Wafian HR-1 HD-SDI recorder
 

Does anyone know how much the Wafian HR-1 HD-SDI recorder will cost in the UK?

I've noticed you can record the XL-H1's 24F to 10-bit 24p with it, which could make it a good investment for the future. However, it should be pointed that I have absolutely no experience whatsoever using one.

It looks like a great recording device. My only quibble is it doesn't seem to be all that portable/field friendly. I would want my SDI recording device to be more Firestore-like in form otherwise it's a specialty recorder you would most likely use as part of a "video village". That's great for high-end production, but for day-to-day shooting it's probably not all that practical.

And I haven't heard anything along these lines from NAB -
dissapointing. I guess I'll be waiting to get a intel G5/Kona/Raid setup

US, 15000, 18hour 2x500 GB RAID-0

US, 17000, 36hour 4x500 GB RAID-0

Right, at a rough 'guess', that's about:

£9,000.00, 18hour 2x500 GB RAID-0.

£9,500.00, 36hour 4x500 GB RAID-0.

It could be slightly more or less, as I'm not sure what the exchange rate is at the moment. Even though it's a bit outside my range at the moment, it's stil a quite attractive price.

At that price you could build yourself one heck of a PC/Mac-based SDI capture solution, and you'd be more flexible, too. Actually, you could do better for even half the price.

I think ron's exactly right. IF you're going to be in a place that will allow you to hook up the wafian you're probably going to be able to hook up a whole mini edit system to take in the footage.

Food for thought.

The major difference in the home built system is the lack of storage or the lack of a quality 10-bit intermediate format. Think about the cost for 18-36 hours of 1920x1080 10bit using uncompressed, then you can see why the Wafian product is compelling.

I'm a firm believer in a simple elegant solution. While a full-on G5/RAID solution could be built and carted around, I like the Wafian's form factor much more.

Mr. Newman, do you believe the Wafian's form factor to be robust enough to survive a 30-40 day indie shoot?

SheerVideo Pro would losslessly double your capacity for a mere 149 bucks. You can build yourself a 2.2 TB eSATA RAID-0 with adequate write-performance for around USD 2k. Add a dual-core G5, Kona or DeckLink and eSATA cards, some RAM and FCS and off you go. Such a system would be capable of recording approx. 7 hours of losslessly compressed HD. Add more storage as your needs grow. Still much cheaper. Think different ;-)

Yes, it has already been used on several indie projects.

Ron, You aren't thinking Different Enough. :)

Hmm - we're in the XL-H1 forum, a USD 9k cam? I think I'm on target... :-)

I'd rather have a portable unit that could only hold 10 hours. If I have to lug a box around, plus have to have access to electric, I might as well use my PC. The PC means more equipment, but less expensive overall, due to the fact it does a lot more than just capture.

Future Wafain boxes will have battery option. But even today, those thinking that a workstation using uncompressed or 2:1 compression is more convenient, haven't considered all the workflow benefits.

David- How far down that "future" road do you see this being? And will there be smaller raid/price options?

And I'm just getting to the point where I do want to do uncompressed capture, and I have been looking at several different options. Problem is, most of them are neither field portable, or easily affordable. Double bummer.

That is a question for Wafian, we license Wafian the compression, they design the capture software and the hardware that runs it.

This is a very interesting discussion.
I think that Mr. Newman has a very interesting point and I would love the Waifan solution,
but personally, for me, the price, right now, is out of the question.
That is why I am looking at Mac/Kona/Raid solutions.
But I will wait for the new intelPowerMacs to come out and then update before I buy.

I totally understand where you're coming from, David. I have considered the workflow carefully, and I agree, the Wafian/Cineform combo is a great near zero compromise solution. Beats the hell out of renting an HDCAM or DVCProHD deck.

I'm sure the visual difference between SheerVideo and Cineform is basically indistinguishable. That said, I wonder if it's possible to make a virtual "mini-wafian" with a shuttle pc, an SDI card and a tiny attached LCD?

The Wafian capture software is pretty slick, has a lot of tools that are very helpful for on set work. If you can do without that, a Prospect HD Ingest license would do much the same CineForm capture work. However if might be hard to get the required CPU into a shuttle box. If you put in a Intel 955 you will be fine for 1920x1080p24 10-bit.

Well, then how about a CineForm QuickTime codec for Intel-based Macs? Is something of that sort in the works?

What about full raster 1080i? Need even more CPU power?

Yes, it is very close. Wafian was confident enough to include QuickTime on their brochures.

1080i 29.97/60Hz is also fine.

Its not just the PC/Mac. With any Mac or PC solution you also need a monitor, keyboard and mouse adding to the complexity and amount of kit you need to lug around. Certainly for occasional use or a specifc project a PC or Mac would be fine but if you were doing a lot of HD SDi work I think the Wafien offers an excellent option.

Alister- The thing is, once you have to lug a box somewhere, and plug it in, what is a mouse, a keyboard, and a flat monitor? Not much really. But, I could build a PC, and buy a car (Used) to drive it to the location, for the same or less than a Wafian.

Just curious, what is the power consumption? How long would a $100 APC UPS last?

Best,
Christopher

I would think it would be similar to a PC, minus the peripherals...

In essence, I think you're right. But, I think the biggest concern (for me anyways) is that we're talking about 5 to 10 additional components that could break or fail compared to a single Wafian box.

Just to make sure I'm understanding this David, you're saying a Dual Core 955 Intel based solution is OK for Ingestion at 1920x1080p24 10bit?

Theres no update on the Cineform web site and Intel processors just didn't seem up to the job previously.

I know after trialing Prospect on our Dual 3.0G Xeons here that all our infrastructure needs looking at....maybe we'll turn them into media servers!!!

That information went official at NAB, we where showing an Intel 965 running Prospect HD Ingest. Our website will soon be updated to reflect this now that we are back from NAB. A single 955 or 965 will bet dual Xeons because the huge increase in memory performance.

Well this is good news and will probably lower the cost of setting up a capture station. Can you tell me the spec of the PC used? Was it the Gateway system that is being talked about?

I take it the 2K film workflow has no problems with this processor either?

It was a Gateway system used at NAB based on a 965. Yes this is good for 2K work also.