The new Cinedeck RX rack-mountable, solid-state recording, monitoring and playback system is just the prescription for broadcast and outside broadcast use, writes David Fox.
One of the first customers to install it is a New York OB company, All Mobile Video, which is integrating multiple Cinedeck RX systems into its fleet of vehicles and its in-house post-production facility.
“We work with a diverse client base – across multi-camera televised sports, music, entertainment events, plus cinema and corporate production – and Cinedeck RX is the best-suited system to handle their different capture and post requirements in one box,” said Eric Duke, President of All Mobile Video.
“Most importantly, because Cinedeck RX saves time and money on ingest into post, we can now offer our clients more competitive all-in pricing. Regarding future workflow, we see Cinedeck RX as a major step in removing tape-based acquisition completely from the workflow.”
Cinedeck RX is the next generation of the platform pioneered by Cinedeck EX, the company’s award-winning, portable, multi-format, HD-SDI recording system. In addition to cinema, studio and post-production applications, Cinedeck RX also meets the demands of broadcasters, offering native capture and codec choice, flexible connectivity and editorial workflow options, a small physical footprint, plus the ability to cope with 2D/3D stereo and multi-camera shoots.
Cinedeck RX uses the same touchscreen interface as the Cinedeck EX, reducing training time and speeding deployment in the field.
It captures from all leading production formats, recording on to SSD media, and can be used for single input, dual-input two camera, or 3D stereo shoots. Cinedeck is the first to offer simultaneous native support for Avid and Apple standards – supporting Avid DNxHD (wrapped as MXF OP-Atom or QuickTime), JFIF for proxies, and all Apple ProRes codec formats, including 4444, CineForm and uncompressed 444 (10-bit) or 422 (8- or 10-bit).
Its Double Dual-Stream feature delivers the flexibility to capture two feeds at a time with the same codec, or to capture one feed with two different compression formats – such as Avid DNxHD and Apple ProRes together, or Hi-Res master and Low-Res proxy together – while simultaneously creating back-up copies of each.
It can also be used as a monitor thanks to its high-resolution, 7-inch touchscreen display, which features an array of image analysis tools – including edge enhancement for focus assist, clipping, waveform, vectorscope and histogram. Users can also monitor audio via the headphone jack, and toggle between audio inputs – while simultaneously viewing the on-screen recording level display.
“Cinedeck RX builds on the magic of our hugely-popular Cinedeck EX, and delivers an array of new advantages to broadcast and post facility workflows, especially those transitioning to tapeless environments,” said Cinedeck CEO Charles Dautremont.
“It’s a small, discrete unit, that’s easy to operate and is equally at home near-set, at a post house, or inside an OB truck. Cinedeck RX gives producers far greater choice in terms of production and post-production formats, while simplifying and accelerating production and post-production workflows. Features such as the unique Double Dual-Stream capability that simultaneously provides redundant finish and proxy files, deliver new gateways to post, plus huge time and cost savings for the entire project.”
The 4.5kg, 4RU half-rack aluminium package costs from $14,995 and is designed for mobile production, where cooling, power-draw and weight are important.
It is also network-accessible and supports realtime up/down/cross conversion. For stereo 3D it captures via HDMI or HD-SDI, and offers the widest variety of codecs for stereoscopic recording in one device, with footage immediately available for editorial and VFX post.
