Odyssey7 & Odyssey7Q October 2014 Firmware Update

rotierney said:
Hi Mitch. Why does it now take up to 3 minutes to change from 4K>UHD ProRes to 4K>HD ProRes mode and visa versa? In previous firmware versions you could quickly change between 2 modes and now that doesn't seem possible
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We have to load in a new program when the signal format and recording are changed. These are fairly large programs and they take up a lot of space in the FPGA (the computer at the heart of the Odyssey7Q). If the program is of a certain size then we can have two loaded and quickly switch between them. Straight HD video to ProRes is relatively small compared to taking a RAW signal, converting it to video and then recording it in either HD or UHD. Switching between 4K2HD and straight FS RAW recording there is enough room to have them both active. When the choice is 4K2HD and 4K2UHD, those two programs take up too much space to keep both in active memory, so there is the delay in switching.

BTW, when you first turn on the Odyssey7Q it will load whatever mode you were using last. But it cannot recall any other mode, so when you then choose to switch modes it will take a few minutes. However if the two modes are one that don't take up too much room, you could choose to follow an Odyssey's initializing with a loading of the other favored record format, and then switch back again. Doing this in prep means that when shooting the switch between modes will be very quick.
 
Mitch, do you have a current road map of what's coming next in the O7Q? Or even what the next features will be? No definite timescales, just priority?
 
I could see the 7Q making some good FS7 sales if you can get the 4K Pro-Res up to 60fps. That would be huge since the FS7 will only support Pro-Res at HD resolution.

Does it even seem possible to get the 7Q up to 60fps in 4K compressed?

Also Mitch, I know you mentioned the possibility of a Matte screen. That would be a HUGE plus. I love the 7Q, but the biggest problem is that it's very difficult to see it in bright sunlight, even with a good hood. It's super reflective right now.
 
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Sorry guys, but I find that providing any details on our road map is simply laying out a minefield for myself and the company.

No matter what we have planned, someone will like it and someone won't. Some will feel slighted and everyone will have an opinion on it. And then we get into a discussion about what each of you would do if you were in our shoes and how we don't seem to have an understanding of what's really important, etc. And in the end it won't change anything about what is coming in the next update anyway, because that groundwork is already laid out. Don't means to sound harsh, but I've learned my lessons here the hard way.

I liken it to the advice I like to give to expectant mothers (not that I'm particularly qualified in such an area). If you want to tell people the sex of the baby before birth, go ahead -- there's no changing it and everyone knows that, so they'll all say congratulations and how fantastic it is. But NEVER tell anyone what name you have chosen beforehand. Because that is a choice and people seem to think it is fair game. If you say "Susan" then some shmuck will declare, "I had an aunt named Susan and she was horrible!" as if this might convince you to reconsider. If you wait until the baby is born and then announce to the world that your child is named "Susan" then only total asses would say anything other than how wonderful that name is.

So yeah, I'm keeping our Susans closer to the vest at this point. But you'll all know soon enough. We are trying to keep the pace of updates up. Four of them in 2014 -- so far.
 
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gene_can_sing said:
I could see the 7Q making some good FS7 sales if you can get the 4K Pro-Res up to 60fps. That would be huge since the FS7 will only support Pro-Res at HD resolution.

Does it even seem possible to get the 7Q up to 60fps in 4K compressed?

Also Mitch, I know you mentioned the possibility of a Matte screen. That would be a HUGE plus. I love the 7Q, but the biggest problem is that it's very difficult to see it in bright sunlight, even with a good hood. It's super reflective right now.
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It is definitely possible, and we're working on it.

This is one of those areas where theory and practice collide. In theory we absolutely have the headroom and the computing power to do it. But in practice we have an enormous amount of computations and different operations all occuring simultaneously and all vying for processing power and time. So it is a matter of squeezing these operations into processing cycles and then seeing how they effect one another, because they inevitably do. So we have to see what it takes to thread that needle and how much allocation we can then give to the actual processing of the image. Remember that we must do everything in real time and 4K60p is an intense data load. We have to make sure we can fit it into the cycles available and do so in a way that yields the quality results in ProRes that we are known for delivering. There are so many variables at play that in the end the only way to really know if it can be done is to do it and see what can be accomplished. So we are working on it.

Nice tidbit here: The work required to process 4K60p is almost identical to what is required to process 2K@240p. One begets the other.
 
george su said:
Mitch,
Is the Sony F3 SLOG1 lut on the odyssey available in .cube form?
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We use a standard S-Log transform LUT as put forth in Sony white papers. I know that there are several places where this and other such LUTs exist. There's a freeware LUT program called LUTCalc that has this and others, and I'm sure you could find it many other places as well.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Sorry guys, but I find that providing any details on our road map is simply laying out a minefield for myself and the company.

No matter what we have planned, someone will like it and someone won't. Some will feel slighted and everyone will have an opinion on it. And then we get into a discussion about what each of you would do if you were in our shoes and how we don't seem to have an understanding of what's really important, etc. And in the end it won't change anything about what is coming in the next update anyway, because that groundwork is already laid out. Don't means to sound harsh, but I've learned my lessons here the hard way.
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+1
what goes around, comes around. Love it.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Sorry guys, but I find that providing any details on our road map is simply laying out a minefield for myself and the company.

No matter what we have planned, someone will like it and someone won't. Some will feel slighted and everyone will have an opinion on it. And then we get into a discussion about what each of you would do if you were in our shoes and how we don't seem to have an understanding of what's really important, etc. And in the end it won't change anything about what is coming in the next update anyway, because that groundwork is already laid out. Don't means to sound harsh, but I've learned my lessons here the hard way.

I liken it to the advice I like to give to expectant mothers (not that I'm particularly qualified in such an area). If you want to tell people the sex of the baby before birth, go ahead -- there's no changing it and everyone knows that, so they'll all say congratulations and how fantastic it is. But NEVER tell anyone what name you have chosen beforehand. Because that is a choice and people seem to think it is fair game. If you say "Susan" then some shmuck will declare, "I had an aunt named Susan and she was horrible!" as if this might convince you to reconsider. If you wait until the baby is born and then announce to the world that your child is named "Susan" then only total asses would say anything other than how wonderful that name is.

So yeah, I'm keeping our Susans closer to the vest at this point. But you'll all know soon enough. We are trying to keep the pace of updates up. Four of them in 2014 -- so far.
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Not so much looking for dates but what features are still to come. You can talk about that?
 
Mitch Gross said:
Sorry guys, but I find that providing any details on our road map is simply laying out a minefield for myself and the company.
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Agreed.
Perhaps the best you can do is respond to specific questions by simply confirming whether something is physically possible, or not, and whether that feature might be something you look at, or absolutely will not. No promises, so no disappointments. Personally I think CD have been open, communicative and fair on all the forums right from the start, others clearly have different opinions.
Steve
 
steve phillipps said:
Agreed.
Perhaps the best you can do is respond to specific questions by simply confirming whether something is physically possible, or not, and whether that feature might be something you look at, or absolutely will not. No promises, so no disappointments. Personally I think CD have been open, communicative and fair on all the forums right from the start, others clearly have different opinions.
Steve
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This is exactly what I will do. Ask a question and I will answer as best as I feel I can. I think the recent discussion of 3D-LUTs is a good example of this.
 
I guess, obviously it was a bad year.

Convergent Design has learned their lessons what happens, if roadmaps and timetables cannot be accomplished. And we should have learned, that having the feature live and running is, what counts in business. I am happy to learn, that chances of 4K 50/60p compressed recording from FS700 RAW seem to rise. And we can expect more comfort with 3D LUTs and playback functions. These are good news. Get that done, get it stabilized and mature (less power consuming e.g.), then will be time for the next challenges. E.g. ProRes 4.4.4, DNxHD Codecs, anamorphic recordings, Chaining devices e.g.
 
CD is no longer giving updates on features already announced?

I get that you're not happy with the customer response to your roadmaps and feature announcements, but it sounds like you are punishing the customers for having opinions about CDs ability to stick to its roadmap. It's not transparency that's the problem, nor is it the customers, it was the accuracy of the roadmaps that was the issue. Why not just try to be more accurate with the roadmap rather than cut off communication about features and update schedules?
 
rheinturmblau said:
I guess, obviously it was a bad year.

Convergent Design has learned their lessons what happens, if roadmaps and timetables cannot be accomplished. And we should have learned, that having the feature live and running is, what counts in business. I am happy to learn, that chances of 4K 50/60p compressed recording from FS700 RAW seem to rise. And we can expect more comfort with 3D LUTs and playback functions. These are good news. Get that done, get it stabilized and mature (less power consuming e.g.), then will be time for the next challenges. E.g. ProRes 4.4.4, DNxHD Codecs, anamorphic recordings, Chaining devices e.g.
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Please read what I wrote. It is not just about timetables. And lets also not forget that we are no longer in a race of one.

We are not gong dark. I am still here. Ask me a question and I will answer as best I can.
 
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