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The biggest problem for editors is digitizing all of the footage from tape. Not only does an editor need to log the tape, but the digitizing takes place in real time. In a fast paced edit bay, this can slow post production to a crawl. One solution is to have all of the footage shot in the format you need direct to disk. Three companies announced their solution at the National Association of Broadcasters convention this week.
Shining Technology, Inc.
Shining Technology came to NAB with a couple of solutions for recording video directly to a hard drive ? the Citidisk HDV and the Citidisk HD. The HDV solution allows you to record DV/HDV/DVCPro in the most popular formats including RAWDV, AVI2, QuickTime, HDV and M2T formats. The hard drive configuration ranges from 40GB all the way to the newly released 120GB. With the large format drive (FAT32), you can record up to 7 hours of HDV footage. The Citidisk HDV 120GB configuration will cost $1080 and is available now.
Shining Technology was also showing the Citidisk HD system that will release in May. This drive is similar to the Citidisk HDV system, but with the added benefit of being able to record in DVCPro 50 or DVCPro HD (DV100) formats. This drive features the MXF file format for recording in the Panasonic P2 format. In the HD configuration, users will be able to record nearly two hours of video on the 120GB drive. This may be the best solution for those using the P2 cameras until PCMCIA cards come down in price. As of this writing one 8GB P2 card runs for $1400 and will record around 10 minutes of video. The Citidisk HD costs $1200 for the 120GB set up.
?We have successfully conducted full-scale testing with the Panasonic AG-HVX200 camera and have achieved excellent results,? said Chris Wang, marketing manger at Shining Technology. ?This camera is an exciting, giant leap forward for the industry, and we take great pride in developing an important and highly complementary storage peripheral for its users.?
Each of the drives has an internal battery that will run for 90 minutes. For those needing longer recordings, Shining Technology also offers an accessory kit that includes an external hot swappable battery that will add an additional 3 hours of operating life. The battery has a fast charge of only 45 minutes, so theoretically, while running off the internal battery the external can be charging and plug back in when finished allowing you to use the full 7 hour of recording space. The accessory pack also has an external battery holder to mount the pack to the drive, and a hot shoe adapter to mount to the entire configuration to the top of the camera.
Both of these units are very light, weighing in at only 10 ounces. And, according to Wang, these units can handle an accidental drop due to the internal shock absorption cushioning (150G non-operational tested).
I?ll have more on this system in the next couple of weeks after the review unit arrives.
Related Sites: Creative Mac , Digital Producer , Hollywood Industry , Digital Video Editing , Audio Video Producer , Corporate Media News , Digital Post Production , DV Format , Film Imaging , Oceania , MacVideoPro , BN - NAB , BN - Acquistion , BN - JVC
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