SPEED – RAID storage combines two or more hard drives together to share the workload, which depending on RAID mode used can greatly increase performance.

CAPACITY – RAID combines the capacity of several individual hard drives into one large volume.

REDUNDANCY – some RAID modes offer data protection in the event of a drive failure So what is a RAID? RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. Two or more drives are required to build a RAID, and there are several types of RAIDs that can be configured. We will discuss the 3 most popular RAID options for desktop production here.

RAID 0 – also known as Striping – combines two or more drives into one large volume, which also increases performance over a single drive. RAID 0 provides the best bang for the buck in regards to both speed and capacity. The downside of RAID 0 is that if any single drive in the RAID fails, all data on the entire volume is lost.

RAID 1 – also known as Mirroring – writes the same data to two different drives, for full-time backup. If one drive fails, your data is safe on the other drive. Unlike RAID 0, there is no performance increase, and you can only use half the total capacity of the RAID since all data from the first drive is always being written to the second drive at the same time.

RAID 5 – or Redundant RAID – requires 3 or more drives. There is a performance benefit similar to RAID 0 as data is striped across several drives working together. Unlike RAID 0, RAID 5 offers protection for your data. If any single drive in the array should fail, just replace the bad drive and the missing data can be rebuilt using Parity data from the remaining drives.

Note that the capacity of one drive in the RAID 5 array is sacrificed for parity, and also if two drives should fail at once (however unlikely), all data is then lost. As an example, as 24TB RAID using 4x6TB drives would lose 6TB of total capacity for the redundancy, so 24TB minus 6TB = 18TB usable then.

RAID 5 is a compromise between RAID 0 and RAID 1, providing a nice balance of speed and safety at the expense of some capacity.

Internal RAID

A RAID array can be created inside your desktop computer, if you have the physical space available for the drives. Add two internal hard drives of the same size, and in Windows Disk Management, one can either set up a STRIPE set (RAID 0) or a MIRROR set (RAID 1). This is known as a Software RAID, with Windows configuring the RAID via software.

Many motherboards support Hardware RAID via the BIOS, for instance using an Intel RAID controller that is part of the motherboard. Another method of configuring an internal RAID is to use a specialized controller such as one from ARECA.

These hardware expansion RAID controller cards plug into a PCI-e slot in the computer, and the hard drives connect directly to this controller to configure the RAID. Many RAID modes are supported: 0, 1, 10(1E), 3, 5, 6, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk or JBOD.

As many as 8 to 12 internal hard drives can be used in such a hardware RAID, potentially offering blazing performance and huge capacity, although it would certainly require a large computer case with adequate cooling and power!

ARECA also offers self-powered, external RAID enclosures for the desktop, which can connect to the host computer via Thunderbolt 3. These are available with varying amounts of hard drive bays to fit different applications.

Many users will be more comfortable with a simple plug-and-play desktop solution, and we offer many models from several suppliers, including Glyph Production Technologies, LaCie, and G-Technology. A benefit of using a desktop RAID is portability, meaning the ability to move the storage to another location or connect to another computer, including laptops.

The most popular desktop RAID models are two-drive units supporting RAID 0 and RAID 1 modes, and typically having capacities between 2TB and 28TB. As discussed earlier, RAID 0 will provide the advertised capacity with maximum speed and no redundancy, so a 16TB RAID provides 16TB of storage, but you may wish to use some other means of backup then. Using that same 16TB unit in RAID 1 mode halves the usable space to 8TB, and you lose the RAID 0 performance while gaining RAID 1 backup.

For mobile workflows, especially with laptops, there are very small and light bus-powered RAID drives available. LaCie is well-known for their RUGGED drives in the orange rubberized protective cases.

It may be little slower than the 4.5GHz top speed of Intel’s Core i7-7700K. This was Intel’s fastest consumer grade processor in its lineup. The single-threaded performance for games will be beyond extraordinary. It may sound strange that Intel’s most powerful processor will have a base clock speed below 3GHz. One of the most important things to remember are the boost numbers, Which will come in handy when your PC really needs a boost during gaming, video processing, or with any intensive computational task. The TDP of this processor has a rating of 165 watts. The fact that this processor has so many threads, and hyper threads, this should be a little heater, So to have a TDP of 165 watts is just unbelievable, in my opinion.

This 18 core, 36 thread processor has the earmarks for an over the top of the line gaming rig. We haven’t benchmarked this processor at this time but according to Intel’s numbers it gives us a small preview from their own testing. The 16-core i9 CPU reached a Cinebench R15 score of 3,200, while running an NVIDIA GTX 1080Ti GPU.The quad-core i7-7700K, meanwhile, scored just 966 on that same benchmark. These numbers show how well a performer this processor will be. In comparison to the Core i7 8700-K which had 6 cores, and 12 threads, the i9-7980XE will be a great processor. The Core i7 8700-K has a Cinebench R15 score of 1,230. These numbers were collected from Cinebench’s own benchmarking of that processor. The i9-7980XE has 3 times the cores and hyper threads. We offer this processor in many of our products, including the following workstations:

Tsunami Riptide – Adobe Creative Cloud

Tsunami Riptide – MAGIX VEGAS Pro

Tsunami Riptide – AVID

Tsunami Riptide – vMix

While you are checking out these incredible workstations, don’t forget to look at our extensive lineup of products. There are many choices to suit a wide variety of needs.

PROS:

Works with mature X299 chipset motherboards.

Much cheaper than previous generation.

Support for up to 48 PCI Express lanes.

Decent overclocking potential.

Memory support to 256GB with supporting motherboards.

CONS:

To gain support for more than 44 lanes, needs new motherboard.

We recently sent Dave Helmly one of our Thunderbolt-enabled custom TSUNAMI workstations. Check out the video to see what he had to say about the system, and learn more about Thunderbolt Windows configurations in general. Jump to 20:35 for TSUNAMI Riptide.

To learn more about TSUNAMI turnkey NLE systems, visit http://www.sharbor.com/build-yours/.

It was later determined that an operator would also be needed to go with the TriCaster, and I was elected to take on the duties. While corresponding with the out of state camera crew and the AV department of the venue, we realized that the cabling needed to connect the two HD cameras to the TriCaster was not going to be available as previously thought – the day before the show. With one quick online visit to our friends at monoprice.com, several hundred feet of video cable were on the way to the venue.

The two HD camcorders and one SD overhead robotic camera needed to connect to the video inputs of the TriCaster, which would live-switch the cameras out to four giant projection screens in the four corners of the room. Graphics for the project, including logos, fight cards, and fighter stats, were to be prepared ahead of time and provided on-site via USB thumb drive.

I arrived several hours early and unloaded my gear, setting up the TriCaster 450 Extreme, Control Surface, TimeWarp controller, and two HD displays ringside. After getting all the power connected and firing up the system, it was time to start routing AV cables.

On the way out of the house that morning, I’d decided at the last minute to grab my own Sony HD camera “just in case”, and as it turned out, we ended up using it for a close-up ringside camera. I was also glad to have ordered an additional 50-foot video cable just for safety. We were now set up with three live HD cameras, plus the remote camera. The sound technician provided a house audio mix into the TriCaster to record with the video program, and also took an output from the TriCaster into his board.

The provided cameras had only analog component HD outputs, so we had to run some rather bulky component cables where a single HD-SDI cable would’ve been preferable. After a few hectic hours of routing and securing cables, and coordinating with the audio guy, remote camera guy, camera operators, and graphics technician, everything was in place and working as it should, ready for show time. I spent the remaining time I had arranging the graphic assets into bins and getting all my switcher and recording settings triple-checked.

The Rogue Warrior Fight Championships feature professional fighters from all branches of the military, raising money for the Stars and Stripes Foundation, with proceeds from the event going to help our wounded warriors and their families. Highly-decorated Navy veteran Richard Marcinko, author of many books and founder and first Commander of SEAL Team Six, was the host of the event and was on hand to present checks to several local veterans organizations.

Knowing the patriotic nature of the event ahead of time, I had loaded some beautiful American flag animations into the TriCaster, along with a Flying Stars transition with accompanying sound effect.
During the singing of the National Anthem, the flag animation was mixed with live coverage of the singer as well as the honor guard that was present, and it looked great on the giant screens in the darkened venue.

The event then got started with fighter introductions and it was go time! Howard Petschler, Executive Producer of the event, was at my side calling the shots. Using wireless headset communications, he skillfully directed the cameramen to get the shots he needed, while also directing the switching and graphics I was providing from the TriCaster. I was also marking clips on the fly for instant replay using the Time Warp hardware. Whenever there was a big hit or knockout, we were always ready for a replay on the big screens, with smooth variable slow-motion playback.

I’ve switched many events, but usually behind the scenes without audience interaction. I have to say, it was a real rush to hear the immediate audience feedback each time we cued up a big replay!

I was provided with great-looking graphics, properly formatted for the TriCaster, and they really added to the production value. Between fights, we displayed a “fight card” with the names of the fighters coming up in the next round. We also had individual title overlays for each fighter, with stats, to enhance the individual introductions.

During the intermission, one of the TriCaster DDRs was used for the playback of a special tribute to Joe Lewis, a fighting legend, who had recently passed away. TriCaster can play back many video formats, but if it determines that a clip being imported will take too much overhead for playback, it will transcode it to a more TriCaster-friendly codec during import, which was the case with the supplied video. The powerful processor handled this quickly before the show. At the appropriate time, the video was played back for all to see on the 4 big screens with the pristine audio pumped out to the house sound system via XLR. Using the TriCaster DDR for playback eliminated the need for an external DVD player or video deck.

The rest of the night went great, with the TriCaster hardware performing flawlessly. It was midnight before I had the car loaded for the long drive home, but I was really pumped from the entire experience. I sincerely appreciated the professionalism of everyone involved that helped to make the live video production a success, since it was truly a team effort. It was also a good feeling knowing that injured military veterans would be benefitting from the event as well.

Rogue Fighting LLC Executive Producer Howard Petschler later said, “The event went better than expected and Jeff and the equipment performed well. We have more events coming up and look forward to using the TriCaster again.” From my own experience, plus the positive feedback received both during and since that evening, I’d say that the TriCaster scored a KO!

With the latest edition of Adobe Creative Suite well on its way, weve rounded up a few sneak peeks at the highly anticipated Photoshop CS6. While theres no clear answer as to when we can expect an official release, it?s also no secret that Adobe has historically planned major announcements around large industry events such as NAB. Rumored for an April 2012 launch, CS6 will likely be no exception. On June 21, 2011, CEO Shantanu Narayen said during an Adobe conference call that the CS5.5 launch in April, 2011 was the first release in our transition to an annual release cycle, adding, We intend to ship the next milestone release of Creative Suite in 2012, and it will include an updated version of Photoshop.

The first preview comes to us from Adobe MAX 2011 in the form of image deblurring technology. Analyzing how the image was originally captured, this feature allows the user to remove blurriness caused by camera shake.

Next we get a look at some of the improvements being made to Camera Raw, as well as a darker, customizable UI that integrates nicely across Premiere Pro, After Effects and Lightroom.

Those following Adobe on Facebook may be familiar with the background save option as a popular fan request. Heres a look at how it works, as well as the new real-time editing capabilities of the liquify tool utilizing the GPU.

Adobe has also been working on a few vector improvements in Photoshop. Featured in the video below, you will soon be able to create dashed and dotted lines with just one click, directly in Photoshop.

Content-Aware Fill, arguably one of the best new features to Photoshop, has been a tremendous time-saver since its introduction in Photoshop CS5. Here are a few advancements that Adobe has been making to the Content-Aware technology.

If losing some custom settings during the upgrade process frustrates you, take solace in the fact that that you will soon be able to automatically migrate your settings, presets, workspaces and preferences from the current version to the new version. You will also be able to export this information for easy sharing between computers or other individuals.

In need of a tool that will add blur to any image without masks, layers or depth maps? Check out the new Iris Blur to easily add shallow depth of field to any photo.

The following video states that it was created entirely in a future version of Photoshop. Get an inside look at how Adobe is stretching features across multiple apps to take on a more universal approach.

Want more? Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ to be notified every time we update this post with official previews from Adobe.

]]> http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2012/02/adobe-photoshop-cs6-video-previews-and-sneak-peeks/feed/ 0 http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2012/02/maximize-benefits-of-avid-open-io-with-bluefish444-12-bit-video-io-cards/ http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2012/02/maximize-benefits-of-avid-open-io-with-bluefish444-12-bit-video-io-cards/#respond Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:33:05 +0000 http://www.sharbor.com/products-xtra/2295.html Bluefish444 has worked closely with Avid engineering and product management to tightly integrate Avid Media Composer 6, Symphony 6, and NewsCutter 10 with the entire range of Epoch and Create video cards. Full support for Avid’s DNxHD codec combined with Bluefish444’s bundled Symmetry capture, review, and playback software provides an end-to-end, extremely flexible post-production workflow solution with ultra high quality 12 bit processing.

We recommend the Create line as the ultimate video I/O solution for Avid editing systems:

• Create|3D– $2199.99
• Create|3D Ultra– $2399.99
• Create|HD – $1599.99 (SALE price while supplies last)

Why Bluefish444 is the Best Choice for Avid

Video I/O cards represent a small fraction of the total cost of creation tools and turnkey solutions used in production. Processing of video at less than 12 bit by the video I/O card derogates the preview and master copy of a project. An 8 or 10 bit processing video I/O card thus becomes the weakest quality link in an ideal workflow.

12 bit processing is essential to maintain the original image – be it from camera, tape, or file. Using uncompressed 8 or 10 bit processing saves a little on the cost of the video card while costing dearly on image quality. Think of Bluefish444 12 bit processing as insurance to maintain the quality acquired from an expensive, high-quality camera.

12-bit Processing

All Bluefish444 video cards process uncompressed video frames in 12 bit – irrespective of whether the frame is an 8 bit, 10 bit, or 12 bit frame. Every RGB YUV color space conversion and 444 422 sampling change is converted at 12 bit which is 4,096 levels of red, blue, and green per pixel versus the 1,096 levels of red, blue, and green per pixel of 10 bit processing. Bluefish444 competitors implement 10 bit processing.

12-bit Capture

All Bluefish444 video cards support 12 bit I/O for very high end SDI equipment that caters to 12 bit capture.

Real-Time, Hardware-Based Video Resolution Scaling

The quality of Bluefish444 video scaling is unparalleled in the industry. All up, down, and cross conversion between 2K, HD, and SD is done in hardware on the video card; the CPU and GPU are freed up for other tasks.

Bluefish444 has engineered the highest quality resolution scaling in the industry using:

• 12 bit processing to scale each frame
• 1/128th subpixel accuracy
• Sync(x) video interpolation algorithm with 25 X 25 TAPS
• Up, down, and cross conversion of each individual frame: 17.85 X better quality than the nearest competitor.

For more information, please visit http://www.sharbor.com/vendors/BLU.html.

You can then review your footage in real-time onto the pristine 5″ display or out onto any HD-SDI capable device, including directors monitors and broadcast equipment. With up to 10 hours of battery life from the 2 included Lithium Ion Camera batteries, you truly have a deck and monitor in the palm of your hand.

Today’s solid-state HD video cameras are capable of shooting some incredible images, but ultimately this quality potential is limited by the compression codec used to save the video to the memory card. Most cameras are using AVCHD, or some other variant of the H.264 codec, to compress the video at a data rate of 24Mbps or less, using 8-bit 4:2:0 color. At first glance, the video playback may look quite good, but scenes with complex detail and high motion can exhibit compression artifacting. And then there?s the issue of color detail.

Science has proven that the human eye is much better at seeing differences in brightness, or luminance, than it is at seeing color detail, and that?s why 4:2:0 color is often used, because “no one will really notice anyway.” The problem is that your editing and compositing software WILL notice. When it comes time to do color grading, keying, and compositing, 4:2:2 color produces results superior to 4:2:0, making it much easier to pull a clean key or do precise color correction.

On top of that, 10-bit color produces much smoother gradients than 8-bit color. Have you ever tried to color correct a blue sky, only to run into banding issues? 10-bit color gets around this by offering 1024 levels each of red, green and blue, versus just 256 shades with 8-bit color. That?s over one BILLION (1024^3) possible colors versus 16 million (256^3). I know 16 million seems like a lot, but when you get into editing color, 8-bit really doesn?t go very far. Remember in grade school, when it was preferable to have the 64-count box of Crayolas? Same thing.

So what if you could take the stunning HD imagery coming into your camera lens, and bypass the negative effects of compression, capturing the full fidelity of the video signal with 10-bit 4:2:2 color as uncompressed QuickTime or the visually lossless Pro Res codec? Today, you have the option to do just that.

See the video below for some RED camera workflow benefits:

The Complete Bundlecomes in a custom Samurai carry case adorned front and back with “Atomos” and “Samurai” medallions. Organized neatly into die-cut foam, everything needed is included in the kit with the exception of the actual HDDs or SSDs:

• Samurai Unit
• HDD/SSD Master Disk Caddy (x2)
• 2600mAh Batteries (x2) – for continuous battery operation
• Battery Charger
• Docking Station (and cables) – to connect to Mac or PC via Firewire 800 and USB2/3 for downloading or editing immediately from the Samurai Disks
• Samurai Carry Case – Tough, light and portable carry case to protect your investment

SSDs are recommended for situations where shock and/or vibration could cause a spinning hard drive to skip. For most applications, the inexpensive laptop drive will work fine. A 500GB laptop drive can hold from 5 to 11 hours of ProRes 1080i HD footage, while a 128GB SSD holds from 77 minutes to 3 hours of HD video. It is important to note capacities will continue to increase while prices move downward, especially for SSD drives, so it will be up to you to evaluate current storage costs at the time you read this.

See the video below for a complete unboxing of the Atomos Samurai:

The 5″ 800×480 interface is simple to use, with a no-nonsense, intuitive touchscreen that also doubles as a playback monitor and preview monitor. It definitely has a nice feel to it ? you have to press an icon for a very brief moment – just a fraction of a second really – before it registers, but not so long that it would be considered waiting for a result. Hard to explain, but it just feels right. This helps to avoid accidental changes from less deliberate contact.

See the video below for a complete walk-through of the user interface.

All in all, the Atomos Samuraiis a dream in today’s tapeless workflows, eliminating the need for capture cards and wasted time logging and capturing. Plus, with support for the Avid DNxHD ® codec on the way, users will have yet another high-quality 4:2:2 codec to work with.

The Atomos Samurai is currently available by itself, or bundled with a 10 in. articulating monitor arm from ikan or 500GB hard drive, only from Safe Harbor. If you have any questions about these products, or video workflows in general, please contact Safe Harbor at (800) 544-6599 and we?ll be happy to assist you.

You can also connect with us in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

For a more in-depth look at the powerful features available with NewTek 3Play systems, check out the video below, view available solutions, or give us a call and speak with our knowledgeable sales staff at (800) 544-6599.

]]> http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/11/newtek-3play-in-action/feed/ 0 http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/10/ikan-see-clearly-now-the-pain-is-gone-3/ http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/10/ikan-see-clearly-now-the-pain-is-gone-3/#respond Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:12:58 +0000 http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/10/19/ikan-see-clearly-now-the-pain-is-gone-3/

The new ikan VL7 portable 7″ LCD display has given my video productions – and my career – a new lease on life! More on that in a moment — but first a bit of history about “portable” monitors. I began filming weddings and events in 1992 with a Hi8 camcorder that had only a small black and white viewfinder, as color LCDs were not invented yet. Not only was it hard to frame and focus using the small b/w viewfinder, but it was also difficult/impossible to know if the white balance was accurate. One could very easily get back to the studio only to find orange or blue people on the video tape!

I’ve always had to wear eyeglasses and never got along very well with a viewfinder, especially when shooting stage events for hours on end. Back in the “olden days,” a portable color TV or production monitor was a part of my kit to be lugged around to every wedding and event shoot, connected to the camera via composite RCA cable. Having the larger, external display allowed me to do a better job with framing, focusing, and white balancing the camera.

Years later, Sony came to my rescue by putting a nice little pop-out color LCD on the sides of their popular VX-2000 and PD-150 cameras. No more lugging a monitor and extension cords with me everywhere I went! No more eye strain! No more purple people! The Sony LCD even got a little bigger and better on my newer Sony FX7 HDV camcorder in more recent years. Everything was going great…and then middle age reared its ugly head.

I’ve been “north of 40” for some time now, and I’ve had increasing trouble the past year or so focusing on things very close to my eyes, with or without glasses. Focusing on the camera LCD for long periods causes eye strain, sometimes resulting in blurred vision. Realizing that an AARP membership is perhaps just around the corner, with some reluctance, I got my first pair of bifocals. Unfortunately, they really don’t help with viewing the camera LCD, which is neither close enough for the bifocal lens to work, nor far enough away for “normal” viewing.

I recently had a very big weekend shooting 6 dance recital shows at 2.5 hours each. In my experience, shooting dance recitals is more challenging than any other event I do. With a wedding ceremony, I can frame and focus a subject, and then relax for a bit before moving to the next subject, allowing my eyes to look around the room for the next shot, but not so with recitals.

When taping dance recitals, there are really no breaks other than a few seconds between each act. I have to focus intently on the LCD image as I simultaneously zoom and pan smoothly to keep all the performers in frame, at the same time riding the exposure control to keep up with the constant lighting changes, and of course sharp focus must also be maintained. It’s infinitely easier to frame and focus a close up of a stationary bride than it is to follow 20 kids moving around the stage when they’re the size of ants on the screen!

I determined that the camera LCD is just too tiny to stare at all day and thought it would be a wise move to invest in a portable LCD monitor. I’d looked at ikan monitors before, and while I’m sure the high-end models are very nice and worth every penny, they had features like HD-SDI, blue gun, and video pass-thru that I’d likely never use, and thus didn’t want to pay for. More recently, ikan released the VL7 monitor with HDMI input which seemed a perfect fit to my needs – and my budget.

The VL7 has a 7″ diagonal screen with 800×480 resolution, switchable between 4:3 and 16:9 display modes. It weighs just over a pound, and one HDMI and two mini-jack composite video inputs are available, with one headphone output. The lower front panel features backlit buttons for power and input, and menu settings which provide onscreen feedback to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpness. Underscan and Peaking functions are also available.

The base VL7 comes with an AC adapter, swivel shoe mount adapter, and two AV adapter cables for the composite AV inputs. A Deluxe Kit is available that adds a battery plate (your choice of Sony, Canon, or Panasonic), battery, charger, and case, but I opted for just the monitor and optional Sony battery plate, as I already have plenty of Sony L-series batteries and chargers that are compatible with the VL7.

The standard ¼-20 mounting threads in the bottom of the VL7 allow it to be mounted directly to the camera accessory shoe using the included swivel-mount shoe adapter so that the VL7 can be turned side to side or tilted to provide the optimum viewing angle. Constructed of metal, the adapter seems very sturdy compared to a similar mount I got recently from the local camera shop, which turned out to be mostly plastic.

For most stage events that I tape, I’m seated on a tall folding stool. This has the dual benefit of being more comfortable than standing for hours on end, while also keeping my head (and tripod) lower for the benefit of folks seated in the first couple of rows of stadium seating to my rear. If I am seated, mounting the VL7 atop the camera would force me to look up the entire time, and would also have the LCD sticking up into the view of those behind me, causing a distraction.

I decided to also purchase an ikan Articulating Arm to provide an alternative mounting solution. I was torn between getting the 6″ or 10″ model, but decided on the latter and am glad I did. Both models have ¼-20 studs on ball swivels at either end, and the arm itself pivots in the middle. If you’ve never used one of these devices, they are just really neat! Loosening the knob at the arm’s pivot point simultaneously loosens the ball swivels at both ends, so you can really achieve practically any mounting position you need very quickly, then lock all 3 joints with a simple twist of the knob, and it’s very rigid when locked.

The arm comes with a shoe mount attachment, which I didn’t use since I didn’t want the monitor on top of the camera. I tried the shoe mount in the studio and found that when hanging the VL7 off to the side using the arm, the added leverage put a lot of stress on the camera shoe and was actually flexing the plastic top part of the camera if I put any pressure on the VL7 with my hand!

This was on a prosumer Sony FX7 camera – more professional models should have more robust mountings, but I learned I would have to just use some caution and common sense when mounting any larger accessory on a shoe. To be clear, there was no issue mounting the VL7 directly atop the shoe. It was only when I extended the articulating arm out to the side with weight on the end of it that I became concerned with the structural integrity of the camera’s carry handle.

Since I wasn’t using the shoe mount adapter, I needed a way to mount the arm to my tripod. The ikan rep told me they’ve developed a universal clamp for this purpose, but that it wasn’t quite shipping yet, so I ordered a clamp from another vendor. The one I got will mount to any tripod leg, pole, table edge, or similar sturdy attachment point with a diameter between .5″ to 2.5″, and provides ¼-20 female threads to connect the ikan Articulating Arm (as we go to press, the ikan “Elements Pinch Clamp” is now listed on ikan’s website).

Clamping to a tripod leg, I was able to securely position the VL7 at a comfortable height, angle and distance that provided the perfect viewing experience, just below my line of sight to the stage. I’m very pleased to say that I made it through the entire weekend without eye strain and was able to work very comfortably using the VL7, in a situation that would otherwise have been uncomfortable at best, and likely would’ve affected the quality of the production at worst.

How is the image quality? Well as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholde
r, meaning quality is a very subjective term. Personally, I’m very happy with the picture quality and feel that the VL7 was an excellent investment. ikan makes other LCD models with resolutions from 1024×600 up to 1366×768, but without doing a side by side comparison with resolution charts, I can’t say how much different they would look from a VL7. If you’re working on high-end productions with high-end gear, then you’d likely opt for a higher-end ikan display to suit your needs and budget.

The image on the VL7 looks very good to me. I see no pixelization or “stairstep” edges on the video or text overlays coming out of my camera. The picture looks clean and sharp and provides several times the real estate of the camera LCD. In other words, even though it is not a full HD resolution, the image is very clean and makes it easy to verify focus, which is much more critical when working with HD. I feel that the size of the VL7 image is more of a benefit to me than resolution is – it just makes a big picture that is so much easier to see! My camera has a menu setting to toggle the overlay info text on and off for the video output, and I chose to leave it on, so I had the camera settings, timecode, audio meters and other important data overlaid on the big VL7 screen, easily readable at a glance. I’ve noticed that some LCD screens in my studio will smear or leave trails with fast panning motion, so I tried doing some exaggerated side to side whip pans and saw no smear at all with the VL7 – the image remained sharp and clear.

Overall, I’m very happy with the VL7 and the 10″ articulating arm. I had one problem at the recital shoot, and this is my fault for not taking more time to familiarize myself with the VL7 since I ordered late and it arrived just the night before the shoot. All of the built-in camera LCDs I’ve worked with always show an overscan image – some of the image is cut off behind the plastic bezel of the LCD, providing some extra safe area when framing subjects.

With the VL7, I realized (too late) that it displays nearly the entire video image edge to edge, with little or no hidden margins outside the screen bezel. I had continued framing my subjects on the VL7 as I had for many years with the camera LCD, not taking into account the larger image I was seeing, so some of my shots are framed tighter than I’d like. Thankfully, I figured this out before I’d done too much shooting.

The VL7 does offer an “underscan” mode, but it doesn’t show any additional image; rather, it just shrinks the whole picture down enough to put some black border around it, so I have to remember to be careful with the framing and leave some extra room at the edges! I’m tempted to take a fat black marker and trace around the outside edge of the screen against the bezel edge to get me back into my comfort zone. Of course I don’t recommend that, nor would I actually do it, but that should give you an idea of the extra area being displayed.

I was using the 1080i HDMI output of my HDV camcorder into the VL7 for the recital shoot, but the VL7 also accepts composite video inputs, so I tried the composite feed from my FX7 camera and there is an appreciable quality difference. The image was somewhat softer, which is expected since the camera is converting down from HD to SD, and composite video is the weakest type of analog connection, below S-video and component.

HDMI will of course be my first choice for monitoring, but I appreciate the option to view one or two additional video sources, available by toggling the INPUT button, when I want to verify what the other camera(s) are recording. There is also a headphone jack that provides audio monitoring for any of the video sources, an unexpected bonus on such a reasonably-priced portable display. While there is no volume control, many headphones have volume control built into the cord, or it can be added inline easily enough.

If you’re working with any camcorder with an HDMI output, or even composite output, and need an affordable, lightweight LCD that can run off AC or battery power, consider the VL7. And don’t forget the ikan Articulating Arm, which can be used for mounting just about any accessory like a light, digital audio recorder, video recorder, microphone, or of course an LCD. I showed the VL7 and 10″ Articulating Arm to an associate the other day, and he is also impressed with the quality, features, and pricing of both items, and they are now on his short list of “must have” gear!

To learn more about ikan products, visit: http://www.sharbor.com/vendors/KAN.html.

]]> http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/10/ikan-see-clearly-now-the-pain-is-gone-3/feed/ 0 http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/10/lacie-lacinema-portable-hd-media-playback-solutions-3/ http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/10/lacie-lacinema-portable-hd-media-playback-solutions-3/#respond Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:12:58 +0000 http://blog.sharbor.com/blog/2011/10/19/lacie-lacinema-portable-hd-media-playback-solutions-3/ A common question on video forums these days is, “How can I play HD videos at a trade show” or “How can I provide video playback at a kiosk for my client”, without having to burn to Blu-ray and use a Blu-ray player? Others may want to take audio, photo and movie collections on the go, for vacations or sharing with relatives.

LaCie, a popular supplier of portable hard drives, has a solution in their LaCinema line of hard drives. There are two lines – LaCinema Classic, and LaCinema Rugged, the latter having a shock-absorbing rubber sleeve to counter the effects of rough handling or accidents. Drives are available in several sizes, from an affordable 250GB to a whopping 1TB to suit huge media collections.

These are external USB hard drives that have AV outputs built into the drive enclosure. Just connect power for the drive, connect to a video monitor, and use the included remote-control to access and play audio, video, and photos that are stored on the drive. NTSC, PAL, and HD displays are supported.

Specs vary slightly between the Classic and Rugged models, but supported media formats include MP3 and WMA for audio clips, JPEG for photo stills, and MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Divx and more for video playback. Video is output via composite (with RCA stereo audio), or HDMI for HD displays (upscaled to 1080p). Digital audio outputs are available for home theater connection as well.

An on-screen menu display is used to manage file playback and output options. Slideshows may be set up for still photo presentations, with user-defined durations and transitions.The drives weigh about two pounds, and use silent, fanless cooling. A USB 2.0 connection supports use with Mac or PC for loading your favorite clips onto the drive, and is also used for firmware updates. Audio, Video, and HDMI cables are included, a feature missed on many products today. All LaCinema drives come with a two-year limited warranty.If you’re looking for reliable, portable multimedia playback, check out the LaCinema Classic and LaCinema Rugged from LaCie.