PMW-350 with nanoflash in Vegas

[missylee]

I have a Sony PMW-350K and plan a documentary in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Bahamas. The filming would be a week or longer. I have been editing in Sony Pro Vegas 11 doing 2 and 3D. Would it be advised to purchase a nanoflash for three reasons:
1. Compact Flash cards would be cheaper than SXS. 2. If the film is picked up for broadcast the quality would be better.3. I understand it works well with Vegas. Just wondered. Thanks.

Mike Ferguson
Venice, FL

[Mark Bloomfield]

Hi Mike
I also have a PMW350 and use a nanoFLASH. I also always record on the sxs cards just in case!!! So maybe not a big cost saving there, unless you consider SD cards and an adaptor. Also I am not sure, but without an sxs card to record on the nanoFLASH may not start to record if you are triggering via timecode. I am a long way from mine so cannot check that one out. There is no way of monitoring the nanoFLASH in the standard viewfinder, so that is why I like a backup even at a lower bit rate. I did get an IDX A-MWR bracket which is perfect for holding the nanoFLASH securely and helping manage cables. I normally shoot at 50Mbps which complies with broadcasters 50Mbps MPEG2 422, ticks the right boxes for them. Regarding Vegas I have very limited experience of it other than it seems to take anything without complaining. There were some nanoFLASH files available for download from the Convergent Design website. Seem to remember they were at different data rates so that might be helpful.
The nanoFLASH is still a great piece of kit and has recently reduced in price, too late for me sadly. There are other pieces of kit out there that do similar things, but I like CF cards they are cheap and work in a variety of devices.
If you need any further information please let me know.
Best wishes,
Mark

[missylee]

Thanks for the reply Mark. Have you ever stored MXF files from a Compact Flash card to an external hard drive? Thought about trying this when my Nano comes in next week.I I do know there has to be an SXS card in the camera.

[Robin]

There doesn't have to be an SXS card in the camera if you set the nano flash to record by itself.. i.e. from the record button on the unit,or remote switch.. and set the nano flash to generate its own TC.. IF you want to use the camera record button as the trigger by TC then you will need media in your camera.... and if you want a backup too of course.. but then when your camera media is full the nano will stop too.. as no continuing TC to trigger it to record..until you put in a new card in your camera.

MXF files from CF nano cards to ext HDD is fine.. I couldn't get XDCAM browser to do it.. thumbnails don't come up.. obviously somehow not compatible even though XDCAM 422.. file structure must be different.. but shotput pro will for sure.. done it many times.. the camera rec button is convenient and thats what you instinctually go for.. but then I got a remote cable and that was easier.. I was using it with a HDX900.. but the operation is the same..

[missylee]

Thanks for the reply Robin! I'm excited to try the nanoflash and see what size the MXF files will be. That would be a good option to buying a lot of media. I'll post a question on the Vegas site to find why the browser doesn't open.My next post may not be for a week or so. Thanks again!

[Robin]

You can chose the Mbps size your self..up to over 200Mbps if your cards are fast enough. I mostly would set it to 50Mbps.. Convergent themselves say the "sweet point" is 100Mbps in Long GOP mode.. you can also set the file to be .mov.. handy for FCP.Useful advise is ALWAYS use a 75 Om BNC cable..and any BNC joints etc.. Im sure it will come with the kit.. other BNC can give problems.. Nano also records in FAT32 mode.. so file size max is about 4GB..

[missylee]

Robin: To view the MXF files you need the XDCAM viewer version 2.3 which is a download from the Sony. You will need to log in to the site first. I did the download but it will be next week before I can actually try it. I was given this information from Dan at CD. The site is Sony Services Plus for Professionals. The download is PDZVX10. Have you tried this?

[Mark Bloomfield]

Robin, quick question. Does the remote cable enable use of the camera start stop button? Many thanks, Mark

[Robin]

Mark.. the remote cable I bought the stop /start is just from the cable.. it has a red button light on the end so you can see when its recording or not.. there is another remote cable that has a connection for the under neath of the lens.. with this cable you can use the lens rec button to trigger the nano flash .. I didn't buy that one as I wanted to keep things really simple.. I plug into the the nano flash.. weave the remote cable through the camera cover to come out above the VF.. and use it that way.. at first I would always run tape too.. so camera rec button was fine..nano set to TC trigger.. then without tape at all I would just hit the rec button on the unit itself.. but esp hand held this was a bit of a hassle.. so i got the remote cable.. you have to watch the stop press.. as you have to hold it down a couple of seconds to actually stop.. this is to prevent an accidental knock that would stop your recording.. if i were to use it with my 500 I would always just throw an SXS card in so I could trigger from the camera.. with tapes i didn't want to keep on re winding a whole bunch of tapes..

Miss Lee Ok thanks.. didn't know about that.. had been using the free 30 second view MXF software from Calibrated..

[Mark Bloomfield]

Thanks Robin, really useful information! I have a shoot using nano coming up and they need time of day timecode so I want to make it easy for me to run the nano. Tally sounds like a good idea.
Best wishes,
Mark