There are so many 4K cameras today that it’s hard to keep track. 4K has penetrated every price point and tier, regardless of consumer oriented cameras or professional devices. However most 4K cameras offer some type of compressed format for 4K recording in-camera, and output either raw signal through 3G/6G-SDI out or have the capacity to ouput a clean feed from the SDI/HDMI to external recorders for higher bit rate recordings. Atomos and Convergent Design are established names that offer very popular recorders that can record 4K/2K/Full HD at various frame rates, ProRes/DNxHD/DNxHR and even Raw in some cases. At NAB 2015 Video devices also announced their PIX-E line-up of monitor/recorders for 4K cameras.
You may remember, that Cinemartin – makers of popular ProRes & H.265 standalone plugins, video denoiser and more recently YouTube 4K downloader apps, have their own 4K recorder called NEXT.
The NEXT is a portable palm-sized video recorder, that will record up to 4K DCI compliant resolution at various frame rates / bit-depths.
The device will come in 3 slightly different versions, the models S, P and G and will be able to record 4K 12-bit 4:4:4 video up to 60p. The entry models S and P will provide 8 or 10-bit 4:2:2 4K recording up to 30p, as the G model will be capable of 4K 4:4:4 10 or 12Bit recording up to 60 frames per second. Recently, camera guru Alister Chapman reviewed the NEXT.
Alister points out the design of the unit, which differentiates it from other popular recorders, as in the fact that the Cinemartin Next is also a very powerful computer. The NEXT is designed to go on the back of a camera and record in stunning uncompressed 4K 444 RGB in 10 bit at up to 30fps with an upgrade coming later that will allow 4K at up to 60fps via dual 6G HD-SDI.
It can also record compressed and all the way down to SD resolution. But what makes the NEXT different is that it is also a very powerful PC. The sample unit I had was running windows but you can also install the majority of operating systems on it. There are some clever tools installed as standard including the capture applications and a very clever background renderer that will transcode whatever it is you are shooting to ProRes or H265. Internal storage goes all the way up to 1TB and it’s very, very fast. Memory up to 32GB.
Next Recorder feature highlights:
- 4K DCI recording resolutions at 30p (Next S, Next P)/up to 60p (Next G)
- 8, 10bit recording (Next S and Next P); 8, 10 or 12 Bit recording (Next G)
- Uncompressed recording or Motion JPEG
- Transcode to Cinemartin Prores, DNxHD, H264, HEVC H.265
- Other supported resolutions: 1080p, 720p, PAL & NTSC
- Compatible with almost any Professional SDI and HDMI camera
- Price: Starting at €1,695
- Availability: Summer 2015
To learn more about the NEXT and pre-order yours head over here. To read Alister Chapman’s review (Part 1) and find other very helpful resources on popular cameras like the Sony FS7, head over to xdcam-user.com.
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