Company Also Announces Support for Phantom 4KFlex Footage; New Dailies Workflow Is Based on Baselight Color-Grading

File-based production workflow specialist Codex Digital is getting into acquisition with the new Codex Action Cam, a compact cinema camera designed for use as a crash cam or witness camera on set. It has 14-bit image processing on board and outputs 12-bit raw at up to 60 fps, the company said, and can be sync'd with "A" cameras such as the ARRI Alexa.

How much will it cost? Codex isn't saying until NAB.

The Codex camera has a small camera head unit (45mm x 42mm x 53mm, which is roughly a two-inch cube) with a 2/3-inch CCD sensor from Kodak connected via CoaXPress BNC cable to a Codex Camera Control Recorder (83mm x 139mm x 188mm) that does double-duty as a data recorder and remote-control for adjusting white balance, exposure index, and frame rates. Because the sensor is CCD, Codex stressed, it will be free of the rolling-shutter artifacts associated with CMOS technology. The camera has a C-mount that the company said has been designed to make it easier to adjust back focus, with a locking level and an independent back-focus wheel. EF, PL and B4 adapters will be available.

When used with Codex media stations or Vaults, ProRes 4444 and 422 (HQ), DNxHD 444 and 422, H.264 and uncompressed formats are supported.

Codex said the camera is designed with stereo 3D cinematography in mind. Two camera heads can be connected to one Camera Control Recorder, ensuring that images are processed and recorded identically on both cameras for use. With proper industrial-grade cabling, Codex said, the camera head can be up to 180 meters from the base unit.

Codex said it has entered a technology collaboration with Solectrix (Nuremberg, Germany) to integrate that company's camera electronics with recording and workflow technology from Codex. "There's a definite need in feature and broadcast production for small, high-quality witness/POV cameras," said Codex Managing Director Marc Dando in a prepared statement. "We're delighted to collaborate with Solectrix to develop an all-in-one camera and recording solution."

The company said the Action Cam will ship this summer. For full specs, see the product page.

In other news, Filmlight said it has partnered with Codex on a new digital dailies workflow. The system will be demo'd at NAB: live camera signals will be processed using Baselight Flip, and the resulting metadata will will be transfered to a Codex Vault system, where the graded image can be viewed and dailies deliverables generated. The metadata can also be shared with Baselight Editions and full Baselight finishing systems using the OpenEXR-based BLG (Baselight Linked Grade) file format.

And Codex announced that it is working with Vision Research to add the Phantom Flex4K camera to the list of acqusition hardware that's supported by Codex Vault workflow. Look for more on that integration at NAB.