External Recorders

7DDude

7DDude

Well-known member
I'm hoping this thread can be dedicated to the use and recommendations on external recorders, with the DVX-200. It seems there is a lot of videographers liking the Video Devices PIX-E5-&-7 recorders. Go ahead and chime in on yours and why you like it and how it works with your DVX-200.

I would like to know if you are using a VD PIX-E5, & 7 can you still see the LCD on the DVX-200, while having all the scopes show on the recorder? Would you record out of SDI or HDMI?:Drogar-Thinking(DBG

I'm loving my DVX-200!!
 
Yes you can have a clear screen on the DVX, while having all the PIX's scopes on the recorder. What you can't do is send the DVX200's video overlay out to an external recorder while keeping the DVX's screen clear.

SDI is the better connection and I'd use that for recording HD. However, the SDI doesn't export 4K or UHD, so you have to use the HDMI to record (or monitor) those.

I wrote an article exploring the virtues of using external recorders with the DVX200, focusing on the PIX-E5 and the Odyssey 7Q+. Since then, the PIX has added a highly interesting feature of allowing you to record an h.264 file simultaneously with the ProRes file, which is especially interesting with the DVX200 considering that in order to get 10-bit recordings externally, you have to disable internal recording. A natural workflow would be to want to have a low-bandwidth proxy and a high-bandwidth master file; that's now possible with the PIX. I don't know if the Odyssey offers a similar feature or not.
 
4K-10bit Pro Res HQ plus a H.264 copy with PIX-E Series Recorders

Video Devices PIX-E Series Recorders now make it possible to simultaneously record a 10bit 422 4K Pro Res HQ file to the PIX-E Series Speed Drive and a HD H.264 copy to the PIX-E Series SD Drive. Previously if we wanted to record anything 10bit with our DVX200's we couldn’t record a copy.

Needless to say this is a major step forward for anyone who wants to take advantage of 10bit recording with any Panasonic camera that outputs a 10bit signal from it’s SDI or HDMI port. 10bit has big advantages, it has much more information than 8bit, the following explains this better than I can.

“An 8-bit camera outputs pictures where the RGB values are quantized to one of 256 levels, whereas a 10-bit camera quantizes to one of 1024 levels. Considering that there are three color channels, this means that an 8-bit camera 24 bits per pixel and can represent any of 16,777,216 discrete colors. A ten-bit camera can represent any of 1,073,741,824 colors – that’s over a billion”.

The above is great news for all of us that own a Video Devices PIX-E Series 4K Recorder Monitor or any one that is thinking of buying one; the H.264 copies are excellent back up recordings and can also be used by clients to review your work immediately after the shoot.
 
I have a Pix 5e recorder and have been testing it with my DVX200. I get a clean 10bit UHD signal out the HDMI to the Pix, but i'm getting random stop/starts after setting up for the record trigger via HDMI from the DVX. I trigger the record on the Pix from the DVX and it start record as it should, but after a period of time, the Pix will stop record and then will start the record again. The Sound Devices folks are stumped and looking at the Pix log file have said that it seems the Pix is reading stop and starts from the DVX for some reason. I've tested many different HDMI cables in this scenario. Any ideas?
 
PBVideo said:
I have a Pix 5e recorder and have been testing it with my DVX200. I get a clean 10bit UHD signal out the HDMI to the Pix, but i'm getting random stop/starts after setting up for the record trigger via HDMI from the DVX. I trigger the record on the Pix from the DVX and it start record as it should, but after a period of time, the Pix will stop record and then will start the record again. The Sound Devices folks are stumped and looking at the Pix log file have said that it seems the Pix is reading stop and starts from the DVX for some reason. I've tested many different HDMI cables in this scenario. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I am not a fan of HDMI, at all. Why not use SDI?
 
I agree, HDMI is a pain! The problem is you can't get UHD out on the SDI port in the DVX - UHD out is only available through hdmi.
 
I just purchased the Atomos Ninja Flame, got it on Friday. So far I have only been able to use it with my GH4, but I like it so far. The monitor performs exceptionally well outdoors - NO sunshield needed - 1500nits. I have a shoot coming up where I will be using the DVX200 with it. I'll post my thoughts on how it performs with the DVX200.
 
PBVideo said:
I have a Pix 5e recorder and have been testing it with my DVX200. I get a clean 10bit UHD signal out the HDMI to the Pix, but i'm getting random stop/starts after setting up for the record trigger via HDMI from the DVX. I trigger the record on the Pix from the DVX and it start record as it should, but after a period of time, the Pix will stop record and then will start the record again. The Sound Devices folks are stumped and looking at the Pix log file have said that it seems the Pix is reading stop and starts from the DVX for some reason. I've tested many different HDMI cables in this scenario. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

We have a very important job coming up in September and plan to use our PIX-E5 to record 10bit from our DVX200. So far we haven’t had the stop/start problem mentioned by PBVideo, has anyone else had this problem?

To record 10bit we used Barry Greens suggestion and assigned (Auto Record) to a user button on our DVX200. A possible work around would be to use the stop/start controls on the PIX-E5 does anyone have any experience doing this.
 
Vardalos, I would be interested to hear your results with the Pix and the dvx200. The trigger works on my setup, but the longer records seem to bring the random start/stops. I'm sending out 10 bit UHD 29.97 and am running the latest 200/pix firmware. Pressing the record button on the Pix doesn't give me the start/stop problem. Have you tested a long take record with your setup using the assigned auto rec from the DVX?
 
PBVideo said:
Vardalos, I would be interested to hear your results with the Pix and the dvx200. The trigger works on my setup, but the longer records seem to bring the random start/stops. I'm sending out 10 bit UHD 29.97 and am running the latest 200/pix firmware. Pressing the record button on the Pix doesn't give me the start/stop problem. Have you tested a long take record with your setup using the assigned auto rec from the DVX?
Click to expand...

So far we haven’t recorded any long clips using (Auto Record) assigned to a user button, just short test clips and they’ve been OK. Because of the experience you’ve had we may stick to using the PIX-E5 start/stop controls. Were set-up with UHD 23.98p 4:22 10bit and Firmware Ver. 1.65-00-0.00
 
It’s been indicated in this thread that assigning (Auto Record) to a user button and controlling the recorder with the DVX200, could cause start/stop problems recording 10bit to an external recorder.

I have a question for DVX200 owners that are recording 10bit to external recorders, the question is, will the DVX200 go into a sleep mode if left on for extended periods of time? If it does it would then preclude using the start/stop controls on an External Recorder as the DVX200 could go to sleep in the middle of a take……………not good.
 
Vardalos said:
the question is, will the DVX200 go into a sleep mode if left on for extended periods of time?
Click to expand...
Only if you want it to. It has a menu option that lets you enable, or disable, the power-saving mode. It's called "Economy (BATT)" or "Economy (AC)". So for external recorder use you could disable that.
 
Barry_Green said:
Only if you want it to. It has a menu option that lets you enable, or disable, the power-saving mode. It's called "Economy (BATT)" or "Economy (AC)". So for external recorder use you could disable that.
Click to expand...

Thanks Barry, I found the the menu items you mentioned under OTHER FUNCTIONS page 2.
 
I have a client who uses the DVX200 with the Odyssey7Q+ and the camera is rigged in such a way that it is never touched. He powers it up remotely, it's set to always be on once activated, and he controls recording on the Odyssey itself. I think the only time anyone comes near the camera is to clean the lens every now and then.
 
I have the Flame as well, and use it with my DVX200. Honestly, I didn't know it could be this good. This is the rig I've dreamed of. Awesome.
 
External Recorders are fast becoming the answer for getting the most out of your camera investment. Our PIX-E5 has elevated both our DVX200 and GH4 cameras into 422, 8 and 10bit winners. Regardless of 8 or 10bit recording it’s very likely we’ll always use our PIX-E5 for 422 Pro Res HQ on the speed drive and HD H264 on the SD Card. I can see this as standard operating procedure for almost everything we do, it will squeeze the most out of the cameras we have and give us the option of 10bit recording.
 
I have a Question we have a Odyssey7Q+, as if we set the X200 to System or 1080i SDI OUT we see the image, but if we set it to 1080P out , we can't seem to get a SDI OUT signal.??

 
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