pro if you are not shooting at XDCAM 422 50Mbps bit rate
Sony PDW-U1
Optical Disk
Sony Clip Browser

[Alister Chapman]

The PMW-350 and EX1R both have the 1440x1080 35Mb/s mode that the original PDW-F3** cameras use, so with them you can write the files directly to Optical Disc without the need for any hardware other than the camera, computer and a U1.

If your rendering out from FCP you simply go directly to the optical disc at 50Mb/s, no need to use clip browser. 50Mb/s NanoFlash MXF's can be dragged and dropped directly on to a connected XDCAM HD422 camera or U1, no need to use clip browser. If your writing to a deck or camera the Proxies are generated by the deck/camera and it's very fast. If your using a U1 the U1 drivers build the proxies and this takes a little longer.

[Steve Phillipps]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

Steve,

Do you have any information on what NHU backup/archiving strategy is when filming with the 2700s? With my previous experiences, I feel solid state media acquisition involves extra work and a certain level of risk to loose files especially when looking at extensive projects with multiple shooters and locations.

Thierry.

We had a demo of the P2 Wrangler (I posted a link to it on DVInfo). It's a really nice machine and reasonably inexpensive, great device for field backup. For back at base they're going RAID drive and LTO tape.
Steve

[Steve Phillipps]

P2 Wrangler 1 Beyond, Inc. - The 1 Beyond Tapeless Workflow Solutions
Steve

[Alister Chapman]

The NextoDi NVS2500 will backup P2 as well as SxS if all you need is a backup device.

The P2 Wrangler looks like a nice unit, but why not just use a laptop? The Panasonic ToughBooks would probably work well for the NHU.

[Steve Phillipps]

Alister, there's a lot more to the Wrangler, it really is a nicely thought out bit of kit. You can put SxS slots on it as well I believe.
The best bits about it are that it's fast as there are no leads, the cards just slot straight in, it's simple, you don't need to press a button even, just stick the card in and it dumps to the drives. The drives themselves are good too, removable cartridges, the card writes to both simultaeneously, and you then remove them and can keep 1 on location and ship the other back to base. They have encryption keys in them too so the data can't be broken into. There was a whole bunch of us from the NHU and the company doing the big Discovery prog and we were all really impressed.
Steve

[Alister Chapman]

Shotput on a laptop will do most of that, auto backup to multiple destinations and format etc, the only thing it dosn't do is encrypt. Choose the right laptop and you can have an express card or possibly still get PCMCIA.

Have you seen the NextoDI NVS2500? Not saying it is a replacement for the P2 Wrangler but you can plug in external drives to it for multiple copies or for copying from it, to a hard drive without a computer. It will playback clips for verification purposes and in the future will make it possible to copy from P2 or SxS to CF or SD cards. It's very robust with rubber buffers on the ends and small enough to fit in a jacket pocket.

[Paul Cronin]

CF cards now you have my interest. Alister when is the CF version coming out?

[Steve Phillipps]

I believe the Wrangler will do CF too, you configure it when you buy it with whatever slots you want (I think!)
The guy talked about the write speed being as fast as it possibly could be from P2, ie no firewire cables etc slowing it down. Also flags damaged clips, has big HD screen, battery powered. It looked really nice. Maybe the BBC and others there were not happy with laptops - don't know why.
Steve

[Paul Cronin]

Originally Posted by Paul Cronin

Andy at Abel figured this out last month. We discussed it in detail at the release of the PMW-350 at Abel on Dec 3rd in NYC.

I need to correct a mistake in the above post and give proper credit where credit is due.

Dennis Dillon is the person who had the idea to develop the Convergent Design/Sony Optical disk. Dennis brought the idea to Convergent Design and then went to Sony for the proper file structure approval for use at Convergent Design.

Dennis spoke at the Abel December release of the PMW-350. There was a discussion lead by Dennis where this was discussed in detail. At that point I changed my archive method from Raid 1 drives and DL-DVD to Sony Optical Disk. Thanks Dennis you were supposes to save me money now that I look at the U1 and box of disk I wonder errrrr.

Seriously a great method and Dennis disserves kudos for a job well done, along with Sony for being open with their code to CD, and CD as always for getting it done.

Andy at Abel was the beta tester and has done a great job spreading the word and helping people solve there archiving problems.

My apologies Dennis for the mistake

[Alister Chapman]

Don't know when write to CF will be available.

[Andy Shipsides]

Dennis made that workflow happen.. I just wrote up a how-to guide. Convergent is doing an incredible job with the nanoFlash.

Got the first 350s today. Testing the lens now and it is pretty great for a less the $2k.

Paul your camera is shipping today! Just in time for Christmas.

[Paul Cronin]

Andy look forward to your lens testing results. Early in the New Year I will be renting a few to test and will look as always for your advice.

Excited about the arrive of the camera and rest of kit coming with the camera. Charles did a great job putting together a stellar package.

Thanks for making it fun and easy. The team at Abel Cine Tech are first rate.

Happy Holidays to all.

[Thierry Humeau]

Originally Posted by Steve Phillipps

P2 Wrangler 1 Beyond, Inc. - The 1 Beyond Tapeless Workflow Solutions
Steve

That thing is really a beast. I am really looking for a simple and rugged solution that bypasses the computer all together so the Nexto or Sony PXU-MS240 field units are much more attractive.

Thierry.

[Steve Phillipps]

Thierry,
While this thing is computer based one of its strong features is that you don't need to operate it like a computer. You don't boot up and launch the programme for instance. All you do is turn it on and insert the P2 card and you don't even need to press a button, it just writes to the 2 drives simultaneously at the fastest speed you can get and verifies them, flags any errors etc. and tells you when its done. It'll also play back HD files on the built in screen. They are also doing one for in helicopters that'll do uncompressed I think.
We were all really impressed with this machine, and at about £7k or whatever it was it seemed like a good buy for serious field use.
Steve