This is another show favorite of mine. Sound Devices has applied their knowledge of audio field recording to video, bringing what they are calling the first portable audio/video recorder to booth #IC2274. This is a cool, somewhat unexpected product to find at Infocomm. But it does belong here. As more churches, schools, and corporations understand the importance of capturing their activities on video–and manipulating or distributing them digitally–this device fits right into the modern arsenal of communication tools.

One of the most noteworthy elements may not seem relevant to ProAV but it is: the recorder handles both Apple’s ProRes codec and Avid’s DNxHD–the two most common and useful codecs for post production and pre-mastering of high quality digital video. This differentiating feature lends the recorder vital flexibility whether a customer’s post production pipeline is based on Apple’s Final Cut Pro or any of the Avid editing products. It also insures the video will be captured at high quality (without necessarily taking up a lot of storage), will encode cleanly for distribution and will be future proofed for bigger screens.

The captured footage will be viable both on the internet or on a big display screen–it can scale to virtually the highest resolution picture our display manufacturers can deliver. For many customers this will be the ideal addition to their live production workflow. For integrators it’s a product you can recommend without having to know everything about a customer’s video production workflow. Think of it as a portable harddrive for a camera. It’s that simple. It also records outboard audio for those who don’t want to use the camera mic. More detail in this press release.