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Infinity Digital Media Camcorder |
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Grass Valley Infinity Adds Long-GOP Compression Option
Grass Valley has added long-GOP MPEG-2 encoding as an option for its Infinity Digital Media Camcorder. Adding the new MPEG-2 HD/SD Compression Board (about $4,000) is a simple software upgrade.
By enabling long-GOP support, the IT-centric camcorder now offers users more capacity on the low-bit-rate end of the recording scale - the Infinity records HD at data rates from 18 Mbps all the way up to 100 Mbps - as well as more ways to record video files for compatibility with existing NLE workflows. For MPEG-2 users, it makes editing files easier than ever.
User-selectable bit rates for long-GOP MPEG-2 encoding include 18, 25, 35, or 50 Mbps. Grass Valley’s Edius and Aurora nonlinear edit software will natively support the long-GOP material, while Avid editors can use MOG Solutions' Toboggan plug-in to rewrap the Infinity MXF files into Avid-compatible MXFs. Toboggan can also be used to check in media in an Avid Interplay or Avid MediaManager system. (Toboggan v2.0 is slated for release this week.) Final Cut Pro users will be able to use Telestream's Flip4Mac Infinity Component plug-in to rewrap the MXF files and drop them into the project bin.
Neither process impacts image quality, and both are faster-than-real-time solutions, Other HD formats supported by the Infinity camcorder include 10-bit 4:2:2 JPEG 2000 at up to 100 Mbps or MPEG-2 I-frame at up to 80 Mbps.
Thomson’s Grass Valley Infinity camcorder facilitates tight integration with Adobe Systems CS3 and Apple Final Cut Pro workflows using the new IJ2K Suite product from CineForm.
With the Infinity DMC and IJ2K Suite, users can shoot in the 1920x1080 HD format at 10 bits per pixel and 4:2:2 color sampling; store the footage on Thomson Grass Valley REV PR or Compact Flash media, using Thomson’s internal JPEG 2000 codec; and transcode it at faster-than-real-time speeds to the Cineform intermediate format with full original picture quality. The footage can then be ingested into any nonlinear editing system, such as one running Adobe’s SC3 software.
The Cineform IJ2K Suite also quickly rewraps JPEG 2000 footage as .avi or
.mov files so they can be previewed in Windows Media Player and QuickTime Players without the need for transcoding.
The new DMC 1000/20 offers expanded recording capacity and improved performance over the previous generation via Thomson’s new REV PRO XP and ER disks.
For more information, visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com, www.flip4mac.com, and www.mog-solutions.com.
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