AC160 AG-AC160A-SFU160 anyone?

[kwkeirstead]

Check out the announcement re the AC160A-SFU160 software update that enables a convenient workflow with Eye-Fi (live transmission to a near/remote PC, live upload to cloud services)

http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/sales_o/02products/products/ag-ac160a_130a/ag-sfu160.html

If anyone is still agonizing over whether to upgrade from AG-AC160 to AG-AC160A you now have an additional incentive.

I can see the value of this for anyone with a production deadline - editing can now proceed in parallel with recording.

The presumption is the live transmission does not lag the recording but since the setup calls for two cards (one SD and one Eye-Fi) you could in theory get to the end of your SD, then insert another SD and start recording on that one while the Eye-Fi transmission of the first continues.

This needs a bit of study - it's possible the wi-fi transmission could lag the recording at the SD. What then? i.e. you could get to where you could no longer parallel record to the Eye-Fi and I would imagine end up with a portion of your recording at the SD not getting to your end destination.

Note the change in file breakpoint from 4GB to 2GB. This is good because any slowdowns/interruptions during wi-fi transmissions are easier to deal with for a small file compared to a larger file.

Congratulations, Panasonic!

If I understand the value of this feature, next year at the US Open, we will no longer see helpers holding coiled cables shadowing the cameraman.


All in all, if this new capability works the way it should/could, SFU160 could be a huge feature.

 

[Barry_Green]

As I understand it, transmission ceases when recording. I don't know if an Eye-Fi card in the second slot can transmit while recording to the first slot. I saw a demo of this at NAB, it seemed pretty clever, but really it depends on how & where you're transmitting to. If you're going ad-hoc to a laptop it should be quite fast, but if you're relaying it through your phone, that doesn't seem so practical. A same-day-edit wedding shooter might really benefit if someone's editing the incoming clips while the shooter is still shooting...

 

[kwkeirstead]

Barry... I expect you are right about recording/transmission.

Here is what the marketing literature says "During AG-AC160A is recording, the transmission by Eye-Fi holds. (Recording is prioritized)." ["holds" probably means "pauses"]

I suppose the camera uses the existing dual-write facility (to the SD and to the Eye-Fi) and when the camera is not recording, Eye-Fi starts up and does what it can, and maintains a pointer position so it knows where to start up again when recording stops.

If the comms connection breaks, let's hope the receiving end is able to know whether it can continue or has to re-start the file. I don't know if files have embedded check digits.

I should have figured you cannot expect to write and read at the same time on an SD.

We will need to find out if Eye-Fi is pushing or whether the receiving device is pulling to better understand how all of this works.

I see from a UK site that the upgrade apparently is going to cost around 200 pounds. Then of course you have to buy a couple of Eye-Fi disks on top of that. Sounds reasonable to me.

 

[kwkeirstead]

BTW, the AC160A-SFU160 software uploads .mts files, not the entire recording file structure.

If you have an NL editor that relies on the presence of the entire file structure you need to deal with that issue before starting to use the software.