I might be a little partial about this since I was presenting at the Atomos booth at NAB on shooting 3D on a 2D budget. In the presentation, using the Atomos Ninja and Samurai were an integral part in to creating 3D that is “broadcast and cinema quality”.
And just when I thought Atomos had all the bases covered, they reveal something “sharp” at the show for the first time— the Atomos Samurai Blade.
I’m an old-fashioned kind of video guy. I like the waveform vectorscope. I believe the histogram is best used for still cameras, not video. The playing features a waveform of vectorscope and a fantastically crisp-sharp new image streamed along with a host of other features.
Enter The Samurai Blade NAB 2013 from Atomos Video on Vimeo.
Super sharp, super bright, super blacks.. down to the last atom!
At 325 dpi and 1 million pixels (1280×720) this 5″ SuperAtom IPS Panel delivers amazing resolution, super accurate colours and super deep blacks, with an image representation that oozes atmosphere. When you see this screen you will not believe your eyes. OLED seems lifeless and dull by comparison at normal brightness levels – In-Plane Switching technology really brings your images to life!
The capacitive touch panel gives lightning-quick response times and gesture capability. Controlling AtomOS 5.0 on Samurai Blade is silky smooth. Fully adjustable gamma, brightness, contrast and a built in wave form monitor make this the must have video tool for professionals. The Atomos Samurai Blade is the world’s most advanced smart production recorder, monitor and playback deck. Every part of its physical and operational design has been carefully crafted to deliver the ultimate in simple operation, mission critical reliability and the converging of separate devices – Monitors, Capture Cards, Playback decks and cut edit suites – these are all in one and are affordable to boot!
It’s lightweight, tough and robust for in the field operation.
We record direct to edit codecs Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD for free onto commodity 2.5” hard discs at the camera, saving you media cost, time for capturing and of course giving higher quality from any MPEG based camera.
YOUR CAMERAS BEST FRIEND
The camera is the king and today’s sensors and lenses are quite spectacular, we harness large 5K+ sensors on professional video cameras to ensure you get the best from your camera – YES we support your make and model of Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, JVC, RED & Arri.
All this crammed into a tiny fully customized OS, at just $1295 we give you all you need to produce – AC power, batteries and chargers, 2.5” HDD/SSD computer docking station – you will not believe what’s on offer!
CONSTRUCTION
Designed using aircraft grade Aluminum the Samurai Blade delivers durability and portability in spades. Locking mechanisms for each removable part means sturdy reliable operation. Weighing a mere 380 grams this pocket rocket will never weigh you down and is completely at home on top of any camera whether in the studio or up a mountain.
COMPLETELY CUSTOM
We don’t believe in jigsaw-puzzling a best of breed product, we have designed every circuit, coded every function and invested thousands of hours in testing, quality control, design and manufacturing. We do not buy standard IP cores like CODEC’s, we do not lease HDMI/SDI interfaces – we write everything from scratch to deliver you a finely tuned thoroughbred video machine!
UNBELIEVABLY LOW POWER CONSUMPTION
At 6 watts of power, nearly five times less than the nearest competitor, the Samurai Blade is perfect for battery powered in the field operation. Boasting no less than 4 power options including the supplied NP series batteries, DC power adapter for larger batteries, AC mains power and our patterned dual continuous battery system. You’ll never be without power when you need it most. The batteries even lock into place so you don’t loose power in any event.
AFFORDABLE 2.5” HDD OR SSD
2.5” hard disks are the most affordable digital storage on the planet. They outperform SSDs, SD card, SxS and P2 cards in cost and reliability for video use. In normal video shooting environments the 2.5” HDD is your new tape. Extremely low running costs, long record times (up to 30 hours) and endless supply. For those vibration sensitive shoots, around the race track or in the helicopter, we of course support modern SSDs. Bang for buck you can’t beat hard disk for 90% of video shooting.
Like our Hardware the OS used on Atomos products is truly smart. It’s lightening fast & snappy, childishly simple to operate & robust and reliable. It encompasses all aspects of video production, from recording, to play back and review, monitoring assists and even simple cut and tag editing. We have spent thousands of hours refining and updating our OS and have released over 50 updates in 2 years with functionality improvements and operational enhancements, all this for free to all customers every day – we don’t believe in paying for upgrades. You will find AtomOS will be the video partner you can’t live without. New to AtomOS 5 – Alpha channel and transparency support, Full wave form monitor RGB and Luma Parade, vector scope with zoom.
RECORD DIRECT FROM SENSOR
Direct from sensor – the best quality from your great lens and sensor, no matter when it was made. Old and New cameras alike can get the benefit of higher quality recording, enhancing new cameras and breathing new life into older ones.
SYNCED REC TRIGGER AND TIMECODE
Triggering record and capturing timecode in sync with your camera is essential to smooth production with external devices. We have teamed up with all the great camera manufacturers you love, Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Nikon, JVC, RED and Arri to give you frame accurate timecode and start stop triggers over both SDI and HDMI from almost all cameras. We also added a tally lights so everyone knows when its show time.
We even include Lanc and rolling time code trigger for those older cameras that don’t have start stop flag protocols on board – we watch the time code and trigger record when the camera starts rolling!
10-BIT 422 QUALITY
Why record 10bit from the sensor of a camera? Even if its 8 bit. If you want to edit, use CG or 3D effects, green screen or add titles and transitions, these will all be 12 bit or more. If you record 8 bit like most cameras, when the 12 bit or higher graphic is inserted on the time line, the colours are “CRUSHED” down to 8-bit, making the result extremely poor quality! Not very Professional at all. We bypass the 8 bit and record 10 bit colour registries to ensure your video plays nicely with all computer effects.
EASY TO ENCODE FOR CPU – APPLE PRORES AND AVID DNXHD!
Editing Codecs are made for editing video, not delivering video. MPEG is great for finishing and delivery – they are not for professional production. This is post production quality recording on set.
These standards – Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD are read by standard Post production and NLE packages around the world, both are film standard and TV standards, as well as the go-to codecs in Pro Video, event and Independent film making. We have you all covered on MAC and PC.
THE LONGEST RECORDING TIME AROUND
Using HDD at 1TB means we can record high quality footage and get away from the hassles of changing memory cards and increase the quality at the same time. A 500GB drive costs $50 and records 5hrs of the highest Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD formats. At Avid 36 you can record up to 48 hrs on a 1TB drive! Flexible and affordable long and short recording, the adaptability you need in the field, on the road and in the studio.
HOT SWAP DRIVES
The way the OS is designed is very intuitive, hot swap drives at any time without having to play games with the OS. Eject anytime, change drives and even take drives from any edit suite or recorder (even non Atomos ones) and you can play out to any monitor or on screen for review – a true digital deck.
SAFETY FIRST! ATOMOS FILE RECOVERY ON THE FLY!
When recording the last thing you want is to loose the file you have been recording for the past hour, however if you pull the power or remove the disc, even though we have safety latches…. What happens? Well AtomOS is so clever, it will detect the broken file from power outage or removal of disc mid record and reconstruct the frames and file to enable you to recover to within 2 frames of the catastrophic event. This is the peace of mind Professionals need.
AUDIO MONITORING
All audio even analog is locked frame accurately to every video frame, never drifting or losing sync. If the digital audio is out of sync from the camera you can even adjust this on the fly by advancing or delaying the audio coming in – very smart! With up to 12 Channels of digital and 2 of Analog audio always available to view and monitor on headphone jacks or line out, Audio is taken care of. From mixing desks and line out to XLR adaptor boxes like Beachtek (we love those guys), AtomOS covers your Audio bases.
THE MONITOR THAT THINKS IT’S A RECORDER AND DECK!
Pro Monitoring & Signal Testing – Recording included for Free!
Probably the most surprising thing about AtomOS is that we can add functions traditionally performed by dedicated devices. Monitoring and Signal Testing is one such function. Essential for creative setup and capturing the perfect shot – monitoring tools define how well you perform on the day. This means Monitor assist functions to check exposure and focus and calibrate colour gammet and luma distribution are a must.
SHOT SETUP AND SIGNAL TEST TOOLS!
We offer a comprehensive tool set that any test engineer would be proud of – a Full Wave Form Monitor, RGB/Luma Parade, Vector Scope with Zoom and test pattern generator for signal calibration, offered on any part of the screen. You get Focus Peaking with multiple levels and colors for ease of use, False Colour two modes, Zebra 0-100% fully adjustable and Blue Only for that quick exposure check! Recording from the sensor of the camera delivers great quality, however it is a clean raw sensor image and needs to be calibrated and set up for recording on the Samurai Blade. You can’t do that without a kick ass monitor.
PLAY – DIRECTORS CUT THE SMART WAY
INSTANT SHOT REVIEW ANYTIME ANYWHERE
Playback your shots and takes on the fly on set, in the field in a restaurant or on the plane after the production on the Samurai Blade – Check framing, focus and exposure in any part of the footage with the same powerful tools offered by AtomOS Monitor tools. Review each and every shot and take onboard or to a large monitor for crew and clients to make sure you get what you need.
DIRECTORS CUT AND TAG
AtomOS gives you speedy navigation, cutting and tagging on short and long clips with transport controls and finite frame-by-frame accurate stepping. Cut editing is time consuming and usually done in a studio by the people who weren’t at the shoot. AtomOS lets you rough cut your footage, tag it as Favorite or Reject, then save as a project, ready to finish and polish in the studio. This is a powerful time and money saver and helps collaboration on set.
PLAY ANY APPLE PRORES OR DNXHD FILE FROM ANYWHERE
We call it 3rd party playback support, what it means for you is any Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD file from any system, recorder or edit suite can be played back using AtomOS – take rushes from the edit suite on the road in a convenient super high quality deck that fits in your hand.
MAC & PC REVIEW
The files can be reviewed by any PC or Mac with Quicktime or the system codec installed. Laptop review is simple even without an editing package installed.
EDIT – DOCK AND PRODUCE!
The coolest part of the process is the instant editing and post production of such large files in one easy step. Simply dock, open your cut footage or any take and you are editing in 10-bit 4:2:2 quality instantly. This really is a pipeline to your timeline. No transcoding, no capturing and no MPEG degradation or 4:2:0 issues.
CHOOSE YOUR NLE!
From the original FCP to the current FCPX, Premiere to Sony Vegas, Media Composer to Lightworks, our files are compatible with all major NLE’s and we work closely with them to bring more functionality all the time.
Source: Atomos.com
You got two choices if your camera outputs HDMI. You can either go to the Ninja 2 with all the tried-and-true features that it offers or you can get a Connect HD-SDI to HDMI converter from Atomos. They have a choice of two flavors, your sweet little battery-pack powered converters or the Connect AC, an electric powered studio box. The Connect-AC is due out in May 2013.
I’m excited to get a hands-on review on this new Samurai Blade and start 3D slashing!! 😀 Who’s up with me?? Email admin(at)3dguy(dot)tv.
Have a question for the 3DGuy?
Please leave a comment and we will reply to you.
Copyright ©2013 Al Caudullo All rights reserved. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission. The content within is based upon information provided to the editor, which is believed to be reliable. Data within is subject to change. Al Caudullo is not responsible for errors or omissions.