Convergent Design NAB '15 Announcements

Hi Mitch,

Are you able to reveal any information on the codes for the 3rd party SSDs? If I understood correctly you'll be selling the codes to make them work with the 7Q. If so, there a price range that CD has de decided on?
-Thanks in advance!

The announcements said the capability will come with the free May 2015 firmware update...

They aren't charging for it.

Here's what the announcement said:
Access to the use of these two Samsung 850 EVO SSDs is expected to be made available with the May 2015 free Odyssey firmware update.
 
Handles. Ah, yes. I interpreted handles (for some dumb reason) as bits of code that would enable the SSDs to work...haha. Sorry for the unproductive question, and thanks for the clarifications!
 
Does the 1000gb Samsung really offer the same peace of mind as a CD SSD?
There is a difference between Warrantied and Qualified.

We make (or, via an OEM, have made to our specs) our own SSDs. They are our product and we warranty that they will work in all modes on the Odyssey7/7Q/7Q+ monitor/recorders. Should anything happen (it won't), we will jump through every hoop there is to recover your data. Clients have done some crazy things and we have rescued some unbelievable stuff that shouldn't have been recoverable, but we did it. Shane Hurlbut gives presentations where he shows a rather intense sequence from Need For Speed with a car plowing into another and into a hillside at ridiculously high speed. He shows a frame from one camera with the view of another camera mounted to the car getting completely destroyed. In the same shot one of our Gemini 4:4:4 monitor/recorders FLIES by, having been dislodged from that camera, but with it's green recording light still lit. We rescued that footage too.

The Samsung SSDs are Qualified by us. We don't make them and we don't sell them. Should anything happen (again, it won't), we will try our best to recover your data. Should we need to go to extreme measures that are time consuming there may be a fee involved, but we would discuss this with you first. But we can't warranty something that is not our product.

I don't want anyone to feel leery of using the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB & 1000GB SSDs. We would not have qualified them if we didn't believe in their performance. If you are a rental house, or a government agency, or have a large insurance completion bond, then you are likely going to use our warrantied SSDs, so we will continue to offer them. But if you are an independent camerasperson, or a documentary filmmaker, we can certainly appreciate your desire for more affordable media. Please, don't fear using the Samsung SSDs. They're very nice.
 
Hi Mitch,

Are you able to reveal any information on the codes for the 3rd party SSDs? If I understood correctly you'll be selling the codes to make them work with the 7Q. If so, there a price range that CD has de decided on?
-Thanks in advance!
Just to reiterate what others have said, Convergent Design will absolutely NOT be changing for access to use the Samsung SSDs. We will be selling the plastic handles with the locking mechanism so that the SSDs can be properly inserted/removed from the Odyssey and held firmly in place while in use. We have not set a price but it will be modest, really just enough to cover costs involved. We'll likely sell them in a six pack along with the matching screws and some adhesive for properly mounting them. Details TBD.

The other way would be kinda rude, no? You can use these inexpensive SSDs, just pay us money for the ability! That's not us.
 
More than you might think.

We always need to identify the drives, and when recording to the Samsungs we need to do so in a slightly different way then when recording to our own. Not better/worse, just different. So we need to write some new code and then thoroughly test it in all configurations. Just crossing "t"s and dotting "i"s.

Great! Let me guess: Disabling the 6GB/12GB SLC Turbo Write cache that's in the 500GB/1000GB 850 EVOs for uniform write speed directly to TLC NAND? Or something else?

And if something else: Any change in Power Down/Power Up procedure/time or Record Stop to Power Down time when using 850 EVOs? (for SLC Cache to empty to TLC NAND)
 
Great! Let me guess: Disabling the 6GB/12GB SLC Turbo Write cache that's in the 500GB/1000GB 850 EVOs for uniform write speed directly to TLC NAND? Or something else?

And if something else: Any change in Power Down/Power Up procedure/time or Record Stop to Power Down time when using 850 EVOs? (for SLC Cache to empty to TLC NAND)
Honestly I don't know all the machinations the engineers have to go through, and neigther do they until they do them. There will be changes to our own code and I do not know if there will be any changes to the SSD command code. An SSD is much more than an empty bucket into which one pours data. We test and test in every possible mode on the Odyssey to make sure we are performing operations in the best possible way with our recording media. Again, it is not a question of something being better or worse, just optimized for the particular combination. There is so much here that you don't know about, real nitty-gritty details.
 
Honestly I don't know all the machinations the engineers have to go through, and neigther do they until they do them. There will be changes to our own code and I do not know if there will be any changes to the SSD command code. An SSD is much more than an empty bucket into which one pours data. We test and test in every possible mode on the Odyssey to make sure we are performing operations in the best possible way with our recording media. Again, it is not a question of something being better or worse, just optimized for the particular combination. There is so much here that you don't know about, real nitty-gritty details.

Thanks Mitch. You are right. Lots of stuff I don't know, and that I probably don't want to know either. I do very much appreciate knowing that you are optimizing the code for writing to the 850 EVOs. They are such a different beast than you other SSDs, so getting that info out there is good to establish trust, IMHO.
 
Still on the table but it's in the mix of a lot of other things. It is NOT backburnered. I have seen it mixed in with a group of other functions, so as those functions get tackled, so will this. Not gonna be more specific because honestly can't.
 
Still on the table but it's in the mix of a lot of other things. It is NOT backburnered. I have seen it mixed in with a group of other functions, so as those functions get tackled, so will this. Not gonna be more specific because honestly can't.

Hi Mitch,

Any program for first adopter buying Sony Raw recording license now want to convert to bundle license ?

Thanks,

Cuong
 
Hi Mitch,

Any program for first adopter buying Sony Raw recording license now want to convert to bundle license ?

Thanks,

Cuong
Yes, we'll announce the plan on Monday. Had to get the details sorted and the website prepped.

The whole Odyssey RAW Bundle was a last minute decision so we didn't have a chance to work out all the steps before NAB. We knew it would be a big question for our current clients but we didn't want to delay it.
 
Yes, we'll announce the plan on Monday. Had to get the details sorted and the website prepped.

The whole Odyssey RAW Bundle was a last minute decision so we didn't have a chance to work out all the steps before NAB. We knew it would be a big question for our current clients but we didn't want to delay it.

Thanks Mitch.

I love how CD is treating your current client and your approach to supporting them.

It is my most correct decision to invest to CD product 1 year ago :)
 
New Odyssey 7Q+ owner here. Picked one up from Illya at Hot Rod Cameras. On Twitter, CD posted a photo from NAB that showed anamorphic desqueeze on one of their display units. any idea where that functionality might fall in the coming release schedule?
 
Gents,

A head's up here: Looks like our April firmware update may slip a few days into May. We're racing to complete testing and the final tweaks are getting done, but we have to be sure that everything included works properly. There are a number of changes in this update, mostly having to do with monitoring functions. But it is a lot of stuff that is really useful to many people, in fact I should think that everyone can find something of interest in this release no matter what camera(s) you use in conjunction with your Odyssey.

Very, very soon. Working hard.
 
Gents,

A head's up here: Looks like our April firmware update may slip a few days into May. We're racing to complete testing and the final tweaks are getting done, but we have to be sure that everything included works properly. There are a number of changes in this update, mostly having to do with monitoring functions. But it is a lot of stuff that is really useful to many people, in fact I should think that everyone can find something of interest in this release no matter what camera(s) you use in conjunction with your Odyssey.

Very, very soon. Working hard.

How is the bug fixes coming along? Is there any important bugs treatet in the next firmware?

Right now the Odyssey is pretty useless for me, with the ugly skincolors...
 
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