Sony and Rule Broadcast Systems want you to be ready for yet another paradigm shift in digital video production. It’s called XDCAM-and it’s not stored on tape, which has been the last leg of the linear world still kicking. Rule’s sales chief Tom Talbot, and CEO John Rule kindly sat to help me tell the XDCAM story at the company’s Watertown, MA rental and sales facility. Loren S. Miller asked the questions for IMAGINE readers (I); Tom Talbot (TT) gave the answers:
I: What makes XDCAM special?
TT: We used to call DVCAM and IMX “tape formats.” But these are really just a method of digitizing and compressing a video signal-storing one’s and zeros. The new XDCAM format allows us to encode a disk with video, using a 405-nanometer blue-violet laser.
I: An optical disk format? For full quality video? More than a DVD?
TT: The camera records your choice of DVCAM or IMX. The high-frequency laser allows a finer track to be burned into a removable Sony Professional Disk. And it’s re-writeable! Sony guarantees a thousand erase cycles-they predict ten thousand-- and a million read cycles. No rewinding, no fast-forwarding. I need shot 3, zip, I’m there. I need timecode location 01:00:03:45, zip, I’m there! Incredibly fast random access system here.
I: And if it’s already digital, you don’t have to recapture this into your nonlinear editing system?
TT: Exactly, the next logical step.
I: You better take me through this workflow.
TT: You have a camera like this Sony PDW-530, with a 14-bit digital signal processor--that’s more than Digital Betacam- more data available when down-sampling to your chosen delivery formats, which is always desirable. The camera system, even though it’s digital standard definition, has such a nice professional front end, that whether you choose DVCAM or to IMX, you have a lot of information to start with. And the camera stores each shot as a data file.
I: This disk holds how much broadcast quality video?
TT: This holds 23 GB, about five times more than a single-layer DVD, in a protected, moisture resistant package that slips into the camera. That’s approximately 45 minutes of IMX 50 or 85 minutes of DVCAM at full resolution.
I: And here’s a new XDCAM deck? What makes this unique?
TT: Sony’s PDW-1500 introduces a new transfer protocol. You’re familiar with Serial Digital Interface (SDI) and FireWire, two protocols for transferring digital information from decks to editing systems.
I: Both very popular.
TT: Now you start to realize, okay, I have the ability to store as files; I can transfer it faster than real time than I would from tape. And if you look on the back of the deck you’ll see-
I: An Ethernet cable!
TT: Yes. And the deck has two playback lasers working together to pump out the data at 144 Mbits/second. Also, for every full resolution shot on disk, there is an automatically generated MPEG-4 proxy file-like a video thumbnail.
I: The equivalent of “offline” video?
TT: Exactly. You edit low resolution, then re-digitize at full resolution. Same concept here using proxy video. (Tom showed a Sony laptop with an edit system loaded to demonstrate proxy editing.)
I: These are good-looking thumbnails. I could edit with this.
TT: Very decent quality, considering it’s MPEG-4 and only 2 Mb/second.
I: And totally frame-addressable?
TT: Absolutely, it’s the same old time-code. So here’s the brilliant concept: if you have a full resolution video file sitting on the optical disk, and you choose the proxy file from it, you can download the proxy file 50 times faster than real-time. Super fast. Over Internet protocol.
I: No more batch digitize coffee breaks.
TT: So let’s say we’ve gone through our proxy files, we’ve edited them; notice I’m using a browsing program here, not a full-fledged editor. There’s a bunch of applications for it.
I: For rough cut? Or quick selects from a dramatic shoot?
TT: Yes, and we’re hoping to see companies like Avid and Apple developing next-generation software with full MXF proxy file support.
I: And we’ll be able to “Ethernet” our rushes right into Avid or Final Cut Pro? Over any distance?
TT: Absolutely. It’s a Remote Content Browsing solution. Of course, a local area storage solution over gigabit Ethernet is going to be top speed, but it’s the same protocol and if you have a high speed cable or DSL line you may get real-time download of proxy files. News editing is a primary application.
I: Phone in your rushes, a news writer can script before the disk arrives.
TT: Exactly. You still have the traditional acquisition flows: SDI, FireWire, traditional device control with RS422, if you choose-but you can take your full-rez files, the shots you like, you can bring those in via high speed internet protocol at two and half times faster than real-time for IMX, and five times for DVCAM. The new workflow model is like “corporate IT”-the ability to combine information technology and IP addressing - married to the post world--naming files, clips--another way to think about it: it’s like bringing post production into the production environment.
I: Video on rewriteable disk. Instant thumbnails. Choice of broadcast formats. High-speed transfer over Ethernet. Low-delay editing. How cool! Tom Talbot is available to anyone curious about the new technology, and there’s also XDCAM information at www.rule.com.
Cool Tools
SKETCHUP 4.0 from At Last Software (www.sketchup.com) is the latest incarnation of a truly unique 3D drawing tool that producers, directors and production designers will love for pre-visualization of sets and locales. I was not ready for the giveaway at their MacWorld Boston booth--a pair of sports socks embroidered with the tagline “SketchUp-It doesn’t stink.” So it’s a youthful company with bright ideas, and no bad feet. Supporting both Windows and Macintosh, version 4.0 feels like the product has arrived and they’ve socked it to us.
Building inside the program is not hard. One way to start is to import a flat floor plan file devised in some other program, like Illustrator, or a 2D drafting program like MacDraft or AutoCAD, exporting via the drawing exchange format, DXF. SketchUp imports it as a flat layer in 3D space, but then you can go in and select shapes on the floor and literally “pull” this plan straight up into walls and voids - very eerie- then embellish the rooms with doors and windows - you’ll be able to see through them too, as you orbit the work. Change anything instantly. If you take the time to learn the tools, this is very satisfying construction.
You can store scenic parts as components, for reuse; you can even import photos of actors and pin them to blank objects with 4 virtual pushpins. That will appeal to some impatient directors.
You can orchestrate simple walkthroughs with a custom camera angle. At Last recently introduced a Film and Stage plug-in to render accurate camera aspect ratios for walkthroughs, which can be exported to QuickTime format.
After watching a rich array of tutorial videos, which are downloadable, I found myself remapping the keyboard for quick tool access and was starting to play. And the tools are smart. Ever wondered how to create molding which wraps around an irregular shape? Try the “Follow Me” tool for a wow. SketchUp is weird; it’s fun, but rich and serious, sort of like Tron meets Frank Gehry. For many, at $495.00, this will be an affordable and, with practice, an efficient production planning tool. The full version is freely available for tryout from www.sketchup.com and will turn off after 8 hours of use, requiring purchase. Build away!
SOUNDSOAP PRO, a powerful plug-in product, has arrived, for those who need to get “under the hood” of the less expensive SoundSoap to tweak filter settings. Bias, its creator, (www.bias-inc.com) actually calls Pro a sound restoration tool. There are separate function windows for hum and rumble, clicks-crackles-pops, broadband noise (like air conditioner hum on that important interview track!), and finally a Noise Gate tool to tailor your audio treatment of the previous function--Bias gives you the recommended treatment sequence designed into the product. What’s important is that this tool is available inside your editing application; no round trip action.
Bad audio is a hallmark of low budget filmmaking. Practical uses of Pro will be problem location dialog with bad traffic, air conditioner or other obnoxious broadband hum. It also deals with pops and crackles on old LP’s transferred to digital domain.
As you treat a sound, you can store and compare up to four - not just two - filter treatments before committing to one over others. The interface is filled with nice touches like that.
Pro will save bad tracks when ordinary filters just can’t deliver. It’s in the range of tools like DigiDesign’s DINR (Dynamic Intelligent Noise Reduction) and deserves a spot in any pro’s toolkit. It’ll show up in VST-plug-in aware applications like Peak, ProTools, Nuendo, Cubase; Audio-Units aware hosts like Logic, Digital Performer; DirectX hosts like Sonar, Sound Forge; and AudioSuite hosts like ProTools and Avid systems- Mac or Windows- as well as Final Cut Pro. Noise away!