Sony Confirms New Products

Sony has made a number of product announcements, including the new PXW-X400, an expanded UWP-D series ENG audio solution, and an upgraded Catalyst Production Suite – Catalyst Prepare 2015.1 and Catalyst Edit 2015.1.

The PXW-X400 is the newest edition to Sony's PXW series of shoulder-mount camcorders. It provides stronger network and wireless capabilities, improved weight balance, XAVC 50p recording and pool feed functions to give ENG and field production professionals a high-performance tool.

The camcorder's Ethernet interface (RJ45 connector) enables direct connection to a network when wireless LAN is unstable or unavailable, for file transfer, live streaming and control from a web browser. A near-field communications (NFC) feature gives users a one-touch link between the camera and a mobile device. The Content Browser Mobile application enables users to preview or remotely control camcorder settings of various menu functions. The pool feed function (HD/SD SDI) enables the recording of a 1.5G HD-SDI external signal on an SxS card, to record a distributed signal from another camera on-site without portable deck.

By redesigning the inner structure of camcorder body, Sony has improved the weight balance and handling capabilities compared to previous models. The combination of the new manual lens and the well-balanced body resolve any front-heavy issues and reduce the load on the right-hand. In addition, the product's “ONLINE button” lets users bypass a mobile device or the camera's menu for direct on/off control over the following features – direct streaming transmission of AV signals from a PXW-X400 to assigned destinations; auto-uploading of proxy or high-resolution files to cloud services and FTP servers; and on/off control over Sony's PWS-100RX1 network station enabling QoS live streaming while shooting.

The low-power (22W) camcorder PXW-X400 uses a 2/3" 3-chip CMOS image sensor and supports several HD and SD formats including XAVC. Lens options include a 20x Manual Focus Lens (PXW-X400KC model) and a 16x Auto Focus Lens (PXW-X400KF model). The PXW-X400 model is body-only with neither lens nor viewfinder. The new camcorder supports Sony's new HDVF-series Full HD OLED Viewfinder (model HDVF-EL20/EL30), as well as the new URX-S03D, the first 2-channel portable slot-in receiver from the UWP-D Series, and a new bodypack transmitter, the UTX-B03HR.

The PXW-X400 camcorder is planned to be available in February 2016.

Sony has also announced a new 2-channel slot-in receiver, URX-S03D, and a new bodypack transmitter, UTX-B03HR as part of the UWP-D Series, which is designed for compatibility with the company's XDCAM & HDCAM camcorders.

The URX-S03D is the first two-channel slot-in portable receiver in the UWP-D series for Sony camcorders providing a diversity system with stable RF transmission and high-quality sound. Since its launch, the UWP-D series has been used for many applications such as documentary use, electronic newsgathering and field production and by broadcasters for news production, achieving stable wireless transmission.

The URX-S03D has two receiving antennas and separate RF circuits for each channel. RF signals from the two antennas are compared and the stronger signal is automatically selected for output, allowing the URX-S03D to reduce possible interruptions in reception to a minimum. Sony's Digital Audio Processing, which uses DSP (digital signal processing) for digital companding, further contributes to high quality sound.

The receiver also fits in the slot of Sony's XDCAM camcorders with 2-channel digital audio connections directly from the DSP. It can also be matched with the slot of an HDCAM camcorder with single channel audio connection, and can monitor the AF/RF status of the URX-S03D via the viewfinder of supported Sony camcorders.

It has an automatic channel setting which scans and determines available channels and sends information to the transmitter to complete the channel setting automatically; while a clear channel scan, active channel scan and IR sync provide fast and safe channel setup. There is also a large display and simple menu for easy operation.

The UTX-B03HR bodyback transmitter is equipped with a new 4-pin microphone connector designed to withstand the rigors of ENG shooting. A standard broadcast lavalier microphone (ECM-77BC) can be used with the new connector. It features Sony's Digital Audio Processing, and is compatible with UWP Series / WL-800 Series products. It has a USB for power supply or charging batteries, and there is a switchable MIC/LINE input level and adjustable.

The URX-S03D and UTX-B03HR can both be used with the PXW-X400 Camcorder and are planned to be available in early 2016.

Lastly, Sony Creative Software has announced an update for its Catalyst Production Suite, consisting of Catalyst Prepare 2015.1 and Catalyst Edit 2015.1. Both are now available for trial and purchase worldwide.

The Catalyst Production Suite is a time-saving link for professional video producers, and offers media preparation and fast editing capabilities for 4K, RAW, and XAVC content.

New features for Catalyst Prepare 2015.1 include:
• Simplified user interface – a streamlined workflow provides direct access to media for efficient clip management.
• Easier file management – readily copy, backup, organize, rename, and transcode clips into NLE-friendly formats.
• Transcoding – supports all the key formats from Sony (AVC, XAVC, XDCAM, SStP, and Sony RAW), Apple (ProRes for Mac), AVID (DNxHD), and more.
• Storyboard EDL exporting – supports formats for Apple Final Cut Pro (*.fcpxml), Adobe Premiere (*.prproj), AVID Media Composer (*.aaf), and Vegas Pro (*.txt).
• Offload – simultaneously back up multiple camera cards with verification.
• Efficient importing – quickly preview clips and metadata before copying to save time and space. Set in/out points for multiple clips and only copy those sections of footage you want.
• Cloud collaboration – upload directly to the Sony Media Cloud Services Ci for fast worldwide collaboration and stakeholder review.
• Flash band correction – Repair clips with flash bands from events with flash photography; no need to reshoot.

New features for Catalyst Edit 2015.1 include:
• Video FX plug-in support – includes over 40 built-in GPU accelerated video FX and supports the OpenFX (OFX) industry plug-in standard. Users can enhance their projects with special effects, filters, media generators, transitions, and more from GenArts, RE:Vision Effects, NewBlueFX, Tiffen, FXhome, Digital Film Tools, and others.
• Dependable colour – by supporting the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES), Catalyst Edit ensures an industry standard colour accurate workflow regardless of source format.
• Expanded editing tools and capabilities – looped playback, partial or full-project rendering, re-link missing media or replace with different files, J and L cut creation, roll editing, clip playback rate control for fast or slow motion and freeze frame looks, picture-in-picture control, crop and zoom control, clip volume envelopes, and audio channel re-routing at render.
• Improved performance – close collaboration with Sony camera scientists provides supercharged 4K RAW processing, GPU optimization, and hardware acceleration optimised for QSV technology from Intel as included in Intel 6th Generation Core Processors.

Image: The PXW-X400 shoulder-mount camcorder.

www.sony.co.uk

(JP/LM)