We (finally) posted the new nanoFlash and Flash XDR firmware. Sorry it took a bit longer than expected, but we ran across a number of unexpected bugs that we needed to fix.

Here's a quick summary of the release:
o Added 280 Mbit I-Frame only bit rate.
o Added Standard Def playback from the CF card out of nanoFlash (SDI output only).
o Added compatibility with XDCAM Optical Equipment (50 Mbit bit rate only).
o Added compatibility with Sony XDCAM Transfer (2.10.0 or better) software plug-in for Final Cut Pro (50 Mbit and above bit rates). This plug-in can convert .MXF files to .MOV (with Final Cut Pro installed or Calibrated Software's XD Decode plug-in installed), and can also preview clips and import into Final Cut Pro.
o Qualified more Compact Flash cards: SanDisk Extreme 32 Gbyte, SanDisk Extreme Pro 32/64 Gbyte, PhotoFast 533x 32/64 Gbyte. See updated user manual for complete list.
o *** Improved write and read performance to all Compact Flash cards.
o Added 18 Mbit 4:2:0 full raster proxy bit rate option.
o Added timecode jam sync via the LTC input.
o Added HDMI input color setting menu option, default is full (for camera sources) or legalized (for computer or game box video sources, for example).
o Added increased fast forward rate options: now 2x, 4x, or 6x. A progress bar on the lcd screen indicates selected speed. Maximum possible rates are dependent on card speeds and bit rate. Generally:
> to 50 Mbit bit rate: max rate = 6x (SanDisk Extreme 3: 4x)
> 100 Mbit: max rate = 4x (SanDisk Extreme, Extreme 3: 2x)
> 140 / 160 Mbit: max rate = 2x (SanDisk Extreme 3: 1x)
> 220 / 280 Mbit: 1x only
Fast forward beyond a tolerable rate can result in distortion, play may need to be re-started.

o Improved locking to Standard Def signals.
o Added 1080p24 true 24 frame rate for Quicktime recording.
o Added warning to lcd screen if input is lost (and subsequently recovered ) at any time during record. An “intermittent source” message will stay on screen til power is removed from nanoFlash.
o Changed “PSF In” and “PSF Out” menu descriptions to “Record PSF->Progressive” and “Play Progressive->PSF”, with the same functionality.
o Repaired audio problem in Sony Vegas with nanoFlash MXF files. Previously, audio channel 2 in MXF files would sometimes go awry within Vegas.
o Repaired intermittent audio/ video sync problem.
o Repaired intermittent bug when coming out of time lapse mode, which had the unit stuck in I-Frame recording mode.
o Repaired bit rate display during playback.
o Enabled max file size setting in time-lapse mode to range from 2% to 100%.
o Repaired time-lapse recording, in which previously an occasional frame would be dropped.
o Reduced stop time using remote tally to about 1 second (hold remote tally button at least 1 second during record to stop) .
o Removed latency in analog audio output.

Known issues (1.1.150) :
o No pulldown removal option from HDMI source.
o Standard def: audio, timecode out of sync by 2 or 3 frames.
o 3:2 pulldown not working from JVC 700.


Best Regards-

Thanks. Just in time for my new Nanoflash. The CF1 (but not CF2) card eject process launches the card out a couple of feet when held sideways. I laughed.

great job! can't wait to upgrade.

Dear Gints,

A little tenderness would be helpful here. (grin)

Just be gentle.

Glad that I have my new nanoFLASH to test this new firmware :)

Thanks. Just in time for my new Nanoflash. The CF1 (but not CF2) card eject process launches the card out a couple of feet when held sideways. I laughed.

Mine's a real projectile!

Dear Friends,

I try to hold one hand in position to catch the card while pressing the eject button.

Lucy making toast.

Hey Guys,
I am sure you all have tried SxS card changes just trying to get a hold of the card is a bit of a battle and hot swapping is even worse fancy putting the eject buttons side by side that's a real bad design. CD have thought this out better with the eject button that far apart the almost impossible to eject the wrong card. I like the way my NanFlash ejects cards it makes for very quick card changes.

Had my fingers crossed that XDCamHD interchangeability between flash card and BR Disc might mean Premiere CS3/CS4 accepting the 50Mb/s files...sadly the answer is no.

Had my fingers crossed that XDCamHD interchangeability between flash card and BR Disc might mean Premiere CS3/CS4 accepting the 50Mb/s files...sadly the answer is no.

Hi Paul-
If you get the Main Concept plugin for CS3/4 you can use all the bit-rates as well as Long-GOP/I-Frame modes with the nanoFlash or Flash XDR. As a nano/XDR owner, Main Concept has a special $199 price for this plugin.

The last page of the nanoFlash FAQs has the details.

Best-

Dear Paul,

I have just heard that Adode After Effects, in CS3 and CS4 (with all of the updates) will work with our files from version 1.0.112, with the MainConcept plug-in.

Also, MainConcept is expecting to release a free update to their plug-in to work with our new MXF files (in Sony Optical Disk format, as created by our latest release). This is due within two weeks.

Please note that the above is preliminary information. I received detailed information about this from MainConcept, but I had a few questions.

Hey Guys,
I am sure you all have tried SxS card changes just trying to get a hold of the card is a bit of a battle and hot swapping is even worse fancy putting the eject buttons side by side that's a real bad design. CD have thought this out better with the eject button that far apart the almost impossible to eject the wrong card. I like the way my NanFlash ejects cards it makes for very quick card changes.

I agree! Hot swapping on the EX-3 is a nightmare. I'm looking forward to it on the nanoFLASH. Great design and well thoughtout!

Dear Friends,

One major advantage that the nanoFlash and Flash XDR has is that the units may be "off camera" for "Hot Swapping".

Thus, just a short to medium length HD-SDI or HDMI cable would allow the nanoFlash to be de-coupled from the camera so that one can "Hot Swap" without moving the camera at all.

We are working towards having "Hot Swapping" in our December release along with some other nice new features.

As always, we are sharing our plans and internal goals. Sometimes our development and testing takes longer than planned.

o Repaired intermittent audio/ video sync problem.

Known issues (1.1.150) :
o Standard def: audio, timecode out of sync by 2 or 3 frames.

Best Regards-

Mike... a question about the standard def updates...

In the first excerpt above (from your list) you wrote that that intermittent audio/video sync problem was repaired. Was that for HD or SD or both?

I ask that because under "Known issues", you mention "Standard def: audio, timecode out of sync by 2 or 3 frames."

Does this mean that audio/video sync was repaired in hi-def, but that the remaining sync problem is audio in relation to time code or did you mean that audio and time code are out of sync to video in standard def?

Thanks!
Steve

Dear Steve,

The intermittent audio/sync issue that Mike referred to was mainly when our units were used with certain Panasonic tape based cameras.

A specific set of circumstances, with certain versions of their tape based cameras caused us problems. When the problem occured, our audio and video were out of sync.

To put this in different words, under certain conditions, we would get either audio or video for a while before the other would start to flow. This caused us problems.

We took steps to ensure that these conditions would not prevent us from recording properly.

As far as I know, these conditions were for HD only.


We like to release firmwire that has no issues or known problems.

However, we felt the need to issue this release, in order for our users to benefit from all of the other features and error corrections, before we had resolved this known issue.

Dan,

Thanks for those answers. Was that related to the problem encountered when an HDX900 operator rewound tape with the nano attached? I seem to recall someone mentioning that problem.

I'm still not clear about the rest of my query though. Under "Known issues", Dan mentioned "Standard def: audio, timecode out of sync by 2 or 3 frames." Was that a separate issue from the first one mentioned? And does that mean audio and time code are out of sync from video or that audio is out of sync with time code? In the case of the latter, I guess that means at least one of them would be out of sync with video.

Thanks,
Steve

Dear Steve,

One problem reported with a HDX-900 did involve rewinding the tape. The user recorded to the tape and the nanoFlash. Everything was ok.

Then the tape was rewound and played again. Since the nanoFlash was setup to record on incrementing timecode, we recorded the footage again, with the same timecode. So, it appeared that we duplicated the timecode.

However, this was not the only problem. Other problems did exist; and we have attempted to correct these with the latest firmware.

Our SD timecode and audio sync issues are not related to the problems that we had with certain tape based cameras.

I do not know all of the details, at this moment about SD issues. But, as we reported in the Know Problems, one can expect either timecode or audio sync issues with SD recording.

We recommend using a clapper, if at all possible if recording SD at this time.

While it would appear simple for us to add SD to our HD recorders, it is actually very complicated. We will correct these known issues just as soon as possible.

Hey Dan,

Steve brings up a question that I had. When you are recording to an HDX-900 ( or any other tape-based camcorder) ...and the cameraman does a typical "tape check", i.e., rewinds the tape to confirm the recording, does the nano record the tape playback as a separate event?

Sorry if this is old territory... I was unable to determine the answer from your response.

Thanks!

Bob,

I can answer that for you. Yes, the nano does record if the camera is rewound for playback check. As soon as the tape rolls, the time code increments and the nano starts to record. I don't know if there is any way for the nano to differentiate between TC from record mode or playback.

For that reason as well as a couple of other reasons, I currently have the HDX900 output set to "Camera" instead of "VTR", so that rewinding for playback check will not start the nano recording. Of course, I usually check playback from the nano if I have a monitor hooked up. But, if you don't have a monitor available for play back and you need to view a take in the viewfinder, this setup won't trigger the nano.

Another reason to use "Camera" instead of "VTR"...

In the Goodman's Guide, Robert Goodman wrote about the difference between the VTR output and the camera output. The VTR output is 8 bit and the camera's output is 10 bit. (FYI, I believe that info is also found in the mostly useless Panasonic manual.) I have not been able to determine whether the EE output (with the switch in the "VTR" position) is 8 bit or if it is still 10 bit unless the tape is actually playing back. So, just to be safe, I keep it in the "Camera" position.

Also, I record from the "Monitor Out" connector instead of the "Video Out" connector. I use the "Monitor Out" because I have all menus, characters and markers for the monitor output turned off in the camera's menus. Turning those back on requires going into the menus and going to some trouble to turn them back on.

The video output (on the back of the camera) is much easier to turn characters on and off and is therefore, much more prone to disaster. I use that for monitoring since it won't matter if characters are superimposed.

FYI, it's a good idea to save your user data file after making changes such as these. If you have to re-set your camera for any reason, you won't have something defaulting to the wrong setting. Remember, your scene files won't change these items, but a card file might, depending on how you have your camera set to read and write to and from the SD cards.

I hope this helps.

Steve

OK, before someone jumps in here and points this out, I'll make a clarification. The nanoFlash doesn't record 10 bit... I know, I know. However, recording the camera's 10 bit output instead of the VTR's 8 bit output should still yield some improvement.

Hey Dan,

Steve brings up a question that I had. When you are recording to an HDX-900 ( or any other tape-based camcorder) ...and the cameraman does a typical "tape check", i.e., rewinds the tape to confirm the recording, does the nano record the tape playback as a separate event?

Sorry if this is old territory... I was unable to determine the answer from your response.

Thanks!

Dear Bob,

If the nanoFlash is armed to record on Incrementing Timecode, then yes. This wiill be a separate file recorded on the nanoFlash or Flash XDR.

One can easily just hit the Play button on the nanoFlash instead to check the last clip.

We are also planning a record-review feature to playback the last 10 seconds of a clip.

We could also program a feature to avoid re-recording the same clip when the camera is rewound and played back.

Dear Steve,

Thank you for your informative post! I was not aware of the differences in the outputs.

I hope this helps.

Steve,

Great post! Yes it is a huge help and answers a long standing question of mine. I personally don't own the camera but it is my camera of choice when I'm on the road... best bang for the buck, IMHO. I will forward this out to all my camera owning friends.

Thanks!

Hi Tommy & Mike:
Thanks again for a really significant and great update. I am very impressed with the Jam Sync feature. What impresses me about it is how increadibly accurate it is ! I did a test with Jam Syncing my XL H1 @ 1080i 59.94 Hz with the camera's TC Clock set to Free Run. I Jam Synced my XDR right away and then disconnected the LTC in cable and put the XDR screen right beside my open viewfinder screen so I could compare the TC readouts of both units. I ran my test with the original supplied camera battery and my XDR plugged into its AC Adapter and ran until the camera battery was almost completely exausted (About 2 and a half hours). I can confirm there was no visual way I could detect even the slightest variation in Free Running TC's !

When I get some more time I am planning to run this test again with both the camera and the XDR running on DC power to see if there's still any variance.

Unfortunately, the same test @ Canon 24 F setting in Free Run with XDR's 3:2 pull down Jam Synced initially, but once I disconnected the TC out from the camera from the XDR's LTC in socket the unit's TC Clock quickly drifted away and lost sync from the camera's TC Clock. I am assuming this feature can be made to eventually work @ 24 F, since the camera's Free Run TC Clock works accurately when the camera itself is set to 24 F and used with other XL H1's set to shot @ 24 F.

For regular TV Concert shoots this is the best feature ever ! Jam Sync the cameras to each other, or a master TC Clock and the XDR or a Nano to the same reference and voila ! Great for double system sync sound shooting with my XDR or with a Nano ! As we say in Quebec - "C'est tres cool man !"

In regards to the info I posted above about using the Monitor Out from the HDX900, it occurred to me tonight I probably should have included a couple of additional tidbits. Instead of continuing that on this thread, I'll add that additional info on the thread entitled "nanoFlash with tape based camcorders".