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Filed under: Cameras •Editing •Post Production •Production •Vendor Channels •Sony •

Proxy Prestidigitation

The PMW-500 personifies the Power of the Proxy.

Proxy AV is one of the great little secrets of the Sony XDCAM® HD format.  Users run the gamut from those who aren’t aware of proxy to those who gush about it like religious converts.  The PMW-500 camcorder is the first product to record proxy onto SxS™ media cards.

At a lightweight 2 Megabits per second, XDCAM HD proxy files give you a handy representation of your program’s audio and video, suitable for logging, shot selection, news scripting and rough edits.  As digital files, proxy clips are easy to pop into a laptop, attach to emails, sling across a network or even drop into the timeline of selected NLEs.  Where microwave links cannot be established, news directors even play proxy to air, as a professional alternative to cellphone video. 

From the outset, proxy AV has been a feature of XDCAM HD products recording to Professional Disc® media.  There hasn’t been proxy on SxS memory cards—until now.  The PMW-500 is Sony’s first memory camcorder to record XDCAM HD422 at 50 megabits per second.  It’s the first memory camcorder with Sony’s 2/3-inch Power HAD FX CCDs, the same imagers used on the PDW-700 and PDW-F800.  And it’s the first to record proxy onto SxS cards. 

But wait, there’s more.  Plug in a USB thumb drive and you can record proxy on a convenient form factor that can travel separately from the full-res video.  In early 2011, you’ll be able to wirelessly stream proxy directly to a laptop, even as you shoot.  Just plug in the CBK-WA01 Wi-Fi™ adaptor to the camera’s USB port to make it happen.  (The same USB proxy capability applies to the PDW-700 and PDW-F800 camcorders, which will also accept the CBK-WA01 Wi-Fi adaptor.)

My Sony colleagues are fond of talking about the “Power of the Proxy.”  With the PMW-500, proxy becomes slightly more powerful.  For more on the new PMW-500, visit our collection of videos at the VideON site.

What does proxy mean to TV news?  David Rosch, operations manager of Cincinnati’s WLWT-TV explains all.

Disclosure, to comply with the FTC’s rules 16 CFR Part 255 This article was either written by Sony employees or for Sony by an outside contractor. It is intended for the Sony Channel on ProVideo Coalition, which Sony sponsors.

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