Nano Nano! Recording From HD-SDI To Compact Flash Cards Then technology began to change. Small cameras started popping up with amazing image quality and full size cameras began to shoot High Definition. Now even consumer cameras do High Definition in cinema modes that mimic movie cameras. As each new camera came along, many had an improved type of tape or drive with its new and improved codec. At Eye To Eye Video, we do hundreds of shoots every year, so we have had to keep up with this ever changing world. Producers want to discuss framerates, bitrates, 4x3 or 16 x 9, HD or SD. A lot of clients have their favorite format: Betacam, DVCPro, DVCProHD, HDCam, Mini DV, DVCam, or HDV. Others just want “tape-less”. We now have a dozen different cameras, but they all do the same thing: take video. Unlike the analog Betacam, digital cameras write – sending 1s and 0s - to different tapes or cards at different amounts (bit rates). We bought a lot of cameras because different clients bought a variety of decks to use with their edit systems. Our first tape-less camera is a hybrid. The Sony HVR-S270U captures to tape and Compact Flash card simultaneously in Mini DV, DVCAM or HDV. The camera is popular here. Clients get the safety of a proven workflow – tape - with the advantages of the deck free world of the compact flash. The tape goes on the shelf for storage, but the $20 card reader goes into the laptop for quick editing. Now we’re making hybrids using our older cameras combined with our recent purchase of a nanoFlash from Convergent Design. This new device uses the HD-SDI or HDMI output of any camera and records it tape-less to compact flash cards. Like the HVR-270U, it can be used on tape-based cameras to record both tape and tape-less at the same time. An interesting thing about cameras it that the HD-SDI (usually a single BNC connector) out of the camera has far more information than the camera actually records to a tape. This allows the nanoFlash to capture the true potential of a camera’s sensor without compressing it to fit a specific tape. For example, we can now use our F-900 CineAlta’s HD-SDI output for full raster recordings - way past the already very high data rate of HDCAM tape, married to the camera. The data rate for the F-900 CineAlta is 135mbps. The nanoFlash can capture up to 280mbps, while also recording the true resolution of 1920x1080, not the HDCam native 1440x1080. The nanoFlash is also popular with many smaller cameras, such as the EX1, because the data on the compact flash cards can be dramatically higher than the compressed data on the camera’s system. Also, compact flash cards are relatively inexpensive compared to P2 and S x S cards and are readily available at Best Buy or photography stores. In addition, the nanoFlash is flexible. It can record bit rates from 18mbps to 280mbps in HD or SD. It does time-lapse, 8 channel audio, undrcrank and overcrank, and the data transfers to Mac or PC. It has universal NLE support with Avid, FCP, Vegas, Edius and Premiere Pro. The wizards at Convergent Design update the nanoFlash’s capabilities online through firmware. A new feature has just been introduced that genlocks two Nanos together for 3D recording. We hope to try that soon! If you have any questions about a the nanoFlash or want to check it out please feel free to contact us at klayman1@aol.com or Eye To Eye Video, LLC (301) 907-7464. |
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