Blackmagic View Assist 4K records 4K ProRes to SD card for just $895

[ChristieEnglish]

When zoomed in for focusing, the BM recorder is not capable of panning to another section of the screen. 

[Paolo]

Looks good indeed but I haven't been able to find mini XLR cables I can use with my wireless lavs...so that is sort of an issue. If anyone knows where I can find the cables it would be great. BH doesn't carry them. Or i have not been able to find them.

Thanks

9 hours ago, ChristieEnglish said:

When zoomed in for focusing, the BM recorder is not capable of panning to another section of the screen. 

Really? that is not good. but if you can do it with the camera then the problem is solved.

[IronFilm]

12 hours ago, Paolo said:

Looks good indeed but I haven't been able to find mini XLR cables I can use with my wireless lavs...so that is sort of an issue. If anyone knows where I can find the cables it would be great. BH doesn't carry them. Or i have not been able to find them.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1132726-REG/cable_techniques_ct_sg3op_12_3_5mm_trs_to_xlr3_m.html

 

Do you mean this?

 

Then a second XLR to mini XLR cable. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-audiophile-quality-speaker-cables/

https://bgilbertsound.com/how-to-make-cables/

Or just make your own!

[wildrym]

I was really hoping for a 4k ninja star annoucement...

I own an a7S and I mostly do Run and Gun shooting, you may think I'm crazy, but i'm on the edge of buying an 4k external monitor/recorder to put it in a backpack/or attached on belt, screen turned off. And occasionaly use it as a monitor too.

My concern with this method is overheating, especially in a bag! It kills the purpose of being low profile with a backpack on fire!

Is it possible, or is it completely stupid ?

If possible, which recorder would be the best (atomos assassin or pix-e5h or this BM 4K) ?

 

Thanks!  

[marcuswolschon]

try a bicycle bag.

It has a clear top (for a paper map)
and with straps you can wear it in front of you.

[ChristieEnglish]

I went with an Atomos flame because I shoot video outdoors and the 1500 nits of brightness allows me to view the monitor in sunlight.

[Andy Zou]

On 4/20/2016 at 8:48 PM, outerbeat said:

So, according to two documents of this product released on BM site, here the deal. It can capture 38 minutes of 4K ProRes 10bit 2160p24 to 256 Gb sd-card (main page of product). In additional spec pdf "Compatible SD Cards" there is only two sd-cards, which can perform such bandwidth for 4K, and both of them only 64 Gb. So, basically you get like 7.5 min 2160p30 files on each card, and they are need to be replaced by anothers. Of course there is growing market of cards but you can't get good option yet, and to be clear - sd cards vendors never release crucial and particular info about this matter, so in most cases we spend our money playing charades with exact performance of SD cards,

I have particular problem with this on my NX1 with bitrate hack (up to 320Mbps), it's very detectable and recurrent. Long story short that Write Speed, UHS-II, Speed Class 10 and so on means nothing in terms of capabilities in real applications, you just need to test this yourself. It's also indirectly confirmed by the "Product Manual" (page 20) on BM site, where you can see that top-speed sd-cards can't perform 4K, but only 1080p or even only 1080i but that cards have all the logos like UHS-II and so on.

So for me it might be good but right now it's very dependable of unknown performance and capabilities of sd-cards. I think that it's easier to rely on SSD-based recorders, which didn't so limited on space, file lenght, bandwidth and also fine ssds cheaper of superfast sd-cards

I was onsite for NoFilmSchool and actually talked to the SoundDevices guy about this specifically!  I asked him whether he felt threatened by the development of a sub1k 4k monitor-recorder, since they have the Pix-E series, which I own.  He says no, because he was wondering about the feasability of Prores 4K being recorded to SD cards reliably.  Also, the PIX-E is fully kitted out with scopes et al and is super rugged.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I saw a great video of a VD Pix recorder being run over repeatedly by a truck, then picked up and used like nothing had even happened. Their speed drive SSD enclosures are so smart, too. If I ever get around to picking up an external 4K recorder, it'll be one of theirs. 

[marcuswolschon]

the pix e5   may be a good recorder but the media they use is not much better then SD cards.

you get 2.5" SSDs anywhere and can use HDDs for fullhd but where do you get enough m.2 for a long night of shooting?

[TheRenaissanceMan]

32 minutes ago, marcuswolschon said:

the pix e5   may be a good recorder but the media they use is not much better then SD cards.

you get 2.5" SSDs anywhere and can use HDDs for fullhd but where do you get enough m.2 for a long night of shooting?

No idea what you're on about.

In terms of price, capacity, and speed, SSDs are the best media available. Plus the enclosures Video Devices use double as USB 3.0 drives, which makes offloading fast and painless.

[marcuswolschon]

3 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

No idea what you're on about.

In terms of price, capacity, and speed, SSDs are the best media available. Plus the enclosures Video Devices use double as USB 3.0 drives, which makes offloading fast and painless.

 

I mean:

Where do you rent an additional of 2x960GB in M.2 (assuming you have spare caddies)  in a major city?

you get 2.5" SSDs everywhere but you don't get these M.2 SSDs the Pix use at any rental house or corner electronics shop.

 

Why offload?

I attach my Atomos drives into an enclosure for multiple drives and work from them. Then make a backup when I'm done and have delivered a teaser/preview/daily.

 

[theSUBVERSIVE]

On 4/20/2016 at 9:48 PM, outerbeat said:

I have particular problem with this on my NX1 with bitrate hack (up to 320Mbps), it's very detectable and recurrent. Long story short that Write Speed, UHS-II, Speed Class 10 and so on means nothing in terms of capabilities in real applications, you just need to test this yourself. It's also indirectly confirmed by the "Product Manual" (page 20) on BM site, where you can see that top-speed sd-cards can't perform 4K, but only 1080p or even only 1080i but that cards have all the logos like UHS-II and so on.

There are two type of Speed Classes that matter for a SD Card.

Bus Speed and Video Speed (Minimum Sequential Write). UHS-II is Bus Speed and for video that means nothing, as for video, there are some standards, U3 means 30MB/s, the new Standards are V30 (30MB/s), V60 (60MB/s) and V90 (90MB/s). So far, there is no card with V60 or V90, so although there are cards capable of sustaining more than 30MB/s, I assume that if they could guarantee 480mbps or 720mbps, they would say so. Which is also weird since ProRes 4K 10-bit 422 should be more than 720mbps, so who knows?