Enables Playlisting, RS-422 Deck Control, and More in Bid to Be VTR Replacement
Cinedeck announced a July 1 release for v4.2 of its software, with new features including playlists, RS-422 deck control, LUT shaders, H.264 streaming, burn-ins, and closed-caption recording. The new update will also add ARRIRAW as a recording format along with new stereoscopic 3D recording modes.
The company touted the new update, which was demonstrated at this year's NAB, as making its RX and MX file-based recorders cost-effective replacements for traditional tape decks. Pricing starts at $9,495 per play/record channel on the Cindeck RX3G and $13,499 per play/record channel on the Cinedeck MX.
Fotokem, Modern VIdeo Film, Nickelodeon are early users of the v4.2 software as a VTR replacement, Cinedeck said,
“FotoKem is highly-active in HD and 2K film and tape transfers to file-based media, and this latest v4.2 software upgrade allows the Cinedeck recorders to play fundamental roles within both workflows,” said Paul Chapman, senior VP of technology at FotoKem, in a prepared statement. “Compared to other products, we decided Cinedeck MX and RX3G with the latest deck control functions offered the most extensive feature set for the best price."
Here's Cinedeck's summary of the new features in v4.2 of its software.
Playlisting: Harnessing the non-linear editor built-in to the Cinedeck interface, editors or machine room operators can select multiple clips, and play them in a desired sequence with clean cuts. Cinedeck's playlist function allows the arrangement of clips in any order, from any folder and from any compatible format. Additionally, the playlist functions enable users to set in- and out-points on a clip to create sub-clips, which can be included in a playlist.
Enhanced RS-422 Deck Control: The latest RS-422 enhancements allow Cinedeck RX and MX to directly control, or be controlled by, other devices in a "machine-to-machine" editing mode, where Cinedeck is the recorder or the player capable of creating instant, non-linear assemble-edits using file-based media. Uniquely, the interface of a remote tapedeck can be emulated on the Cinedeck screen, giving users complete control of a tapedeck via the RX or MX. Two channels of RS-422 control with the RX, and four channels of deck control with the MX, allow the recorders to be deployed in a range of master and slave configurations with nonlinear editing systems, outboard controllers and tapedecks.
LUT Shaders: Users can import and apply LUTs (Look Up Tables) non-destructively in realtime, and view the results via the on-board display on the RX and MX devices, or on output monitors. Users also have the option of recording the master and/or proxy files with LUTs applied.
Segment Record: Also known as “user-defined chunking”, Segment Record allows long recordings to be split into segments of specific shorter duration. During a recording, each time the specified duration is reached, the current file is closed and the next segment file begins. Segments can be fully-accessed for playing, copying, and transfer to a SAN. Breaking large recordings into smaller pieces also allows the use of auxiliary storage devices that have file size limits.
Enhanced Burn-in Options: The new v4.2 release allows users to select from a range of burn-in options including timecode, file names and LUT names. The ability to burn-in additional data, such as GPS coordinates, will be released in subsequent software updates. New character overlay tools allow users to control the horizontal and vertical position of character overlays, as well as character size, foreground and background colors for each channel independently.
Closed Caption Support: Version 4.2 software supports the recording and playback of standard CEA-608 and CEA-708 'DTV' Closed Caption data in MOV-wrapped recordings. Closed captions in Op1A MXF, AFD and V-chip will be supported in a 4.2 maintenance release.
H.264 Streaming, Extended Encoder Audio Support and more: Cinedeck has added extra H.264 encoding profiles, and MP4-wrapped H.264 is now streamable. Advances in audio recording include support for MOV-wrapped with interleaved audio, mono audio or separate WAV audio files, and input-to-file channel remapping. Other enhancements include 10bit to 8bit video input down-sampling for 8bit codecs (XDCAM, H.264), and gang-playback of multiple channels.
ARRIRAW Recording:
With this forthcoming feature, the RX and MX recorders can directly record the RAW, full-resolution signal from ARRI Alexa cameras at standard frame rates up to 60fps. Users can record master and proxy versions of ARRIRAW material, and have full access to Cinedeck’s unrivalled choice of codecs if they want to use multiple channels for each camera.
Expanded 3D Stereo Modes: The Cinedeck RX and MX models can perform synchronized recording and playback of 3D material using any codec from Cinedeck’s unparalleled range. They support Anaglyph Flip-Flop, and vertical/horizontal side-by-side viewing of 3D images.
