nNovia A2D review by Douglas Spotted Eagle

[Bruce Yale]

Actually Mr. Jain the QuickCapture A2D does in fact utilize the Anton Bauer camera mounts and is simply not comparable to the FS-3 - a fine product in its own right. In fact we demonstrated the QuickCapture platform and the Anton Bauer mounting system to JVC during NAB 2002 - during the Focus Enhancements association with JVC surrounding the FS-3 platform.

QuickCapture A2D is the only portable, professional DVR in the market today that has an integrated media converter. For this reason alone it is simply not in the same product class as the FS-3, which is built upon the strength of removable media. They are quite different products.

Our digital version of the product platform, QuickCapture, is more closely aligned to the FS-3 feature set but lacks the removable media option. It too is can be purchased as camera mountable utilizing the Anton Bauer battery mounts. The MSRP of the 40GB camera mount option for QuickCapture is only $1199 so your view as to the merits of comparable pricing is a bit off target.

There is sound reasoning behind why we are experiencing huge response from the ENG camera makers and news corporations. I'm sure you can draw you own conclusions as to why this may be so.

[Glenn Gipson]

<<<-- Originally posted by Bruce Yale : If you do not require the benefits of the integrated media converter Glenn, I would advise you to look towards QuickCapture rather than QuickCapture A2D.

There are plenty of inexpensive media converters on the market today if you require one latter on. -->>>

Bruce, I've been meaning to ask you, can the regular Quick Capture (non A2D version) be used as a field VTR?

[Bruce Yale]

Yes Glen, QuickCapture (digital) does have extremely robust VTR-emulation capability. In fact, it is arguably the best in the industry due in no small part to the extensive domain knowledge the nNovia engineers have working with the AVC 1394 command set These are the commands for VTR-like devices. These tend to vary greatly between manufacturers!.

If you have any specific questions I would be happy to address them.

[Barry Green]

Bruce, this VTR/playback option is what I find most interesting about this particular variant of the hard-disk recorder (ProMax DirectDrive/QuickCapture/CapDiv). The ability to play back clips from the drive itself seems absolutely vital, and automatically rules out the ADS/CitiDisk/QuickStream products, as far as I'm concerned.

Here's my question for you: is the playback from the drive absolutely, completely, 110% error-free?

I produce half-hour TV shows, and when it comes time to print the show to tape, I always dread the occasional "hiccup" on my editing system, which will lead to a three-or-four-frame video or audio dropout, which means I have to turn around and start the export all over... there always seems to be something that happens that glitches the half-hour print-to-tape process.

... what I'd like to do is render the final output, all 7 gigabytes of the half-hour show, out to the QuickCapture. Then, use the QuickCapture's VTR playback function to have an absolutely rock-solid reliable output, something that I could start playing and feel comfortable just walking away from, knowing for a fact that it would do its job completely reliably with no possible glitches. I'd want to copy the 7-gigabyte file from my computer onto the QuickCapture drive, and to have the QuickCapture play back this file through its firewire port which I could then record on my DV deck.

Can you assure me that that's the way the nNovia product would work? Can it handle 7-gigabyte files? Does it play back completely glitch-free?

Thanks!

[Bruce Yale]

Hi Barry,

To answer your question, yes the playback and VTR functionality of QuickCapture are both most assuredly "rock solid". QuickCapture has been tested and certified by Hitachi; MacroSystems; Matrox; and certification is currently being completed by both Adobe and Apple as well.

Fundamentally, both the diversity and level of compliance to the AVC 1394 command set is really the true measure of VTR-emulation. nNovia has long led the video capture industry in this area as it is our forte having been intrinsically involved in the development of the first 1394 "Firewire" HDD back in our days with Quantum. As I said earlier we do things a bit differently, but I digress.

"Is the playback from the drive absolutely, completely, 110% error-free?" ...

Yes, we have yet to experience any performance issues surrounding playback of raw DV utilizing the QuickCapture platform.

With regards to your questions about your specific application, let me address this as I understand your workflow (and please correct me if I am wrong!) ...

"I'd want to copy the 7-gigabyte file from my computer onto the QuickCapture drive, and to have the QuickCapture play back this file through its firewire port which I could then record on my DV deck."

As I understand this statement, you are capturing raw video content and editing it on your computer-based NLE. Then you edit this footage to your satisfaction and output it to file in raw DV and then record it to tape with your DV deck.

If this assessment is true, then QuickCapture would essentially replace the role the DV deck occupies. You would be streaming your edited raw DV content to QuickCapture from your computer. Then you would be using QuickCapture to organize your content using our BIN system, placing your seven GB clip(s) in one of 99 BINs, and playing it back accordingly.

If I have this scenario painted correctly, then you should have no problems whatsoever. If I do not have your workflow right, let me know so I can re-direct my comments!

[Barry Green]

Not exactly.

What I'd do is edit it into a 30-minute long program, and then render out a DV .AVI file, preferably rendering it directly to the QuickCapture (using the QuickCapture as an external firewire hard disk).

Once the file is on the QuickCapture, I'd like to use the QuickCapture menu system to play the file, streaming the file out the firewire port, which I would then be dubbing on DV tape.

The goal is to get the 1/2-hour content out to tape, with *no* hiccups, no frame burps, no audio dropouts, etc.

Is that workflow possible with your drive?

[Bruce Yale]

QuickCapture is a acquisition device and as such it acquires content in raw DV format. As I posted elsewhere on this forum, we have a proprietary file system that allows us to change between various "edit-ready" .AVI formats on output.

What you are proposing to do is to utilize QuickCapture as a "dumb storage" device, sending pre-formatted video content (.AVI) as a FAT32-based file to a non-FAT32 file system in real-time. While what you are proposing can be done, you will be faced with one limitation: you can not record additional content as long as the FAT32 file is on QuickCapture.

The reason is simple. Our file system would not 'recognize' a FAT32 file on QuickCapture as a valid nNovia data file and write over the content once you begin to acquire additional video content. But as long as you are simply taking this workflow one project at a time and not using QuickCapture as an acquisition device, then yes QuickCapture will playback the content and operate in the manner you have described.

I hope I conveyed this 'issue' properly. You are really proposing to use QuickCapture exactly backward from what it was designed to do: outputting 'edit-ready' files. You on the other hand are asking to input rendered video content and that was not what QuickCapture was designed to do - but it should work nonetheless as long as you do not attempt to record while the content is on QuickCapture.

[Barry Green]

Interesting. I definitely want to use it as a capture device, but if it has the ability to play back seamlessly as well, that's very interesting indeed.

So, let me make sure I understand what you're saying: I could go out and capture 20 gigs (or so) worth of clips. Then plug it into the edit computer and use it as a firewire drive, importing clips from the drive, without needing to "capture", and without needing to copy the clips off the drive, just able to instantly access them using the QuickCapture as an external drive. Put those clips directly on the timeline (I'm using Vegas 5.0). Edit, come up with a final version. Then render that final version out to the QuickCapture (again, treating it as an external firewire hard disk) as a FAT32 file. Then use the QuickCapture to play that file, seamlessly, no hiccups, no glitches, no dropouts, no faults, and have my DV deck capture the playback, so that I have a perfect copy on tape.

The only limitation is, from the moment the FAT32 file gets copied to the drive until the moment that FAT32 file gets deleted, the drive cannot be disconnected and then used as a capture device. But as soon as the FAT32 file is deleted, the QuickCapture is "back in business", usable for its primary intended mission.

Do I have that right? If so, I know what my next purchase will be!

[Bruce Yale]

Pretty close, Barry. I would suggest using your local storage drive connected to your NLE to edit from (source), rather than using QuickCapture. Remember once you convert the media to the desired output format on QuickCapture (in this case .AVI-Type 2 Microsoft), you can then "Drag & Drop" the file to local storage for faster than real-time transfers (around 5x usually).

Working in this manner allows you to save the captured, raw video content if so desired. When you are finished editing, you can move the finished video content back to QuickCapture and playback as the need arises. Just don't capture again or the edited content will be over-written.

I hope this better describes your intended workflow!

[Tung Bui]

Dear Bruce,
Just wondering what the main difference is between the two. Is it just the analogue to digital converter function of the a2d that is different?
Also can the hard drives be changed in the future if needed ?thanks

[Paul Brady]

Is there a difference if the trade show price is the same?

[Daniel Kohl]

Hi Paul,

The most important difference at the moment is that the FS-4 is not yet available. So there is no way to really compare the two products. Not many if anyone here has posted there experiences with the Nnovia (other than product testers). There are technical differences, but if you visit the web pages from these two product manufacturers you will be able to make a general comparison for yourself. If you have specific questions regarding some of the technical references, you will find some answers in this forum I'm sure.

good luck,