Hi All,I'm still new to external recorders & part of the reason I got my new af100 is to utilize the higher quality recording via sdi.My question is with all the diff brands and prices I'm confused what'll work best.I work with premiere pro cs5.5 now ever since fcpx was released. So apple prores might not be great. I was looking at the pix240 for just under $3000 but then looked at the blackmagic Hyperdeck for as little as $380With such a difference in price is the quality better on pix 240? As I said I'm new to this so any help to make an informed decision would be great.Cheers.
Best External Recorder for AF100 - BM Hyperdeck vs Atomos vs Nanoflash vs Pix 240
- Thread starter seanwin
- Start date
D10S
Well-known member
I've got the Hyperdeck...and have the PIX240 ordered. So I have not had a chance to compare them. Big difference, the Hyperdeck records uncompressed video, so they are HUGE files to work with. The PIX240 will record to Apple Pro Res or Avid codec so the file size is much smaller to deal with. Each have their uses, both use SSD cards. Depends on what type of files and sizes you want to work with in post production, and how many SSD cards or backup drives you want to deal with in the field.
StephenM
Well-known member
I've been using a Hyperdeck for a couple of weeks now. It works as advertised and I'm very happy with it. Some thoughts/comments.
1. I was surprised that the onboard battery is as useful as it is. It has a short run time, but I power mine off of the IDX bricks so the internal battery acts like a backup battery - it keeps running, even recording, when I pull the 12v power to change bricks. I wish more external boxes had this feature.
2. The SDI connectors are not standard BNC. You'll need special cables for it. Red cables work fine.
3. I use it in 24PsF SDI and the footage is easy to use right off the SSD. If you run off of the HDMI port, you need to deal with 3:2 pulldown from the 60i footage.
4. The bit rate is very high so use an ESATA dock to import footage directly off of the SSD, or copy the files to your internal drive or a raid array. Hopefully a thunderbolt dock will be available soon.
5. Minor quirk. I run the SDI to the Hyperdeck and then to the TVLogic monitor. In that way I can check playback from the Hyperdeck. But, this configuration seems to eat the timecode going to the TVLogic. Without the Hyperdeck, I can see the timecode on the monitor but with it inline, it is gone.
6. There is no display on the Hyperdeck so you have to be careful about running out of space during a take. The lights flash when you get low but I would love some sort of OSD on the SDI output so I could see it on the downstream monitor.
Overall, a terrific device that does exactly what it promises. If you have need of uncompressed footage and/or can deal with the large files I would highly recommend it.
1. I was surprised that the onboard battery is as useful as it is. It has a short run time, but I power mine off of the IDX bricks so the internal battery acts like a backup battery - it keeps running, even recording, when I pull the 12v power to change bricks. I wish more external boxes had this feature.
2. The SDI connectors are not standard BNC. You'll need special cables for it. Red cables work fine.
3. I use it in 24PsF SDI and the footage is easy to use right off the SSD. If you run off of the HDMI port, you need to deal with 3:2 pulldown from the 60i footage.
4. The bit rate is very high so use an ESATA dock to import footage directly off of the SSD, or copy the files to your internal drive or a raid array. Hopefully a thunderbolt dock will be available soon.
5. Minor quirk. I run the SDI to the Hyperdeck and then to the TVLogic monitor. In that way I can check playback from the Hyperdeck. But, this configuration seems to eat the timecode going to the TVLogic. Without the Hyperdeck, I can see the timecode on the monitor but with it inline, it is gone.
6. There is no display on the Hyperdeck so you have to be careful about running out of space during a take. The lights flash when you get low but I would love some sort of OSD on the SDI output so I could see it on the downstream monitor.
Overall, a terrific device that does exactly what it promises. If you have need of uncompressed footage and/or can deal with the large files I would highly recommend it.
StephenM
Well-known member
Yes, I usually transcode to ProRes. I plan to do some green screen tests with the uncompressed footage to see how it compares to using ProRes.
StephenM
Well-known member
BTW, I've been using Crucial C300 SSD's. Work great. They have a deal on now that includes a free, handy USB cable that connects and powers the SSD. Not fast enough for directly editing but certainly useful for offloading in the field or doing a quick check of the footage.
thanks for the feedback, so I am seeing differences here but for a $2500.00 price increase from the hyperdeck to the PIX240, is the PIX240 worth the extra dollars? If so how?
I guess the uncompressed footage from the hyperdeck would cause a complete lag in computer performance. So what's a decent congi set up.
I have a
i7 930 PC
8G ram
2tb HD
ATI Radeon HD5770 Graphics with 1gb ddr5 VRAM
I also have a new imac but not near the same in sepcs. its only i5 with 4gb ram.
Whats your thoughts?
I guess the uncompressed footage from the hyperdeck would cause a complete lag in computer performance. So what's a decent congi set up.
I have a
i7 930 PC
8G ram
2tb HD
ATI Radeon HD5770 Graphics with 1gb ddr5 VRAM
I also have a new imac but not near the same in sepcs. its only i5 with 4gb ram.
Whats your thoughts?
The Shuttle is superb.
I had already ordered the PIX 240 when I decided to buy the Shuttle.
It has functional limitations like no monitor, but it is uncompressed.
Monitoring can be done via HDMI or SDI while recording.
Looks sensational on a 42" Bravia, though it highlights the inherent limitations of the camera.
(GY-HD750)
I have a Corsair 115Gb SSD that I paid $200 for and it records 18 mins of uc QT.
That's 6Gb/min which is less than the 10Gb stated by BMD, probably because the camera is only 8bit 4:2:2 and not 10bit.
I have no need to transcode as my computer handles the files no problems.
I do have an Nvidea GTX470 though which accelerates playback and processing with Premiere's Mercury playback.
Effects playback in realtime without rendering.
Worklow is uncompressed all the way to output in QT.
Apparently the GTX 470 has 5 times more cores than neccessary for Mercury playback.
I paid $500+ for it.
A cheaper Nvidea card for $100 would have done.
http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm
I have 2 1Tb Seagate SATAII's in RAID 0 which handles the uncompressed QT well.
I can't ask much more from such a compact and cheap device.
I would like to see the ability to delete files in the field straight from the device which would save vital space on the SSD.
And I have tried unsuccessfully to copy files back to the SSD and play them from the Shuttle.
This would enable output of edited uncompressed HD via SDI to any deck or capture card for compatability for prospective clients.
The Shuttle FAQ claims this can be done but it won't work even copying the files to computer and back to SSD.
Maybe it works on a mac.
NOTICE
I think I have solved the mystery of the lower file size than advertised.
I was seeing jumpy motion in footage on the Shuttle.
I thought it was due to shutter speed on my camera but now I realise I am having serious problems with dropped frames.
The Corsair Force 115Gb is not recommended by BMD, and for good reason.
It isn't fast enough for the Shuttle.
I had already ordered the PIX 240 when I decided to buy the Shuttle.
It has functional limitations like no monitor, but it is uncompressed.
Monitoring can be done via HDMI or SDI while recording.
Looks sensational on a 42" Bravia, though it highlights the inherent limitations of the camera.
(GY-HD750)
I have a Corsair 115Gb SSD that I paid $200 for and it records 18 mins of uc QT.
That's 6Gb/min which is less than the 10Gb stated by BMD, probably because the camera is only 8bit 4:2:2 and not 10bit.
I have no need to transcode as my computer handles the files no problems.
I do have an Nvidea GTX470 though which accelerates playback and processing with Premiere's Mercury playback.
Effects playback in realtime without rendering.
Worklow is uncompressed all the way to output in QT.
Apparently the GTX 470 has 5 times more cores than neccessary for Mercury playback.
I paid $500+ for it.
A cheaper Nvidea card for $100 would have done.
http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm
I have 2 1Tb Seagate SATAII's in RAID 0 which handles the uncompressed QT well.
I can't ask much more from such a compact and cheap device.
I would like to see the ability to delete files in the field straight from the device which would save vital space on the SSD.
And I have tried unsuccessfully to copy files back to the SSD and play them from the Shuttle.
This would enable output of edited uncompressed HD via SDI to any deck or capture card for compatability for prospective clients.
The Shuttle FAQ claims this can be done but it won't work even copying the files to computer and back to SSD.
Maybe it works on a mac.
NOTICE
I think I have solved the mystery of the lower file size than advertised.
I was seeing jumpy motion in footage on the Shuttle.
I thought it was due to shutter speed on my camera but now I realise I am having serious problems with dropped frames.
The Corsair Force 115Gb is not recommended by BMD, and for good reason.
It isn't fast enough for the Shuttle.
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