Alister Chapman
July 6th, 2009, 10:08 AM
I have been playing with a sony demo camera that has version 1.5 firmware. According to the Sony guys the firmware is ready for release and should be available very soon. However they are holding off the release as if you instal it, it is possible to create discs that cannot be read by a U1 with the current firmware. New U1 firmware is coming very soon that will sort this out, but Sony are worried that if they release the 1.5 camera firmware it may cause issues for some users that currently don't exist.
The problem is with the new ability to create mixed format discs, mixing 720P and 1080 on the same disc is possible with version 1.5. There is an option to disable mixed format discs in the camera menu and it might be wise to use this to prevent making discs that can't be read by the U1 until that firmware comes out.
My favorite feature is the ability to write proxies to USB memory sticks, or other USB flash memory such as SD cards with a USB adapter. You can write the files as you shoot or simply transfer all the proxies from the disc in one hit. You can also write individual proxy clips. A dummy XDCAM HD disc gets created on the memory stick with all the correct files so that AVID and Vegas can work with the proxies. There will be a series of documents coming from Sony describing how to make the most of this workflow with Avid, Vegas, FCP etc very soon. This will be excellent for handing off to clients for preview and logging without handing over the full HD rushes. The proxies take little space
Another great feature is ALAC. Automatic Lens Aberration Correction. I have not been able to test this as my lens doesn't have the required handshaking between it and the camera, but with the right lens you should be able to virtually eliminate CA.
A further new feature is continuous clip record which gives you a single clip on a disc instead of lots of individual clips.
The problem is with the new ability to create mixed format discs, mixing 720P and 1080 on the same disc is possible with version 1.5. There is an option to disable mixed format discs in the camera menu and it might be wise to use this to prevent making discs that can't be read by the U1 until that firmware comes out.
My favorite feature is the ability to write proxies to USB memory sticks, or other USB flash memory such as SD cards with a USB adapter. You can write the files as you shoot or simply transfer all the proxies from the disc in one hit. You can also write individual proxy clips. A dummy XDCAM HD disc gets created on the memory stick with all the correct files so that AVID and Vegas can work with the proxies. There will be a series of documents coming from Sony describing how to make the most of this workflow with Avid, Vegas, FCP etc very soon. This will be excellent for handing off to clients for preview and logging without handing over the full HD rushes. The proxies take little space
Another great feature is ALAC. Automatic Lens Aberration Correction. I have not been able to test this as my lens doesn't have the required handshaking between it and the camera, but with the right lens you should be able to virtually eliminate CA.
A further new feature is continuous clip record which gives you a single clip on a disc instead of lots of individual clips.