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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

New camera from Sony

In any discussion about video tape, I must add "save the whales". Ok, they don't use whale oil any more...

Graeme
 
Carmel Bruno said:
Tell that to our local TV station.
Tape is the only medium they except. Just finished a TVC and dropping to to Beta tape for transmission. Tape is not dead my friend.
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Sure. But that's just today.
Tomorrow is coming sooner than everyone thinks.
We see more clients and networks demanding file-based delivery all the time. And sure, we have an SR deck - and master to it often. But I assure you ... the future is file-based.

Mike Most and many others will tell you the transition away from tape infrastructure is years, and years away. I will tell you ... much sooner than you think.
 
Mark L. Pederson said:
Sure. But that's just today.
Tomorrow is coming sooner than everyone thinks.
We see more clients and networks demanding file-based delivery all the time. And sure, we have an SR deck - and master to it often. But I assure you ... the future is file-based.

Mike Most and many others will tell you the transition away from tape infrastructure is years, and years away. I will tell you ... much sooner than you think.
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I agree. But even when the TV stations decide to accept file based delivery, they will still accept tape till their machines drop dead. And I have a Sony deck in daily use that is 8 years old and still going strong. The odd head change, and presto... and what has whale oil got to do with the price of biscuits Graeme?
 
Whale oil used to be used as a lubricant in old video and audio tape formulas before about 1976.

Graeme
 
Lets not forget Tape as an archival system also. The HDCAM-SR pretty much gives you the same data rate as an LTO-4 and can backup uncompressed 4k. From an IT point of view this looks interesting. Also the data rate/capacity of the new SR Memory is awesome.
 
Archive choices

Archive choices

Lets not forget Tape as an archival system also.

The HDCAM-SR pretty much gives you the same data rate as an LTO-4 and can backup uncompressed 4k.

From an IT point of view this looks interesting.
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It is true that tape has been a very good archive medium, but why not just use an LTO-4 data tape recorder for that?

Such as http://www.cache-a.com/products.php


So is an HDCAM SR drive worth the price premium? I guess it depends on your ROI opportunity....
 
Mark L. Pederson said:
I don't know about you guys ... but I'm rather excited for my RED RAY "deck".
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I'd prefer just sticking with "file based" future...and no more decks of any kind.
 
Major Industry restructuring ....

Major Industry restructuring ....

Mitch Gross said:
Sony has made some big announcements today including:

1) Camcorder for life: New SRW-9000 ships today at affordable price point and with future upgrade path to 35mm sensor and memory recording.
2) Open and Efficient File-based Workflow with MXF and SR Lite
3) Workflow Benefits with EDL data and color correction using CDL files
4) Delivery of new SR memory as media of future
5) Strong tape archive strategy and realignment of media pricing

Read our blog posts about the announcements here: http://blog.abelcine.com/2009/11/25/...proof-roadmap/

And also check out our hands on review by Abel's Andy Shipsides and Jesse Rosen here: http://blog.abelcine.com/2009/11/25/...-the-srw-9000/
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We've had the pleasure of hosting Sony engineers from Japan, Arri engineers from Germany and senior Canon marketing personnel from Canon USA over the last six months .... as well as detailed technical discussions on trends in digital filmmaking (and by the way, Sony knows all about the importance of file-based workflows) there always comes a point in the discussion when the topic turns to internal company organizational structures .... and its at this point that the heavy sighing usually begins and people start shaking their heads in dismay at how long it takes to get new products out of the door in a large corporation.

One of the major competitive advantages of the RED is its lean-and-mean organizational structure and its ability to turn on a dime .... not only is Jim a leader in digital camera innovation he's also a very savvy business guy with a great team surrounding him ... being fleet of foot has allowed Jim to change courses many times over the last three years (even though that is sometimes a pain in the ass for breathlessly waiting customers) and continue to stay ahead of the price/performance curve in this Moore's Law driven industry.

What we're witnessing now from the large imaging corporations isn't just a knee-jerk reaction to the ever shifting sands of technology competition but also a quite radical (and at times painful) restructuring of their internal organizations and processes ... if you've ever had the chance to to talk to Canon or Sony or Arri engineers, you'll know that they're equally as passionate about their company's products as are our band of merry outlaws living in the forests of Orange County ... they don't however, have the same passion for the internal politics and inter-departmental warfare that plague most large organizations

As the big companies complete their internal re-structuring and re-align their enormous R & D efforts to better serve the needs of a file-based, digital workflow that the TV/Studio/Indie community can adopt, we'll see a tremendous increase in cost-effective acquisition tools and delivery formats.

The new Sony modular and upgradeable SRW-9000 camera is but the tip of the iceberg .... as we speak the next generation is being developed and tested .... as are the new Arris and the next generation of Canon HD DSLRs.

Competitive advantage takes place on many levels .... product features and market pricing but also internal business culture and organizational structures .... its a lot easier to change with the times when you company has less than a hundred employees compared to when your company has more than one hundred thousand employees.

Jim started a revolution on both a technological and business model level ... RED got out of the starting gate before the big boys even knew there was a new race just declared ... but most business competitions are marathons rather than sprints .... the big boys finally put on their Nikes and started puffing and panting around the track .... they're still behind the curve but there's along way to run yet.

And in terms of market share .... the big boys totally dominate the high-end TV, Studio and indie production world where HDCAM-SR tape is still a mandatory delivery requirement along with dubs to Digibeta and BetaSP.

When we first started discussing changes in the movie making industry with Sony five years ago, I jokingly said that the SR in HDCAM-SR didn't actually stand for 'Superior Resolution' but actually stood for 'Sony Revolution' ... the engineers politely smiled back and said I was crazy ... hope Yasuhiko-san is reading this post with a big grin on his face.

We just colored and finished a movie for Paramount Digital shot on the RED and cut and graded on Final Cut and Color ... try telling Paramount that all they need is a Firewire drive with the Apple ProRes4444 QuickTimes and see their reaction ... had to do three extra SR laybacks yesterday for foreign distribution along with the six they already have .... in fairness, we did also manage to persuade them to take the ProRes QT for one of their DVD deliverables.

Mitch, I'd be interested to hear your views on how you see the industry changing over the next 12 months ... you guys have been in the game a lot longer than most of us and have never ceased to adapt and change and continue to deliver great products and services.

Thanks,
Neil
 
Mark L. Pederson said:
Mike Most and many others will tell you the transition away from tape infrastructure is years, and years away. I will tell you ... much sooner than you think.
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Well, you were looking for somethiing we could disagree on. :glare:

You're putting words in my mouth. I haven't said that and I'm not saying it now. Timetables are a useless thing in the technical world because they're rarely, if ever, met, regardless of the company, the size of that company, or the product. If it's new, it's going to have problems that will likely delay its appearance. This is true with Sony, it's true with Panasonic, it's true with Arri, it's true with Canon, and it's especially true with Red. Infrastructures that already exist and work continue to be used until there's a really, really good reason not to. Tape as an archive and exchange medium is very well established, works very well, and has enough physical support from those who use it to not be at the end of its useful lifetime quite yet. The day that broadcast networks (and I'm talking about NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, et. al. here) stop requiring tape deliveries, and the day the studios stop requiring it as an archival element for television and video masters, and the day that someone actually comes up with a digital archiving strategy that's affordable and works, is the day when the transition will happen. Not before. When that will be, who the hell knows. It won't be this year, and that's as far as I would be willing to predict. But the fact is that you have also been very wrong on many things you've predicted here, and often for some of the reasons I've just enumerated. Being wrong on a prediction doesn't mean it won't happen, but it does mean that it didn't happen in the time frame you predicted. That's why I refuse to assign time frames, and why you shouldn't assume that I do.
 
Stuart English said:
It is true that tape has been a very good archive medium, but why not just use an LTO-4 data tape recorder for that?

Such as http://www.cache-a.com/products.php


So is an HDCAM SR drive worth the price premium? I guess it depends on your ROI opportunity....
Click to expand...

Can you playback video from an LTO-4... can you record video to an LTO-4? LTO-4 is good for long term archival (a vault)... it's not suitable for a digital library. Currently we see using LTO-4 for archival, Drobo Pro's filled with 2TB drives for master R3D library (recent/current projects) and fast 16 bay RAID for current projects. If we owned an HDCAM SR deck then it would eliminate the need for the LTO-4 and the Drobo Pro.
 
M Most said:
Well, you were looking for somethiing we could disagree on. :glare:

You're putting words in my mouth. I haven't said that and I'm not saying it now.
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Yes ... I was just trying to see if you were paying attention. Sorry ... you are right, you did not say that exactly.
 
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