Atomos outs Ninja and Samurai devices for pro video
updated 10:40 pm EDT, Wed March 23, 2011
Touchscreen device captures in Apple ProRes
Pro video accessory maker Atomo is unveiling two new combo hard-drive-based recorder/monitor/playback devices that capture footage directly to edit-friendly, visually-lossless Apple ProRes format, which will be formally introduced at this year's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference. The Ninja captures from any camera with an HDMI output, eliminating the need for capture cards; the Samurai accepts 10-bit HD-SDI input, again saving in Apple ProRes format.
The Ninja ($995) is a portable touchscreen HD recorder that uses removable 2.5-inch hard drives (can also use similar form-factor SSD drives) to capture 10-bit video and features instant on-board playback or live monitoring in a self-contained, battery-powered unit. Drives can be easily swapped out for almost limitless storage capacity, and uses battery-looping technology, meaning one battery can be swapped out while the other runs the unit. The drive holder can handle up to 750GB hard drives for studio work, or users can swap to a SSD unit for situations where recording is subject to vibration (rough locations, aerial shooting, etc).
The Samurai ($1,495) is a similar device but with HD/SD-SDI support, a larger touchscreen and multi-camera support. The 5-inch touchscreen offers 800x480 resolution, and SDI loop-through to allow another monitor to be attached, and two Samurais can be gen-locked to provide 3D support.
Both units feature a strong aluminum body, and include Firewire 800 as well as USB 2 and 3 outputs to computers.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2008
Released when?
The Ninja was supposed to be released in January. I hope it lives up to its promises because at that price its affordable to me - much cheaper than, say, the Nanoflash and better (for me) because of the ProRes format. Recording straight to a 4:2:2 format and bypassing the heavy AVCHD compression might mean cheaper cameras will be viable for green screen compositing.