New Monitor / Recorder from Convergent Design

Dear Friends,

Thank you for inviting me to this forum.

Our Odyssey7 and Odyssey7Q have both HDMI Input and HDMI Output.

We could come out with a 10" and 5" model, but lets get the 7.7" model delivered first. it is 7.9" wide, 6.1" tall, and 1" thick with the monitor area having a 7.7" diagonal.

It is not a big as it sounds, just cut out a sheet of paper.


My personal opinion is that a lot of DSLR shooters would love a 7.7" monitor, one not tied to the back of the camera, so it can be put in a more useable position.
I think it would make shooting with a DSLR easier. But, this is only a personal opinion, and your mileage may vary.

It will be interesting to learn about another manufacturer that will be coming out with a Monitor/Recorder combination. I assume that they will be announcing it at NAB.

Our "Compressed Codec" Option will be reasonably priced and avilable for purchase only, not rental. The more expensive recording options may be purchased or rented.

We will have a battery plate, a 14.4 Volt Lithium-Ion battery and charger available as accessories.

On the question of delviery schedules, specifically companies missing their dates.

Here is our schedule (initial shipping dates):

Odyssey7 July 15th
Odyssey7Q September
Recorder Options Q4, 2013

=======================================================

Update (30 March 2013)

We will be releasing the Odyssey7Q first, currently scheduled for July.
We will be releasing the Odyssery7 shortly thereafter.

We will be releasing some recorder options in July/August timeframe.

The Price of the Odyssey7Q is $2,295

End of Update

=======================================================



We have already built the nanoFlash and Gemini 4:4:4. Most of the recording options will be transferred from the Gemini 4:4:4.

We already have the OLED Panel working (and it looks great).

We have Waveform Monitor, RGB Parade, Regular Histogram, RGB Histogram, Focus Assist (Peaking) all working.

We have to code the Color Vectorcope (which may not be ready by July 15th)

We are still working on the Avid DNxHD codec, but this is not needed until we release the recorder options, which is Q4, 2013.
We are progressing very nicely on this segment of the project.

For the Odyssey7Q, we can already accept four video streams simultaneouly and display them in four quadrants.

To be certain, we still have work to do, lots of work, but we feel that our delivery dates are realistic.

At the very least, we have lots of firmware testing, and hardware testing to perform in addition to finishing the firmware.

But, we try to provide as realistic initial shipping times as possible.

For the recorder options, we specified Q4, 2013, to give us a three month window, October, November, and December, 2013.

This is a very complex device, in a very small package. But, we have excellent engineers, and the hardware is all designed and built.

We have a few parts of the design that we have to finish testing, such as our remote control over Bluetooth LE, but that is just part of the project.

I feel that this is a very candid assessment, and that we should meet or come close to our published deadlines.



Respectfully,

Dan Keaton
Convergent Design
 
Last edited:
Barry_Green said:
This is seriously a very interesting product. I had a pre-order on a $2700 SmallHD monitor because it was an OLED, with waveform/vectorscope/RGB parade, etc, and the ability to record h.264 on an SD card... and it looks like Convergent may be offering a very comparable monitor, for way way way less, and with the option of a vastly superior recorder.

I think this might very well be the upgrade I've been looking for. Want to hear more about battery options, and cost of recorder etc., but just as a monitor by itself it sounds like it's going to be quite competitive!
Click to expand...

Totally agree Barry, great value as well as terrific Convergent customer support.
Think with the rentable codec option makes this recorder, at the moment, very future roof.
 
Thanks for the info Dan, you've been very upfront, I wish there was more of that. I'm shooting a feature Aug/Sep so this is really helpful. Depending on your shipping dates I might consider buying one and recording to a Ninja until the recording package ships. It's good to hear you designed it will DSLR shooters in mind, the size and weight is perfect for a DSLR rig and for a steadicam.

As for the rumour, another forum member told me he spoke to an Atomos rep last year and asked them if they were going to develop an EVF/recorder, the rep said they were looking at a proper field monitor/recorder option instead. That's it, nothing solid, but I expect to see at least another new recording/monitoring unit at NAB. Yours sounds very well thought out and like James said very future proof, and the Gemini pedigree inspires a lot of confidence in the product.

I might have missed this in the specs but 2.35:1 and 2.55:1 cropmarks would be nice. Colour calibration/accuracy is the biggest thing for me in deciding on a monitoring option for rig.
 
Dear James,

Thank you very much for your post. We try very hard to provide the best support possible, 24/7 every day of the year.

It is always a pleasure working with you.

Dear Squig,

I feel that being upfront and informative is the only way to go.

Please understand that things may change, such as specifications, etc., as we want to put out the best possible product.

Yes, we feel that the Odyssey7 or Odyssey7Q may be popular with DSLR shooters. I just love the ability to put the much larger, better monitor in a viewable position no matter how the camera is oriented. And finding focus and proper framing on a 7.7" OLED Monitor just has to help.

I look forward to seeing what other announcements there will be at NAB.

Having designed and built the nanoFlash and Gemini 4:4:4 certainly makes it easier to design the Odyssey7 and Odyssey7Q as we have been listening very closely to our customers.

One hard decision we had to make was the size of the monitor. Our professional Gemini 4:4:4 users, including major rental house and industry professionals wanted it larger, while some nanoFlash users wanted us to no make it any larger. We do hope many will see the functionality of a 7.7" diagonal image.

We have an image, in fact James Bridges has it, of a nanoFlash beside a prototype of the Odyssey7. This was taken before the pre-production metal case was available.

First we milled prototype cases in a special plastic for fit and functional tests.

Now we have milled aluminum cases for NAB.

The actual production models will be made out of magnesium, a very light-weight, strong, and very durable material. This is much lighter than aluminum and far better than plastic.

We can add Aspect Ratio (crop marks) to the Odyssey7.

I have been working on precise color calibration for the past week or so. We have some very promising ways to accomplish this, so stay tuned.

Precise color calibration of our OLED panel is very important to me.

Squig, thank you for your confidence in our company, and our products!

Respectfully,


Dan Keaton
Convergent Design
 
Dan, I have been looking over field recorders, and I'm very interested in your Odyssey. We need a unit which can take 12bit 4:4:4 from an F35 for example, as well as do compressed recording. But I noticed your only compressed option seems to be using the Avid DNxHD codec, which is fine, except that we sometimes hand off to facilities which have an established ProRes workflow already in place and transcoding is not an option. Any thoughts there?

All the best!

Dave
 
Dear David,

It is our intention to add another very popular codec to our "Compressed Codec" option.

If we add this codec, then test it, then perfect it, then get it fully certified, then we will be able to announce it.

It is our intention to add this to our "Compressed Codec" option for free, if and when we get it fully certified.
Thus, it will be included in the next firmware release after certification.

But, one point always gets lost.

One can use Avid DNxHD, very nicely, in Final Cut Pro. Just download the Avid DNxHD codecs from Avid, they are free.

You can then either using Avid DNxHD natively, just as you do now with ProRes, or you can, at any point in your workflow transcode or render to ProRes.

(Of course, this is an extra step if you convert to ProRes.)

I hope this helps.


Respectfully,


Dan Keaton
Convergent Design
 
Dan Keaton said:
It is our intention to add this to our "Compressed Codec" option for free, if and when we get it fully certified.
Thus, it will be included in the next firmware release after certification.

But, one point always gets lost.

One can use Avid DNxHD, very nicely, in Final Cut Pro. Just download the Avid DNxHD codecs from Avid, they are free.

You can then either using Avid DNxHD natively, just as you do now with ProRes, or you can, at any point in your workflow transcode or render to ProRes.
Click to expand...

I was planning on buying a Sound Devices Pix monitor/recorder after the 5d3 4:2:2 update, but this throws a wrench in the works. Now do I go with built in pro audio recording or a larger panel and more framerate options? Its good to have choices.
 
Ohhh, i can't wait for the Q7. I first read about it on eoshd while in vegas and then i checked it out at the next day. As a FS700 owner i really lke the recording options. Would be interesting to see if i have to send in the camera or if it's only a firmware updates and if sony also want some money for the update.
but gettig the raw otion and also 240fps continusely is awesome. Also 4k compressed is nice for some jobs. Good to know that i made the right decision for me buying the fs700 for futreproof as i don't have that much money.
As some of other people say, it's a big to big for me. i would prefere a 5", call it Q5 :D but for that features i would also buy the 7,7" :)
So thanks for bringing out an alternative to the "to expensive equal to the fs700" sony recorder.

greetings from germany
Marcus
 
Dear Marcus,

Please note that the Odyssey7 and Odyssey7Q have two 2.5" SSD slots.

If (and when) we build a 5" model, then we would only be able to put in one 2.5" SSD slot. This reduces the feature set somewhat.

The Odyssey7Q has four quadrant mode and each quadrant is a nice size. With an Odyssey5, the four quadrants would be much smaller, thus the four quadrant mode may have to be eliminated.

Just rest assurred that we are listening. We see the need for an Odyssey5. And please note that this is not a hint nor a promise to build an Odyssey5, just that we are listening and thinking about the future.

Respectfully,


Dan Keaton
Convergent Design
 
Dear Friends,

Based on the customer feedback from NAB, and discussions with customers,
we made some changes in our Odyssey7 and Odyssey7Q.

Specifically, we decided to include our Compressed Codec Option in both units for free.

Initially, this means that the Avid DNxHD codec, Avid DNxHD-36, -100, -145, -220 (8-Bit) and 220x (10-Bit) will be included).
It is our intention to add another very popular codec, later, for free, but we have to obtain certification before we can announce it.

And we found that almost universally, those that were interested in advanced recording options, such as ARRIRAW and Canon 4K Raw were interested in the Odyssey7Q as opposed to the Odyssey7. Thus, we decided to offer these advanced recording options (beyond the Compressed Codec Option, which is now included for free) in the Odyssey7Q only.

If a significant demand for the recording options develops for the Odyssey7, then we will consider making it available.

Note: All prices are quoted as United States prices.
Prices around the world have to be different due to shipping, customs import fees, other taxes, and exchange rates.

Odyssey7 $1295 (US Price)

Avid DNxHD Recording Capabilities are enabled, for free,
upon insertion of a Convergent Design SSD.
No other recording options are offered at this time.
Initial Shipments of the Odyssey7 are planned for November 2013

Odyssey7Q $2295 (US Price)

Avid DNxHD Recording Capabilities are enabled, for free,
upon insertion of a Convergent Design SSD.
Additional recording options are available as described below.
Initial Shipments of the Odyssey7Q are planned for August 2013

High Performance Convergent Design SSD’s

240 GB $595 (US Price)
480 GB $1195 (US Price)
960 GB $2195 (US Price)



Odyssey 7Q Recording Options

FS700 Support: $1495, $75/day rental rate (US Prices)

HD/2K Raw up to 240fps (.dng format - Cinema DNG),
Quad HD/4K YCbCr Uncompressed up to 30 fps (.dpx format)
This option scheduled to be release in August, 2013.

Canon C500: $2495, $125/day rental rate (US Prices)

Quad HD/4K Raw 10-bit up to 60 fps,
Half QuadHD/Half 4K Raw 10-bit up to 120 fps (.rmf format);
Uncompressed HD/2K RGB 4:4:4 10/12-bit up to 60 fps (.dpx format);
DNxHD Compressed HD YCC 8/10-Bit up to 120 fps
(880 Mbps, .mov format).
Support for all C500 frame rates/modes for in one unit.
Some modes require two SSDs.
Simultaneous RAW and Proxy (DNxHD-36) up to 60 fps supported
(which is the limit of the camera's monitor output)
This option scheduled to be release in August, 2013.

HD/2K High Frame Rate/RGB 4:4:4 $1495, $75/day rental rate (US Prices)

DNxHD Compressed HD YCbCr 8-Bit/10-Bit up to 120 fps
(up to 880 Mbps, .mov format)
Avid DNxHD-36, -100, -145, -220 (8-Bit), -220x (10-Bit)
Uncompressed HD/2K RGB 4:4:4 10/12-Bit up to 60 fps (.dpx format)
Also accepts 4:2:2 YCbCr and records in 4:4:4 RGB(.dpx format);

Quad HD/4K Support: $1495, $75/day rental rate (US Prices)

Uncompressed QHD/4K YCbCr 10-bit up to 30 fps (.dpx format).
For Sony F55 and other cameras that can output uncompressed 4K over four HD-SDI Single-Link Outputs.

HD/2K Raw: $2495, $125/day rental rate (US Prices)

HD and 2K Raw, up to 120 fps (.dng format - Cinema DNG).
Supports cameras from IO Industries, Lux Media Plan, Indiecam, Weisscam, P&S Technik X35

ALEXA ARRIRAW: $2995, $150/day rental rate (US Prices)

ARRIRAW (16:9 up to 60 fps, 4:3 up to 48 fps) with VariFrame and de-squeeze support (.ari format)
Simultaneous RAW and Proxy (DNxHD-36) up to 30 fps supported
(which is the limit of the camera's monitor output)
This option scheduled to be released Q4 2013

Quad Stream HD Recording: $3995, $200/day rental rate (US Prices)

Supports recording up to four separate (Genlock not required)
video streams into four separate files using Avid DNxHD,
up to 1080p30/1080i60 or 720p60
(up to 220 Mbps/stream, .mov format).
The four HD streams may be displayed in separate quadrants on the OLED monitor and/or external monitor.
This option scheduled to be released Q4 2013.

I will be traveling this week so there may be a delay in my responding to posts.


Respectfully,


Dan Keaton
Convergent Design
 
Dear Stefan,

Our included Compressed Codecs Option includes support for up to 60 fps, over HD-SDI and HDMI.

(That is, up to 720p60 and 1080p60.)

We have another option that supports up to 120 fps over HD-SDI, but this is an extra cost option.

Respectfully,


Dan Keaton
Convergent Design
 
So you can only rent... its been a while since I've looked into it... but I thought there was going to be an option to purchase also...
 
Dear Friends,

I can confirm that each one of the Recording Options for the Odyssey7Q can be either rented or purchased.

Respectfully,


Dan Keaton
Convergent Design
 
Wauw... any chance this could be a small gold mine for rental houses? I mean; buy the recorder, and then rent it out and put 10 dollars on top of the codec rental price?
Or do you figure the recorder is so cheap that production houses will buy it themselves rendering rental house business out of the question?
 
Dan Keaton said:
240 GB $595 (US Price)
480 GB $1195 (US Price)
960 GB $2195 (US Price)
Click to expand...

Hi Dan,

will these recorders work with normal SSDs or only with yours?

These are some random low prices that I found on amazon for SSDs:

240 GB $160
480 GB $350
960 GB $600

These are probably not as good as the ones you are selling but for most they will probably be just as good.
 
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