Thank you for a simple, clear overview.

The variations in video formats was killing me. The convolution slowed my progress, frustrated my projects, and outright discouraged me from making more videos. It has taken me years of reading and trial and error to arrive at this point of confidence and know how to simply encode everything as 422 and not worry. Thank you for the article.

Did you mean that Auto Iris should be set to on or off?

Thanks!

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Right now I’m working on a DVD set that will show the 35th commemoration in its entirety, or most of it. I’m saddened that you weren’t able to attend. Like yourself, there were several people that were expected to attend but at the last minute weren’t able to make it. Hopefully the forthcoming DVD set will help others to relive this very special day.

Cheers,
Don

Thanks and long live the true memory.

Since you posted your question about controlling multiple Ki Pro Minis using the LANC function I’ve been asking around about which controller will do the job reliably but no one seems to have a definitive answer. It seems as though most people who need to control multiple units are using the hard wired ethernet gang control function and just using the web-based master controller screen. Ultimately, the LANC way of doing things would not be nearly as clumsy as using a laptop. You obviously must have upgraded your KPM firmware to v.2.5 otherwise the LANC wouldn’t work at all, but as far as getting reliable control of the start/stop LANC commands is something I’m not able to help you with. I don’t use the LANC function myself so I’m probably not the best person to ask. If you want to read more about the Ki Pro Mini gang record function turn to page 45 in the KPM owner’s manual, PDF version.

- Don

I want to trigger four Ki Pro minis via some kind of LANC record trigger.

I have achieved this using a Sony Z1’s LANC interface direct into the first KPM in the chain, but it’s a fairly cumbersome runstop trigger.

Do you know of an off the shelf device that will serve this purpose? I have tried a Libec LANC remote, but no joy.

Patrick

Thanks so much for your comments. It’s gratifying to know that AJA is aware of the Time Of Day TC recording difference and how the problems associated with it have been dealt with by the Ki Pro development team. Your explanation is greatly appreciated and the solution logical. Personally, It isn’t an issue for me because I normally use regular TC unless asked to do otherwise, which is what happened in this case. I would also like to thank Jon Thorn from AJA who helped resolve the problem by steering me in the right direction over at DVInfoNet. Perhaps future Ki Pro Mini operation manuals will mention the SDI Time of Day issue in a more prominent manner.

Cheers,
– Don

Tony Cacciarelli from AJA Video here. We do actually know about this. When the Ki Pro or Ki Pro Mini is to be ARMed based on the timecode, it will watch the timecode value over the SDI cable for a change and will start recording once is sees that happen.

If the timecode value being output by the camera is Time of Day, then the timecode is continuously changing, even when the camera is not recording. So, the Ki Pro sees this change and would start recording even though the camera isn’t in record. To avoid this, you have to set the ARM value to REC ONLY, which requires you to press the RECORD button on the Ki Pro in order to start a recording.

With the new v2.5 firmware on Ki Pro Mini, the LANC port is enabled, which allows the Ki Pro Mini to be ARMed using a trigger over the LANC cable (assuming you have a LANC-enabled camera, of course). This allows for Time of Day timecode to be used since the ARMing is happening based on the LANC signal, not watching for changing timecode over the SDI cable.

Thanks,

Tony

As for recording, the audio circuits perform differently between camera types so it’s more a matter of testing than anything else. Overall, I want the recording volume to be at the higher end of the scale but not so much that sudden jumps in volume will clip. This is called headroom and some cameras handle it better than others. Every camera has an audio pre-amp circuit and some are easier to overload than others. This is why a lot of camera operators will have channel 1 set as I’ve described above and channel 2 set lower in case of sudden loud bursts. If channel 1 clips just switch to chan.2 during the edit.

- Don