New Quicktime conversion firmware update
 

The long awaited Quicktime file conversion update has made its way to the Convergent Design website. It was very easy to download and adding the firmware to the Flash XDR taking less than 5 minutes. I first recorded using the 100 Mbps setting in a low light later afternoon magic hour and found that the file recorded as promised. Still testing as I believe I need to copy these files to a dedicated media storage raid to play them properly. I don't have the firewire 800 CF card reader that is said to work for off the card (via CF reader) editing. I do know that my MacBook Pro system drive (5400) didn't like playing back these files either as it won't work for field editing as does the HQ EX series files do from the SxS card. The 50 Mbps setting worked great too and no I haven't had a chance to analyze the difference. More native - XDR comparisons coming soon.

Hi Michael-
Thanks for the feedback! I can confirm successful playback of the 100Mbps MPEG2 4:2:2 stream from the Transcend 32GB card via the USB Compact Flash reader we supply with the XDR. We tested on a Mac Pro Tower and not on a laptop, so mileage may vary.

QT 1080psf24 Support
 

Hi Michael-
We should be posting new firmware shortly that adds 1080psf30/25/24 support in QuickTime. So, you should be able to send the native 24p HD-SDI stream from your EX1/EX3 and record at 100 Mbps 4:2:2 for playback and editing in FCP. I think you'll be very pleased with the video quality.

I'll post here as soon as the firmware is ready for download (we were testing the code this afternoon).

Mike:

Would the above noted firmware also work for the XLH1 & XHG1 30 and 24 frame rate modes?

The XL-H1 doesn't send out 1080 psf, it's just straight 29.97 1080i. The XDR has to detect the cadence of the 24p-within 1080i stream. It will then remove interlace pulldown and then encode as 23.98p from the Canon. That's some slick pre-processing mojo that any Canon user should be grateful for.

I believe with the 30F the XDR will treat it as psf and simply capture as progressive, even though the signal is standard 1080i.

Barlow:

On the 30F out of the XLH1 - you are correct.

With the latest firmware for QT, went into the menu Video>PSF>checked the PSF "In" box and recorded some shots on the XDR.

Brought these shots/files into a Final Cut bin. When I look at the properties of these files they are detailed as HDCAM 50Mbps 30p.

Now whether the XDR firmware detected that 30p from the H1 stream it was supplied on its own (probably since as you point out the H1 doesn't output a Progressive Segmented File) or whether my ticking the PSF In checkbox in the menu caused the XDR to record a 30P file is something Mike or Tommy can tell us for sure.

As or the XDR recording of 24f (23.937) am I understanding correctly - you just need to set the H1 to record 24f(F1 on the camera's selection switch) and the XDR will automatically detect and record 24f(23.937) on it's own?

Dear John,

Yes, as I currently understand it, the Flash XDR will automatically detect the 24F out of the Canon XL H1 and record 24F (24p).

This specific feature is discussed in the release notes for the current release.


Correction:

Please note that Mike Schell, in his post below, has corrected my post.

I am sorry for the error.

As I understand it, the above statement will be correct when the 24p pulldown feature is enabled.

1080psf Clarification
 

Sorry for the confusion on the psf support. Currently, the XDR does not support progressive frame processing on the XL-H1 operating in 24F mode. In the mode, the HD-SDI signal is actually 1080i60. So we need to add the 24p pulldown removal before we can properly record 24p frame cadence. This is planned for next month.

With respect to the 30F mode, I am not sure if the HD-SDI out of the Canon XL-H1 is 1080i60 or 1080psf30, they both look identical on the HD-SDI bus. I have a call into Canon requesting clarification.

On the XDR, you do have the option of setting the psf-in flag. If this is enabled, we will automatically combine the two "fields" into one progressive frame and compress accordingly. I am not sure if this is the proper mode of compression for the 30F mode. Maybe someone could try a shot with and without the psf-in option set. You should may be able to see the difference visually.

On the Sony EX1/EX3 with updated firmware, you definitely get 1080psf24/25/30 HD-SDI out. Our Tektronix waveform monitor automatically detected the 1080psf24 (since there is no 1080i48).

Hi Mike, sorry if this was already said in here - I just want to be 100% sure - can I use the Sony PMW EX3 with the Flash XDR and get true progressive 1080 25p at 100Mbs ? How about the slow motion 720 50p at 100 Mbs ?

Thanks,
Ofer

Ofer good question for me 720p 30p/60p?

I don't know if this helps with the question on the Canon H1 30f, but when I recorded files with the H1 switched to 30f and the XDR's "PSF In" boxed ticked, when I then bring these files into FCP and look at the file properties, they were noted as being HDCAM 50mbps 30p.

FCP sees them as progressive files.

Hi Ofer-
Yes, you can definitely get 1080p25 at 100 Mbps using the Flash XDR with the latest firmware. First, make sure your EX1 has the latest firmware as I am not 100% sure if the previous EX1 firmware had this output. When you initially connect the HD-SDI input to the XDR you will see 1080i50 on the LCD screen, since 1080i50 and 1080psf25 look identical (on the HD-SDI connection). Go to the XDR video menu and select psf-in. The stream indicator on the XDR will now display 1080psf25. So the incoming video will be processed as a progressive frame, not two interlaced fields.

I know psf (progressive segmented frame) may sound confusing, but it's simply another technique to transmit a true progressive frame over HD-SDI. A 1080psf frame is 100% identical to 1080p once the additional processing (recombining the two segments inside the XDR) is considered.

Wait a few more days before testing the 720p modes as we discovered a problem with 720p at 100Mbps which we need to correct in firmware.

Hi John-
This makes sense, because XDR would have combined the two psf segments and processed the video as a progressive frame. The big question - does the video look correct?

I'll send an e-mail to Canon asking for clarification on the proper way to compress 30F video: as 1080i60 or 1080psf30.

Hi Mike,

I sent you an email message Friday to make sure you received my order by fax last Thursday? I have not received a confirmation yet or had my credit card charged for the deposit. Just want to make sure we are all set an I will receive my XDR Flash in 3-4 weeks as promised?

Feel free to call or email if there is a problem.

Hi Paul-
Sorry for the slow reply. I will e-mail confirmation to you on Monday. Yes, we should be able to ship your XDR in 3-4 weeks as we have a very large production run underway.