In an effort to bridge the worlds of cinema and studio cameras, Panasonic was at NAB 2019 demonstrating a workflow that it calls “EVA-Live” — a new way to make the company’s AU-EVA1 5.7K Super 35 cinema camera more broadcast-friendly.
The EVA1 has always been Wi-Fi compatible via an adapter connected to its USB port, which allowed users to control it remotely with mobile devices. In the latest EVA 3.0 firmware, Panasonic has gone a step farther, enabling support for inexpensive, off-the-shelf Gigabit Ethernet adapters in the same USB 3.0 port. One the EVA1 is Ethernet-connected, it can be used with third-party paintbox hardware for controlling color correction, white balance, iris, pedestal and more.
Panasonic’s EVA-Live workflow relies on a USB Ethernet adapter connected to the EVA1.
In its booth, Panasonic showed the EVA1 working with remote control panels (RCPs) from Skaarhoj and CyanView. The inexpensive Skaarhoj box is a one-panel-per-camera proposition, so a system with three cameras would require three RCPs. The CyanView is a more expensive RCP, but it can switch between cameras with the push of a button.
Panasonic is not selling complete EVA-Live systems, but rather publishing the details of the workflow so that customers can piece them together on their own, Cinema Product Manager Mitch Gross told StudioDaily. The result gives users access to a Super 35 camera with its comparatively lush depth-of-field characteristics and dual-native ISO in a familiar broadcast configuration.
Gross took pains to note that the $6,500 EVA1 won’t match up, feature by feature, to the company’s much more expensive broadcast camera line-up. But producers who are seeking a more cinematic look in a broadcast-style workflow (and on a budget) may find a lot to like.
Watch our NAB 2019 video, below, to see and hear more about EVA-Live.
