Thomson Grass Valley is making long-GOP MPEG-2 a new encoding option for its Infinity Digital Media Camcorder through a software upgrade for the optional Infinity DMC MPEG-2 HD/SD Compression Board ($4002). By enabling long-GOP support, Thomson gives Infinity users more room on the low-bit-rate end of the recording scale – the Infinity can now record HD at data rates from 18 Mbps all the way up to 100 Mbps – as well as more ways to record video files for compatibility with existing NLE workflows.

User-selectable bit rates for long-GOP MPEG-2 encoding are 18, 25, 35, or 50 Mbps. Thomson Grass Valley’s Edius and Aurora NLEs will natively support the long-GOP material, while Avid editors can use MOG Solutions’ Toboggan plug-in to rewrap the Infinity MXF files into Avid-compatible MXFs. Toboggan can also be used to check in media in an Avid Interplay or Avid MediaManager system. (Toboggan v2.0 is slated for release this week.) Final Cut Pro users will be able to use Telestream’s Flip4Mac Infinity Component plug-in to rewrap the MXF files and drop them into the project bin. Neither process impacts image quality, and both are faster-than-real-time solutions, Thomson said.

Other HD formats supported by the Infinity camcorder include 10-bit 4:2:2 JPEG 2000 at up to 100 Mbps or MPEG-2 I-frame at up to 80 Mbps.

For more information, visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com; www.mog-solutions.com; and www.flip4mac.com