Archives for February 2012

The AJA Ki Pro Mini: The Little Recorder with Big Dreams

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The technology to create instant files directly from a tape-based camera is not new. Many companies have been marketing devices since tapeless cameras first camera out. But as the market becomes more refine, the devices become more intuitive. AJA has been one of the leaders in this market, and their most recent device, the Ki Pro Mini is no exception. The AJA Ki Pro Mini records a 10-bit full raster video to compact flash. It supports Apple ProRes 422 in both SD and HD formats and will give the same specs as the DVCPRO HD codec. The Ki Pro Mini connects to any camera that has an HD or SD SDI or HDMI port. What makes the Ki Pro Mini unique among the AJA Ki Pro mobile recording devices is its portability. They gave it the “Mini” name for a reason. It is the smallest recording device among the line and has a mounting plate that will mount to any industry standard mounting device or hot shot device.

 

 

Mobile recording devices and the AJA Ki Pro line of recorders have become popular because it upgrades you reliable tape based high definition camera to a tapeless camera. For those who want the footage to a hard drive immediately but fret about having a back-up for the footage the AJA Ki Pro devices allow you to shoot tape in the camera and recording the compact flash card simultaneously. So you can walk away with a digital file and tape after the shoot. The portability makes the AJA Ki Pro Mini versatile for both run and gun, on location, and studio applications. Because the unit is small and can mount to any industry standard mount you can attach the Ki Pro Mini to a plethora of places. Also, the benefit of receiving a file on Apple ProRes 422 Quicktime files is that instead of viewing files through proprietary Panasonic or Sony viewer, you can view the files with Quicktime. There is no need for conversion of files to view them on most any devices with a Quicktime file.

 

 

Got a tape based camera and been part of the mobile recording device revolution. What device do you have and what do you think of it?

 

Get That Impossible Dolly Shot With A tommyTRACK

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For anyone looking to increase the value of their production, the tommy-Track is a great investment. It proved to be an extremely valuable tool in the studio and out in the field. The tommy-Track camera, on tripod, dolly system allows any camera operator to get that hard dolly shot.

 

 

One key to keeping viewers engaged in your story is creative camera movement. Dollies, cranes, jibs and tracks are among the oldest technologies for achieving this. A new variation is “the slider,” a compact camera platform that moves linearly along some sort of parallel track to achieve tracking shots and dolly moves. They replace much larger wheeled platforms, are typically operated at ground level, and usually are considerably smaller and more portable. One of these, the tommy-Track, is being marketed by Green Mountain Video. It’s an exceptionally lightweight and portable unit.

 

 

Watch the Crews Control Podcast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To order a tommy-Track or speak with the inventors email tommytrack@crewscontrol.com Mention that you saw the tommyTrack Information Overdrive video and get $100 off the price.

 

 

Sony BVM-E250 OLED Monitors; The Real Deal or Another Buzzword

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With every blink of an eye a new technology bursts onto the market. Manufacturers know this, and often pump fashionable buzzwords into technology to make it feel fresh, even when it’s not. A prime example is LCD and LED televisions. Branded as different televisions both are actually LCD television. The traditional LCD televisions uses a cold cathode backlight where an LED branded television is actually an LCD screen with an LED backlight. In countries such as the U.K. the term LED television has been withdrawn from advertising as the televisions are actually LCD.

OLED DiagramTo not cause confusion manufacturers of video production master quality monitors have started using OLED technology. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. By the process of electroluminescence an electric currents passes through each diode to create illumination. This allows for better color depth and contrast ratios. OLED does not require a backlight and this allows for extremely thin monitors. With this extremely slender potential manufacturers have even created prototypes for flexible and transparent OLED monitor technology. Imagine riding a train and instead of billboards watching advertisements through the window with the skyline as a backdrop through a transparent and flexible OLED monitor.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For video production, Sony has come out with the largest OLED master quality monitors. The Sony BVM-E250 and BVM-E170 professional OLED master monitors have 24.5 inch and 16.5 inch diagonal size. These two BVM-E series monitors come equipped with 2 HD and SD/SDI ports, an HDMI port, and a display port. These BVM-E series monitors also have a dedicated 12 bit output accuracy digital signal process for the highest quality output possible. The BVM-E250 monitor uses 72 watts with the standard HDMI input and default setting and uses a maximum of 145 watts, as opposed to the 210 maximum watts that the tradition BVM-A series CRT monitors used. The new Sony BVM-E series OLED technology are efficient and have great contrast and color. They don’t need buzzwords to flesh out its marketing.

Do you own or have you seen an OLED monitor in action? Does your camera and video production crew use this tech? Let us know what you thought of it.

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