Tech Column
New digital recorder bumps up the bar
T
he thing about the future is that it’s here before we’re really prepared for it. Of course, the future is tricky. Just when you think it’s arrived, it disappears. Anyone remember Betacams? Laser Disks? The trend to RAW and 4K capture, however, looks like it’s permanent and there’s already a ripple effect throughout the industry. Convergent Design, which has spent more than the last decade developing video products, sees that ripple as a wave it can ride to future growth. The Colorado-based manufacturer is about to finally release its Gemini RAW video recorder, which can record 2K/4K Raw simultaneously in either full uncompressed or Avid DNxHD. It’ll take four streams in Avid DNxHD and it can also be configured to record 120 fps. The Gemini RAW is an up-model to the Gemini 4:4:4, but the developers are quick to point out it doesn’t replace the 4:4:4, just adds more features and more options. Convergent Design figures compressed HD is likely to go the way of Betacams in the next 10 years. The point being RAW gives you everything and doesn’t limit options down the road. They’re also betting 4K will be the accepted standard. Even if the production is done in Avid DNxHD, RAW archives may prove invaluable for future use and, because the file sizes are smaller – and memory prices continue to drop – there’s almost no downside. What you get is surprisingly small. Like the 4:4:4, the RAW is a 5.4 x 4.7 x 1.45 inch box weighing in at 1.35 lbs. in an aluminum case. It has two 1.8-inch SSD slots for 256GB / 512GB drives, a 1.8-inch SSD Transfer Station compatible with Seagate GoFlex Adapters (USB 3, FW-800, Thunderbolt), is PC/Mac compatible with a bright five-inch LCD which is sunlight viewable 800 x (RGB) x 480 Pixels and is also a touch control screen. No prices have been set yet, but with the Gemini 4:4:4 selling for about $6,000, figure it to release just a little north of that. The digital audio i/o is a high-definition serial digital interface (HD-SDI) with four channels, uncompressed in 24-bit, 48K with an analogue port for a 3.5 mm output jack, headphone or consumer level line. The device would have shipped this fall, says company President Mike Schell, but the future got in the way. “We held it because there are new SSDs coming in the New Year, and we’re going to see data rates go from the current 250 Mbps (megabits per second) to 450 to 500 Mbps so everything is going to go a lot faster,” he said, adding that the unit will be released in the spring though pricing is still to be announced. “We’re still reviewing pricing every day, I think, around here.”
18 • Canadian Cinematographer - January 2013
Indeed, with High Frame Rates (HFR) and RAW being the buzz of the industry, data rates will be the turning point of many conversations as production houses realize that ripple effect means they’re going to have to upgrade their production gear to handle not just the bigger files but higher transfer speeds. Still, he said, the streaming rates for 4K RAW aren’t as high as some might think. “Compared to uncompressed RGB it’s not so bad,” he said. “With 4K RAW with the Canon at 24 frames it’s about 265 Mbps, and at 60 frames its 630 Mpbs. With 2K Raw it’s about 70 Mbps, a big drop so not that taxing.” The cumulative stream rate is critical because the Gemini RAW can capture four cameras at once at 2K and two at 4K, he said, and that’s also a ripple effect of the disruption going on in cameras. As technology drives prices down and quality up, shooting with two or more cameras is much more affordable. “Everyone is going with standard SSDs,” Schell said. “They ship them to postproduction and they download them and then reformat them and send them back.” Of course, on a feature that’s all going to add up to an awful lot of data Schell notes it’s already pushing change in the industry and driving demand for bigger, faster hard drives and faster more multitasking processors. “When they shot Tomb (action feature starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, directed by Mikael Håfström) last May, they shot uncompressed ARRIRAW and ended up with 70 terabytes (70,000 Gb),” he said. Convergent Design cut its teeth in the marketplace with its nanoFlash product, billed as the world’s smallest, lightest pro HD/SD, which has proven a huge hit with broadcast and ENG. With 5,000 customers in ENG and big broadcasters like BBC, ABC and NBC – which used the nanoFlash at the London 2012 Olympics – Convergent Design has a solid footing. The new Gemini recorder, said Schell, should span not just their existing markets but also extend into the feature film industry where they’ve already established a beachhead with the 4:4:4. Ian Harvey is a veteran Toronto-based journalist who writes for a variety of publications and covers the technology sector. He welcomes feedback and eagerly solicits subject matter ideas at ian@pitbullmedia.ca.
