News

SoCal Rentals fron Burbank, California, recently invested in an additional four Panasonic AK-HC3800 HD studio cameras, bringing its total to 20 units. The company also purchased a pair of VariCam 35 4K Super 35mm camera/recorders, and added AW-HE40 integrated full HD pan/tilt/zoom cameras to its extensive Panasonic PTZ inventory. According to CEO Eric Broderson, SoCal Rentals has witnessed the growing popularity of the HC3800 in both the broadcast and A/V markets. “This is round three of our HC3800 purchases; the camera has been a winner for us on projects ranging from major network broadcast shows to tons of events and festivals. Features like the HC3800’s 23.98 recording support and its internal 2x digital extender originally convinced us that the camera was a solid performer, which has been confirmed by increased customer demand,” he continued. “The HC3800 is very reliable, easy to ship, rugged beyond belief and stable in the rental market.” He noted that the most recent purchase of HC3800s included AK-MSU935 master control set-ups for the company's custom camera flypacks, and for broadcast video control and studios that require this option. Broderson said that SoCal Rentals bought the two VariCam 35s specifically for a two-year deal on a network television show and he is hoping to expand this inventory over the next year. With the addition of the HE40 cameras, the company now has more than 50 Panasonic PTZs available for its clientele.

New Desktop Video update from Blackmagic Design adds H.265 encoding to UltraStudio 4K Extreme as well as general performance and stability enhancements for all Desktop Video products. The new drivers officially support Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite and Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, 64-bit versions of WIndows 7, 8 and 10 as well as Linux 2.6.18 or higher (Ubuntu 10.04 - 14.04, Debian 6 - 7, Fedora 15 - 20, CentOS 5 - 6, and OpenSUSE 12.3 - 13.1). The software also supports various 3rd party applications, including DaVinci Resolve 11 and 12, Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014 and 2015, Adobe After Effects CC 2014 and 2015, Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 and 2015, Apple Final Cut Pro X and Apple Motion 4 (Mac only), Autodesk Smoke 2013 (Mac only), Avid Media Composer 7 and 8, Avid Media Symphony 6 and 7, Avid News Cutter 6 and 7 (Windows) and 11 (Mac OS), Sony Vegas Pro 9 (Windows only), Fusion 7, The Foundry Nuke, Cyberlink Power Director (Windows only), Nero Video 2014 (Windows only), and Avid Pro Tools 11 and 12 (Mac only).

Steinberg updated the TOOLS for CI2/CI2+, UR242, UR44, UR28M and UR824 audio interfaces. The new version provides full compatibility with the new Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan.

TOOLS for CI2TOOLS for CI2+
TOOLS for UR242
TOOLS for UR44
TOOLS for UR28M
TOOLS for UR824

The Convergent Design engineering team has been hard at work, bringing more powerful features and functionality to the Odyssey family of professional monitor/recorders. This free firmware update for Odyssey7Q+, Odyssey7Q and Odyssey7 includes new features, functionality and fixes for all three Odyssey models:

HD Dual-Stream Monitoring (Odyssey7Q+ & Odyssey7Q)

View two HD video signals while recording one in Apple ProRes

Note: that Dual-Stream Recording (view & record two streams simultaneously) will be in the Odyssey RAW Bundle as a future firmware update. The Apollo Option (Quad-Stream Monitoring/Recording/Switching) will be available in December 2015.

Apple ProRes 4444 and Apple ProRes 4444(XQ) Recording (Odyssey7Q+ & Odyssey7Q)

Record 4:4:4 2K and HD video signals in 12-bit & 10-bit as Apple ProRes 4444 or 4444(XQ) Supports many cameras including Sony F3/F5/F23/F35/F55, Canon C300mkII/C500, Panasonic HPX3100 and more.

Spot Meter (All models)

New Advanced Monitoring Tool exposure meter

FS7/FS700 2K HS RAW->2K Apple ProRes (Odyssey RAW Bundle)

Capture up to 240fps in 2K

Additional & improved Preset LUTs

New and improved LUTs for Canon C-Log, C-Log2 and Panasonic V-Log

Panasonic has announced the immediate availability of the AW-UE70, the professional video industry's first integrated 4K pan/tilt/zoom camera. The UE70 delivers 3840 x 2160 resolution images at 29.97p/25p via HDMI, and is also capable of 4K IP streaming and in-camera 4K recording. The UE70 also offers key production-oriented features such as genlock, Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S), 1300 lines of horizontal resolution and remote switchable ND filters. The camera’s flexible 4K/HD capabilities make it a good choice for demanding installations in stadiums, conference rooms, lobbies, auditoriums and retail, where ultra-high resolution video and precise control are required.