REVIEW:  Fast Forward Video Sidekick HD Recorder/Monitor

PREFACE:  The ProRes Dilemma

Let’s start this review off by dispelling a long-held rumor.  I’m a PC guy, just always have been, and after reviewing just about every PC NLE at least once, I have settled on Adobe Premiere Pro (and the CS 5.5 suite) as my editor of choice.  Not too long ago, I had a freelance client that absolutely insisted on Apple ProRes files for the output of a project.  Unfortunately, Apple does not allow PCs to write ProRes files, and at the time PC’s couldn’t read them either.

Fast-forward a few months:  Imagine my dismay as I walked the aisles of NAB 2011, looking at all kinds of new recording devices from Aja, Atomos, Sound Devices and others that promised long recording times and transfer speeds – yet the catch was:  Only records in Apple ProRes.

So when I was offered the opportunity to review the Fast Forward Video Sidekick HD combination video recorder and camera-top monitor, I was distressed to think that I could shoot the footage, but couldn’t edit it.  So I put the question to my colleagues on the Vidpro listserv – can PC Premiere Pro play back ProRes?  My pal (and fellow Wisconsinite) Steve Oakley FTP’ed me a few Apple clips that seemed to work, so I went ahead and received the Sidekick HD.  And I can now say with 100% certainty – Adobe Premiere Pro 5.5 can play back Apple ProRes files, even happily combining them on the same timeline with just about any other type of clip you want to add – .AVI, .M2T, Photoshop files, Canon 50Mb, Sony 35Mb, After Effects comps, you name it.  (The theory is that the ProRes playback capability came along with one of the many Quicktime updates Apple shoots out.  Hey, who knew?)

The One Collaboration I Need Adobe To Make

Hey folks, been gone a while, but it’s fall and time to get back in the swing of things.  One of the interesting side-effects of writing for PVC is that I am on just about every PR person’s mail list.  Usually these missives are easy to toss to the side, but the other day I got one from Adobe, talking up their presence at IBC 2011 in Amsterdam (for the record, IBC is the international version of NAB, held in early September every year.)  As a long-time Premiere Pro and CS-suite convert, I paid a little bit more attention to this one than average.  Unfortunately, I neglected to save the URL, but the gist of it was this:

Createasphere and NAB Show Team to Host Entertainment Technology Gathering in NYC

BURBANK, CA - Createasphere, a global community builder for the entertainment technology industry, has announced that it has entered into an agreement with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to promote “NAB Show Day” at Createasphere’s East Coast gathering in September.  The new collaboration unites the NAB Show - the world’s largest event covering filmed entertainment and the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums - with Createasphere’s Entertainment Technology Expo NY, set for September 20 and 21, 2011, in Manhattan at the New Yorker Hotel. This gathering of content creators is returning to New York for its fourth year and features panels and conversations with industry luminaries, a full exhibition area, educational sessions and dynamic networking opportunities.

Blackmagic Design at NAB 2011 Part 2

Blackmagicdesign Hyperdeck Products from ProVideo Coalition on Vimeo.

The extended death of tape continues.  Blackmagic Designs gives us a look at the Hyperdeck line.  Again, the audio is pretty rough, but the info is good enough to share.

Blackmagic Design at NAB2011 Part 1

Blackmagicdesign from ProVideo Coalition on Vimeo.

Here’s a quick look at Blackmagic Davinci Resolve 8, including discussion of its new XML capabilities to ease the workflow with Final Cut Pro. A combination of a loud room and a hoarse throat doesn’t help the audio, but the info is good enough to share anyway.  Enjoy!

NAB 2011 - Odds ‘N’ Ends

Chromaticity plot of NorthernLights LEDs. Triangle is Sony F23’s gamut.

The chart at the top of the page shows the chromaticity coordinates of the wide-gamut LEDs used in the DSC Labs NorthernLights chart at the end of this video clip. The LEDs get around the problem of making highly-saturated reflective patches and allow you to test the limits of a camera’s saturated-color handling ability.

NAB 2011 - Plasma Lights, and The Problem With LEDs

The Photon Beard Nova, and what’s at its heart.

Here’s the coolest “new thing” in lighting I saw at the show: Photon Beard’s Nova, a focusable Fresnel-type instrument using a LEP (light-emitting plasma). It’s unlike any other lighting instrument we use—other than the sun—in that it doesn’t pass electricity directly through the light-giving element (tungsten filament, diode junction, rarefied gas surrounded by phosphors, carbon arc, etc.).

NAB 2011 - SCCE Charts

SCCE test director Robert Primes, ASC.

Steve Hullfish has already nicely described the Single Chip Camera Evaluation that Robert Primes, ASC organized at Zacuto’s behest. I just have a couple of comments to add, along with images of the three charts of actual numbers that emerged from the tests.

NAB 2011 - Cameras

The obligatory Sony F65 photo.

There wasn’t one overall theme to the NAB camera announcements. 4K cameras and HD-resolution LSS (large single sensor) cameras shared the spotlight with workaday small-sensor cameras packing ever more features into the same sorts of form factors we’ve seen for years. But Sony did make a leap into uncharted waters with the NEX-FS100, while Ikonoskop’s A-cam dII throws out all the rules, rethinking camera design from square one. [Updated 2011-04-30: corrected F65’s sensor size.]

NAB 2011 - Camera Support

Yes, there’s actually a GH2 in there… somewhere… (grin)

Another NAB, and more camera support kit for cameras big and small. Here I look at just a few things that caught my eye.

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