We have been using the Acccordent Capture Station for about 5 years and really like what it has to offer. It’s simple, dependable and does a really slick job of delivering a video presentation synced with the PowerPoint slides in a nice, professional package.  You can view a demo of an Accordent Capture Station presentation if you want to see what I’m talking about.   “CAMERA ORIGINALS DEMO”LINK

The multi-linguistic capabilities come to life via closed captioning. I think this is really cool – as an example, when finished, a presentation we are working on now will include Spanish subtitles.  The process goes something like this... 

As usual, we produce the live webcast and edit the presentation for archiving.  Then, with the help of a window media file of the presenter and a captioning company (we use Caption City, located just outside of Denver) the multi-lingual magic begins.  The English presentation is transcribed… and a Spanish translation is created.  Then, the Spanish version is timed to the presenter’s speech on the window media file.  Ultimately this creates a text document with transcript and time codes.  Now it’s my turn… I plug the text document into the Accordent Capture Station archived presentation and the Spanish subtitles are ready to fly – webcasting in Spanish is on the air.  Painless and definitely budget-friendly.

One thing I have learned that comes in handy for a number of applications is that some multi-media and video files can have subtitles by creating a SAMI file and posting it in the same directory as the video clip.  The player that plays the media file searches for the like named .smi file and displays the captions. 

And there you have it – multi-linguistic webcasting made simple and affordable through the Accordent Capture Station.  Just add closed captioning and the language of your choice and be connected to the World!

However, there are so many choices and technology is changing so fast that it is important to us that the remaining rental houses survive and flourish here in Chicago.  One of our great rental resources here in Chicago is of course Fletcher Camera who has always been at the forefront of the technology curve.  Though they have primarily left the traditional 2/3” television market they are an excellent resource for the “film-style” cinema video market and an important resource for us when jobs require.  To compare those cameras Fletcher Chicago has come up with a handy chart comparison.

http://www.fletch.com/2012_camera_comparison_chart.html

There is a camera out there for virtually every application you can think of.  Many of you know that we at Camera Originals have never shied away from buying and maintaining quality camera equipment that keep budgets in line yet give you high-quality results.  Newer Cameras like the Panasonic 4/3” AF100 and Sony F3 have been added to our arsenal to keep bringing you those results.  We are also keeping our eye on the recently introduced Canon C300 which looks to keep the completion on its toes and hope to have a comparison in a future blog. 

So how many cameras can you possibly own?  As many as you can possibly afford…

Over the years, the AVID upgrade path has not always been as timely as I would like… but when the upgrade is finally released,  it’s always consistent, with each new version being a step up from the last.  I am glad we have stood by AVID, especially in light of the latest FCP upgrades that have been, for lack of a better word… questionable.

The first thing I want to say is how well AVID Symphony v6.0 loaded.  There were no issues at all uninstalling the old version and reinstalling the new – even the software dongle update went well. Calling AVID and getting the new license codes for Boris, AVID-DVD by Sonic, and AVID FX that came with this version was the hardest part of the AVID upgrade… and even that was painless.

Right from the start I could tell that this AVID upgrade was definitely worth the time and money spent.  AVID v6.0 is faster – I’m sure this speed increase was due in part to the AVID software upgrade…  upgrading  our new AVID computer hardware didn’t hurt.  We purchased an HP z800 Dual 6 core, running Windows 7/64 bit.  It’s a really nice machine and after using this computer for awhile, I have gotten used to it and really do like Windows 7!  So much so that I have installed it on several other machines here at the office.

The move to 64-bit processing for the AVID Symphony v6.0 editing system was way overdue.  Scrubbing the timeline works better… rendering is faster… everything about AVID v6.0 seemed to work quicker and smoother.  I no longer feel like the processor is trying to keep up with the editing.  We’ve been using AVID v6.0 only a short time so I will keep you updated on our progress.  Hopefully the "honeymoon" phase will last much longer than a Kardashian marriage.

The look of AVID v6.0 is more contemporary and definitely has a new feel to it, with a couple really cool things that I noticed right away:  Color – there is color identification available for clips and some of the buttons have color (first photo);  No more Superbins – they’ve been replaced with a way-better single bin that can be created and shows all bins as tabs (second photo).

AVID Symphony v6.0 also has updated capabilities with AMA… 3D editing… plus the ability to handle more codecs natively, including a DNxHD 4:4:4. There are, for instance, new transcode codec's available VC1, AVC-Intra, and XDCAM. 

I know there are many more new things to find and learn about but I have not gotten that far in my trials of the AVID v6.0 software.  Specifically, I am going to investigate if it really will read and write Apple Pro-Res files… we’ll see…  

As I work with more projects and spend more time with the v6.0 system, I'm sure I will have more thoughts and observations on this latest AVID upgrade to share… and you can be sure that I will keep you posted.

It’s no news that the image quality of cameras is increasing at a rapid rate but capturing that quality image to a convenient, user friendly and portable device has been a bit more challenging.  Cameras like Panasonic’s top line HPX 3700 and Sony’s F3 are capable of outputting to an un-compressed dual-link 4:4:4 signal but the camera itself is not able to record that signal internally.  There have been options out there but many of them have been expensive, bulky and created complex workflows.  There are several advantages to the increased resolution uncompressed 4:4:4 recording but one of the biggest is SFX and green screen post work graphics. 

We have spent a little time and effort researching options to bring clients a cost affordable solution for everyday use.  Testing several digital recorders like the Sound Devices PIX220, the Cinedeck EX and  AJA Ki Pro’s,  all quality products by the way, but each was lacking some specific features.

The AJA Ki Pro and Ki Pro mini have been extremely popular can only record 4:2:2 in Apple Codex, perfect for final cut users but not a great option for Avid editing.  The Sound Devices PIX220 is light-weight, records in a wide variety of codex and has an extremely user friendly menu and 4.5” screen that can double as an on camera monitor.  It is easy to see why it is selling rapidly but if you are looking to step-up to recording uncompressed, sadly there is again no option. 

The Cinedeck EX however has the solution to recording uncompressed 4:4:4 video to a wide variety of codex best suited to the NLE system you are using, though it should be noted that the MXF option was not yet active in the one we tested.  It has a large user-friendly interface that also doubles as a monitor with live picture, playback/record and waveform/vector scope.  It is an impressive well planned piece of equipment but on the downside it is large and requires a lot of power making it very difficult to use in any portable environment.

That brings us to what we, at Camera Originals, believe is the best overall solution for capturing the full potential of 4:4:4 dual link capable cameras, the Gemini 4:4:4 from the makers of the hugely successful Nano Flash. Low power, light-weight, small size and low cost the Gemini meets our requirements to bring you the highest quality on site recording to meet the demand.  Instead of locking you into a codex that may not be favorable to your NLE the Gemini records fully un-compressed 10 bit 4:4:4 to the DPX file format which can be trans-coded into any NLE system with no loss in resolution.  The Gemini records to 2 removable SSD drives that can hold up to 84 min @ 108024P each.  The drives can be quickly downloaded with an esata docking station that comes with the unit.  The 5” touch screen menu is bright and also makes for a high quality on camera monitor that is just the right size to fit nearly any camera still giving you the freedom to move.   It can also be used to up-convert a 4:2:2 signal to 4:4:4 using a weighted average of nearby pixels creating the highest quality possible.  It can fully support Sony’s S Log and Arri C Log, has the ability to upgrade to 3D dual record in one unit and other upgrades on the way.

For more info visit www.convergent-design.com  or let us bring you a demo to show you the quality and convenience, this powerful piece of equipment brings a new level of imaging into your grasp.

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