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Technology
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Thursday, 07 March 2013 16:51 |
We recently produced this video for SanDisk which highlights the use of SSDs in the video production workflow. What's huge from a production standpoint is capturing footage directly to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD. These codecs are ideal for editing and post and can speed up the production workflow.
Even better, SSDs provide significant performance enhancements over spinning media. They’re lower power, lightweight and can take more physical abuse. Plus, the project can essentially live on the same SSD from acquisition all the way through post. Once the project is offline the SSD is also much more convenient to store than a traditional hard drive. We always recommend making redundant copies of projects no matter what kind of media is used for storage but we can say we’ve yet to have an SSD fail on us. We can’t say the same thing about any other kind of storage.
At NAB this April we expect this trend to continue with more focus on the solid state workflow, external capture devices, backup and online systems. This shift to solid state storage is going to have a profound impact at all levels of production resulting in faster turnarounds of high value visual assets.
Visit SanDisk for more information about SSDs.
Visit Atomos for more information about external storage devices that capture ProRes and DNxHD in real time.
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Technology
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Monday, 04 February 2013 16:48 |
The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 / Thunderbolt SSD drive offers 250GB of solid state storage in a nicely designed Neil Poulton case with the familiar orange casing we've see in previous LaCie designs.
Solid state drives are having a dramatic impact on the creative work flow from acquisition to post. One of the ways LaCie portable drives are commonly used is to deliver final assets via FedEx on physical media. Often times it's not practical to deliver master assets via FTP. A 250GB SSD is plenty of storage for ProRes or DNxHD master files and a couple of days of shooting on a single camera with a DSLR like, or common field production cameras from Sony or Panasonic.
Ruggedized designs like the LaCie add a case and interface to an already rugged SSD technology which can stand much more abuse compared to spinning media. We expect to see a plethora of external cases and caddies for SSDs that feature every possible external connection with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 leading the way.
What the entire production community is most excited about is large capacity SSDs which allow a complete solid state workflow where the content stays on the same drive from acquisition to post. For example, video is captured in ProRes directly to SSD using a product like the Atomos Ninga Ninja-2, popped in a caddy and connected directly to a workstation to online the edit. Multiple SSDs can be used for backup and delivery. The smaller, lighter and durable package make this workflow very attractive even at the current premium for solid state storage.
Today most of us capture to flash memory on P2, SxS, Compact Flash or SD cards then transfer this data to a workstation and reuse the memory cards. At the end of the process the content may be backed up to optical discs or hard drives. Without a sophisticated IT department in place with high bandwidth and servers it may be difficult to quickly bring a project back online to make changes. Keeping hot drives per project that are edit ready is a huge time saver.
So, the LaCie Thunderbolt / USB 3.0 external SSD drive is just a sign of an avalanche of SSD development that is headed our way. We highly recommend you examine your current data requirements and workflow and plan for the SSD revolution. This will have the same profound impact on the acquisition and post that the first wave of solid state storage in the form of cards had on the community. As we move to 2k, 4k and beyond the need for more storage and better workflows will accelerate this SSD revolution digital media production.
Find out more about Atomos and Ninja-2 here.
Find out more about LaCie's lineup of external SSDs here. |
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Technology
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Monday, 14 January 2013 17:11 |
GoPro is one of the hottest brands on the planet right now. The Hero3 was attracting rabid crowds at CES with its 2k and 4k capabilities in a tiny form factor and it's just one example of the incredible acquisition tools we expect to see this year.
TVs with 4K resolution and beyond are here and ready for the next wave of content. Critics have been saying the transition to 4K and beyond will be slow. The move from SD to HDTV was more compelling to be sure but we expect the move to 4K and beyond may accelerate because of decreasing costs of higher resolution cameras and better, faster storage in the form of memory cards and SSDs. The GoPro Hero3 is just one piece of the puzzle for reality and POV content.
As the industry gets better at dealing with large amounts of data it becomes more realistic to exploit a 4k workflow.
Blackmagic Designs recently unveiled its Cinema Camera featuring a 2.5K image sensor and built in SSD recorder. It's only a matter of time before we see this and similar designs evolve with higher resolutions for professional applications at price points that we simply not feasible just a few years ago.
The jump to HD from standard def was a big one and for many years people didn't understand the benefits of HDTV. In fact, there's still plenty of folks watching standard def because they haven't figured out their cable remotes yet. Samsung, Sony and Panasonic would love to make all these gorgeous HDTVs obsolete and the only way to do that is with a massive content explosion of higher resolution content.
The move to 2k, 4k and beyond is happening now. While the full scale assualt may take some time, the acqustion tools are leading the way with products like we're seeing from GoPro and Blackmagic bringing new expectations to both ends of the production spectrum
We expect the NAB show in April to be largely about 4k cameras, data management, the cloud, mobile acquisition and the solid state work flow.
Visit Blackmagic for more on the Cinema Camera.
VIist GoPro for more about the Hero 3. |
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Technology
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Monday, 31 December 2012 16:42 |
2013 should be a great year for mobile computing, smart consumer electronics, remote video production tools, SSD storage and the cloud. Bring it on!
Mobile computing will continue to dominate in the form of full featured smart phones, tablets and ultrabooks. Samsung and Apple will continue to dominate the smart phone space with the Galaxy series eclipsing the performance of most other phones. The Kindle Fire HD will remain on fire as one of the hottest selling tablets and we expect to see a thinner version with front and rear facing cameras. The Microsoft surface products will gain traction with continued hands-on kiosks like we saw at airports this holiday season spreading the mojo.
CES will have a whole new crop of smart consumer electronics dominated by LED TVs with better cloud connectivity and faster menus with more intuitive navigation. Look for more cutting of the cord by consumers weary of the likes of the cable company. We expect Amazon to grow its content offering and significantly expand its "Prime" user base.
Solid State Drives, SSDs, should make significant headway and become much more commonplace with average consumers and price/GB continues to fall and leading manufacturers tout the advantages of hybrid and pure SSD solutions in everything from notebook computers to production ready workstations.
Video production tools and cloud collaboration will become more commonplace especially in high bandwidth environments. Faster production workflows will be made possible by new acquisition formats such as CFast2.0 and faster peripherals enabled by Thunderbolt.
It should be a great year. Wishing everyone a fun and safe New Year's Eve and here's to peace and happiness in 2013! Grab the full desktop image here.
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Technology
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Saturday, 07 July 2012 20:46 |
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If you've been thinking about upgrading your system to an SSD there's never been a better time. We recommend OS and APPs on the SSD and data and renders on two seperate drives. If you're working with lots of HD data you may need a RAID array to provide enough throughput to your processors.
For everyday computing tasks you will notice a huge improvement. Your PC will boot faster, launch applicatons faster and generally feel more snappy.
We recommend leaving at least 25% overhead of blank space so the SSD can optimize the read writes and prolong the life of the drive. |
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Technology
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Friday, 08 June 2012 21:25 |
Here's a short video that shows you how to install a solid state drive in your notebook computer. |
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Technology
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Saturday, 02 June 2012 17:07 |
Another reason to love SSDs. Those faster boot times really add up over time. And wih OS optimization we imagine it's only gonna' get faster. |
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Technology
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Thursday, 12 April 2012 23:00 |
Samsung is cranking out some amazing smart televisions with Internet apps and menu systems that are extremely easy to use. There was a time when we’d look at the pros and cons of plasma versus LED versus LCD but these days if you have the cash to spend we’d advise going with LED.
To make it even simpler, start with Samsung and use its latest line of LEDs as your benchmark for price and performance. If you feel that Vizio at Costco can compete on quality and features than go for it.
If you’re still addicted to the black levels of plasma and its warm picture, start with Panasonic as your benchmark and go from there. With the power consumption, heat and weight of plasma it’s getting harder and harder to justify on anything other than cost.
Older style LCDs we’d flat out avoid these days unless your budget dictates it. In that case, start with what Sharp and Sony are doing and go from there.
Our favorite suppliers of TVs in order are Samsung, Panasonic, Sony and Sharp. Again, we advise using these manufactures as your benchmark and if you see something you like that compares favorably on price, go for it.
If you took us to the electronics store today we’d likely spend the most time choosing among the Samsung lineup as the company is really doing a nice job with the picture quality, menu system and industrial design.
Visit Samsung for more information. |
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Technology
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Monday, 05 March 2012 21:25 |
There are lots of suppliers of memory cards out there. SanDisk breaks it down in under 2 minutes. Whether you have a point and shoot or DSLR camera it boils down to the speed and peroformance that's appropriate for the camera. Of course, you will pay a premium for more capacity and better performance. |
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Technology
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Thursday, 01 March 2012 10:02 |
Synch this to your smart phone using Bluetooth and you can do quite a bi with this watch without having to use your phone. Mosty a gadget for the ulra geeky but will surely evolve and get more useful over time. C'mon it's already science fiction that these things even work at all. |
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Technology
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Friday, 13 January 2012 08:22 |
One of our favorite new products from CES is the new ASUS ZENBOOK. This is going to be a hot category in 2012. |
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