The Belgian Federal Police Air Support Unit (DAFA) recently installed new HD gyro stabilised camera units from Zeiss Optronics (South African Branch) in its helicopter fleet. Commander Jeroen Eeckelaers and Chief Tactical Flight Officer (TFO) Patrick Van Hemelrijck seized this opportunity to transition the team’s on-board digital video recorders from SD to HD. A group of DAFA operators, pilots and commanding officers ultimately chose AJA’s Ki Pro Mini portable tapeless recorder. “In our line of work a reliable, high-definition recording device is absolutely essential, because our video footage is often used as judicial evidence. After looking at all of our options, Ki Pro Mini seemed like the perfect fit – meeting our stringent technical requirements and tight budget – so we decided to put it to the test,” Eeckelaers shared. Eeckelaers said, “The Ki Pro Mini is everything we could ask for in a recording device – affordable, lightweight, compact enough to fit in our cockpits. We can also easily handle and transfer aerial footage for post production with its CompactFlash (CF) card support.” DAFA installed four Ki Pro Mini recorders in four of its helicopters and a fifth back-up unit in the video station on the ground. During flight operations, the recorders are used to capture HD video signals generated by external helicopter cameras. Depending on the duration and type of mission, as well as the destination of the footage, the resolutions and compressions vary. Ki Pro offers support for various levels of Apple ProRes including Proxy, LT, and HQ, as well as the option to use Avid DNxHD codecs. Footage is either delivered live to the police, judicial units, Special Forces, the environmental department or civil protection and the recorded video acts as a backup for further analysis, or the footage is edited and delivered via DVD. www.aja.com
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The Belgian Federal Police Air Support Unit recently transitioned the team's on-board digital video recorders from SD to HD. A group of operators, pilots and commanding officers ultimately chose AJA's Ki Pro Mini portable tapeless recorder.