It's finally reality! Odyssey 7Q v1.1 firmware adds ProRes and 4K RAW

[Tim Dashwood]

This is what the menu looks like immediately after the firmware update. We will be conducting a full barrage of tests tomorrow.


I'm actually most excited about the 4K RAW to ProRes 4:2:2 (HQ) at 1080p. 4K as DNG is there for the future (or short projects,) but 10-bit ProRes at 1080p is what will serve my clients now (long-form doc and music video.) I'm tired of being bitten in post by 8-bit processing.


Highlights of firmware v1.1.105 update include:


New Features:

- Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) 1920x1080 recording/playback up to 30p

- Mix file types on SSDs (raided, non-raided, RAW, ProRes, etc.)

- OLED Pixel Zoom frame drag (move window around frame)

- Improved/Added reference marks to Waveform, Histogram and False Color tools

- OLED automatic screen flip (defeatable)

- Audio meters

- Headphone volume control

- Hide video function (blackout OLED)

- 1.33 Frame Guide added

- Overlays on/off for SDI & HDMI outputs



Sony FS700 Record Option:

- FS700 4K RAW recording up to 60p

- “4K2HD” FS700 4K RAW to Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) 1920x1080 recording up to 30p. This feature supports either SLOG2 or IT709 (REC709) Picture Profiles. 1080p super-sampled from 4K RAW for a superior image.



Canon C500 Record Option

- QuadHD RAW (3840x2160) recording up to 60p

- 2K & 1080p 12-bit RGB recording up to 30p in .DPX



Fixes & Improvements:

- FS700 false triggering reduced

- FS700 RAW white balance tracking corrected

- Monitored image tearing corrected

- Intermittent lines in image corrected

- Cinema DNG files improved for greater post software compatibility

- Improved SDI signal detection



Scroll over the FIRMWARE UPDATES tab at the top of every page on the Convergent Design website and click on ODYSSEY7Q from the dropdown menu. You will be directed to a page where the firmware can be downloaded, with release notes, and updating instructions. An Odyssey SSD is required to perform the update.

[Tim Dashwood]

We had a fantastic time testing today. We concentrated mostly on dynamic range and resolution tests, internal 8-bit vs external RAW & 10-bit (ProRes). I made a latitude test chart out of layers of N.3 gel and a Diva light to give me a 16+ stop range to test. I now have about 10 gigs to sort through this weekend and will post my findings soon. (My initial sense is that 4K RAW to ProRes422 (HQ) 1080p will be my favourite mode.)

[Paul Gale]

I agree 4K2HD is great. Lots of talk over on the other forum.

Would be interested to see what you make of REC709 4K2HD though. It definitely seems to be over saturated and contrasty. SLog2 seems better with a slight tweak to contrast and a big dose of saturation in post.

[Tim Dashwood]

I have posted my test results. The Odyssey7Q and Sony FS700 Tests at DV Info Net

[Bryan McCullough]

Originally Posted by Paul Gale

I agree 4K2HD is great. Lots of talk over on the other forum.

Would be interested to see what you make of REC709 4K2HD though. It definitely seems to be over saturated and contrasty. SLog2 seems better with a slight tweak to contrast and a big dose of saturation in post.

What's the "other forum"? I'd like to read up.

[Leonard Levy]

Tim, If I read the charts right it looked like the Slog2 Raw transformed into 1080 HD Pro Res had fewer steps of dynamic range than it did on the internal recording.
Is that correct and if so why?

[Olof Ekbergh]

Originally Posted by Bryan McCullough

What's the "other forum"? I'd like to read up.

There is a CD Odyssey specific forum:

Convergent Design Odyssey Forum at DV Info Net

[Bryan McCullough]

I knew about that one, but didn't see a lot of discussion about 4K2HD so wondered if he was referring to somewhere else.

[Tim Dashwood]

Originally Posted by Leonard Levy

Tim, If I read the charts right it looked like the Slog2 Raw transformed into 1080 HD Pro Res had fewer steps of dynamic range than it did on the internal recording.
Is that correct and if so why?

It might be misleading because it looks like the blacks might be a little darker on the Odyssey7Q recording. However, whatever shadow detail is recorded in 8-bit internally is likely not going to be that useful in grading, other than to crush it. 10-bit and RAW on the other hand might be able to bring out more detail in the grade.

[Leonard Levy]

Tim,
That makes sense, but I am also confused by the fact that you are getting 10 -11 stops of latitude but as I recall SLOG1 on the F3 was supposed to give as much as 13 stops.
So is the difference due to the nature of your test pattern ( see below) , or is it the difference between the F3 and FS700 or is it just a mystery?

Did you by any chance test the levels on your chips with a spot meter or do some other test to make sure all your steps were indeed 1 stop apart?
I seem to recall trying something similar by layering a lot of ND and found that the results stopped being linear after awhile - i.e. maybe 6 layers N3 were not working out the the expected 6 stops.
That's just a dim recollection though. Might not be a problem.

BTW - will you be at NAB this year - where?

[Josef Heks]

So what was the verdict on this... Was there substantial real world difference in latitude between external Prores and internal 8bit? Im gonna shoot a music vid soon (mostly high dynamic sunny day exteriors) and wondering whether the external recorder is gonna be worth the extra 400$ hire.

Without seeing real world tests, it looks like the Odyssey 4k convert to 10bit 1080p is the best option.. but what is the data rate on that? Is it actually capturing at 4k or 1080p? How much could I shoot on a 256gb card at 25fps?

And just another question ...do you reckon my 2 year old quad core windows laptop (16gb ram) will be able to handle the 10bit prores for editing and grade?

[Dan Keaton]

Originally Posted by Josef Heks

So what was the verdict on this... Was there substantial real world difference in latitude between external Prores and internal 8bit? Im gonna shoot a music vid soon (mostly high dynamic sunny day exteriors) and wondering whether the external recorder is gonna be worth the extra 400$ hire.

Without seeing real world tests, it looks like the Odyssey 4k convert to 10bit 1080p is the best option.. but what is the data rate on that? Is it actually capturing at 4k or 1080p? How much could I shoot on a 256gb card at 25fps?

And just another question ...do you reckon my 2 year old quad core windows laptop (16gb ram) will be able to handle the 10bit prores for editing and grade?

Dear Josef,

I highly recommend that you use the Odyssey7Q's 4K to Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) mode over recording from the HD-SDI output of the Sony FS700. The increase in quality is dramatic.

The normal HD-SDI output, in HD, from the FS700 is 8-Bit.

And the best quality images from the FS700 are the 4K Raw 12-Bit images.

We take these 4K Raw 12-Bit images and preserve the quality using some very special techniques.

The Apple ProRes 422 that we record is the HQ variety, (220 Mbps nominal) and it is 10-Bits, but we use the 12-Bit source very intelligently.

Two 512 GB SSD's, in this mode, allows for approximately 744 minutes at 25 frames per second.

This is twelve hours and 24 minutes (approximately).

For one 256 GB SSD, in this mode, the approximate recording time is 186 minutes or three hours and 6 minutes.

For recording in 24 frames per second, the times are longer, and for 30 frames per second, the times are shorter. I can provide the times, if desired.

If you are shooting a Music Video, I (of course) would definitely recommend the Odyssey7Q and would definitely recommend using the Sony FS700, setting it in 4K Mode, and using the Odyssey7Q in 4K to ProRes mode.

The other choice is to record 4K Raw from the FS700, which can be recorded up to 60 frames per second, but the files are much larger and your recording times are shorter.

I hope this helps.

Respectfully,

[Paul Gale]

As a user, I'd definitely recommend the O7Q too in 4K2HD mode. It's really excellent, particularly over the internal recording mode. S Log 2 gives so much more DR which I'm sure would be great for your bright outside shots.

[Leonard Levy]

I did some testing on this recently and as others have attested the downrez from 4K 12Bit raw to HD is very very clean and naturally sharp. It looked quite a bit better than the F3. the 7Q output was very sharp even with the detail completely off while the F3 just looked soft with detail off. My guess is it would uprez to 4K very well.
My only disappointment was that the FS700 doesn't give you access to all its gamma options in 4K Raw. you get sLog 2 which many of my clients don't want to deal with, 709 800% (think that's what its called - just looks like a brighter sLog2 and isn't the same as that gamma in an F5 or 55) and straight 709. I would like to have access to the cinegammas.
Are the LUTs available for this yet? That might help.

[Josef Heks]

Thanks so much for all that info. 7Q sounds great!
So what would be my best option (apart from shooting 4k raw - too much data to manage for an out-in-the-field shoot), if I wanted to shoot higher frame rates with the best possible latitude? Dont need to go above 1080p res, but latitude is most important to me. Being a music vid will be shooting a lot of higher frame rates.

Also interested in the LUT question which was asked above..