Pros and Cons of Solid-State and the EX1
I have recently been planning the introduction of my students at the International film School Sydney to Solid-State workflow with the Sony EX1.
One issue fundementally driving the contemporary cinema industry of late is its diversity - diversity of acquistion, diversity of process, diversity of delivery. And in this evolution we are at last beginning to shake off hierachical perceptions in favour of parralel ones. In simple terms, there's no Best choice, only the Best choice for the project. The idea of developing a Workflow for the project is now a crucial creative process because the diverse array of options can all impact upon creative outcomes.
So it's in this light that we have introduced solid-state workflows and have to teach to our students to make informed and considered decisions about their workflow in concert with its creative imperatives. What follows are some of the notes Ive been putting together on the basic Pros and Cons of solid-state.
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Overview:
The digital recording of moving images to memory cards rather than traditional digital tape represents the future of digital cinema for great many forms of production. This type of recording is known as 'solid-state' as it involves no moving parts and the 'footage' is written directly as digital files immediately readable by a computer.
Solid-State is not just a different way to record cinematic media but rather it represents an entirely new way of conceiving and managing the production process.
There are many advantages to Solid-State recording but there are also significant drawbacks. The resistive impact of these Pros and Cons will be determined by the needs and demands of the particular production in question.
There is no 'best' format, only the best for the needs of your particular production. So it is important to weigh up carefully what your production requires before deciding on a format. Solid-State may be the prefect format or it may bring significant obstacles
The XDCAM EX Format:
XDCAM EX is a new variation of Sony's long standing XDCAM format. Where as XDCAM records to optical disc media (known as ProDiscs which are effectively BluRay discs in a hard case) XDCAM EX is designed specifically for Solid State memory.
XDCAM EX is recorded to special memory cards known as 'SxS'. These cards use the ?Xpress Card 3/4' slot which is common on most higher-end laptops such as MacBookPros.
XDCAM EX is capable of supporting a range of HD resolutions and frame rates:
1280x720 - 24p, 25p, 50p
1920x1080 - 24p, 25p, 50i
What is most significant about XDCAM EX is that it shoots 'full raster HD' 1920x1080. This means there is No anamorphic stretch on the pixels unlike HDV which shoots 1440x1080 and stretches the Pixels by a Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR) - of 1.333:1. The advantage of this is an image with greater fidelity and sharpness.
XDCAM EX uses the same Mpeg2 codec as HDV but at a much higher bitrate of up to 35mbps to HDV's 25mbps. This results in a much richer and sharper image that is more robust for post production manipulation.
PROS of Solid State on the EX1:
- Non-Linear file access
Each individual shot can be accessed, reviewed and played back in camera. Likewise individual shots can be deleted without effecting any others. There is no continuous timecode as there is with tape so there is no such thing as broken timecode often cased by in-camera reviewing. Shots can also be individually tagged and managed in camera.
- Fast Transfer
The SxS memory cards have very fast transfer speeds meaning footage can be copied from card to computer in 1/4 time (1 hour of footage takes approx 15mins to transfer)
- XDCAM Browser
A dedicated piece of software for XDCAM formats allows for individual shots to be efficiently tagged, logged, annotated, and managed much more effectively than traditional tape logging.
- No tape Problems
No tape wear, no spooling issues. No mis-aligned recording heads. No timecode breaks.
- Immediate recording
Solid State recording starts immediately the moment you press the REC button. No delay as the tape spools or the recording head is engaged; recording starts immediately with almost zero delay.
CONS of Solid State on the EX1:
- There is no source master
With XDCAM EX there is no tape to put on the shelf as a backup of your footage. SxS cards are too expensive and not designed as a long-term storage media. After shooting all footage must be copied to hard drive and the cards erased to be used again. This means the only copy of the footage is on hard drive which is more fragile than a tape. It is crucial that you engage careful and thorough back-up procedures of your footage to guard against data loss.
- Short Record Times
Where as digital tape is cheap and plentiful, SxS memory cards are expensive and limited in number and capacity. The EX1 can take 2 memory cards at a time. At 8gb per card this will allow for approx 50mins of record time together. However having two cards means one can be removed and its footage transferred to a laptop computer on location whist continuing to shoot with the other card.
- NLE compatibility
Currently not all editing software systems are compatible with XDCAM EX. Final Cut Pro is fully compliant but Premiere Pro is not; you will not be able to import or work with XDCAM EX footage in Premiere. This should only be short term and it is expected Premiere will be XDCAM EX compatible in the coming year.
Posted at 01:00AM Apr 09, 2008
by Mike Jones in video |
