RØDE just announced the latest addition to their lineup of on-camera microphones: The RØDE VideoMic NTG. Both terms sound somewhat familiar, VideoMic for small, on-the-go mics, NTG for RØDE’s professional line of shotgun microphones. Well, the new VideoMic NTG aims to unite both concepts in one sleek product. The new RØDE VideoMic NTG. (image credit: RØDE) I personally own one of these tiny RØDE VideoMicro on-camera mics. Its performance is OK (in relation to its size) and I use it mostly for recording better scratch audio when deploying a gimbal. However, I just recently had to attach this mic to a smartphone and here I ran into issues: You need to adapt the TRS connector of the VideoMicro to a somewhat weirdly wired up TRRS plug so that the smartphone recognizes the mic as an audio input. I soldered that cable on my own but as you can imagine the result didn’t look very professional. If only I had this new RØDE VideoMic NTG handy, I wouldn’t have had this kind of problem, since it really solves many issues you might have with currently available on-camera mics. Plus it offers greatly improved audio performance, obviously. RØDE VideoMic NTG So what is special about this new microphone? As RØDE founder and Chairman Peter Freedman AM puts it: It’s in the name. The VideoMic NTG is a hybrid microphone that brings the signature broadcast-quality sound of our NTG shotgun range to a compact, feature-packed VideoMic. Since it bears NTG in its name, this new mic offers the same annular tube technology as the NTG5 shotgun microphone. According to RØDE, this design offers natural, uncoloured sound and high transparency. Along with the new mic, RØDE offers a new shock mount with cable management and sliding rail to balance the mic on the camera. The new shock mount is included when purchasing the VideoMic NTG. Image credit: RØDE It features an auto-sensing 3.5mm output, so it works seamlessly with both, cameras and smartphones. No frankensteined (or purchased) TRS-TRRS adapter needed. Furthermore, it features a USB output for connecting the VideoMic NTG directly to a computer (or tablet). When using that USB output the freed-up 3.5mm port can be used to plug in a headphone for monitoring. With both analog and digital outputs, it becomes very clear that this VideoMic NTG is more than just a microphone. It sports a build-in ADC (analog to digital converter), a variable gain control for everything from mic level to line level, a built-in preamp with a dB peak warning light and, in order to power all this, a 350mAh lithium-ion battery which lasts for 30+ hours. Polar Pattern and Frequency Response This is a classic supercardioid on-camera microphone, since it is meant to be used as a on-the-go shotgun mic. It uses the pressure gradient electret condenser principle to translate acoustic waves into electrical impulses. image credit: RØDE Here’s a list of acoustic specifications: Frequency Range: 20Hz – 20kHz Frequency Response: 35Hz – 18kHz ±3 dB Output Impedance: 10Ω Signal to Noise Ratio: 79 dBA Dynamic Range: 105dB SPL (A-weighted, as per IEC651) Equivalent Noise: 15dB SPL (A-weighted, as per IEC651) Sensitivity: -26 dB re 1V/Pa (50mV @ 94dB SPL) ± 1dB @ 1kHz Input SPL at 1% THD: 120dB SPL High Pass Filter Frequency: 75Hz, 150Hz image credit: RØDE And a list of general specifications: Battery Life: 30+ hours Battery Capacity: 350mAh Output Connection: 3.5mm auto-sensing (TRS <-> TRRS), USB-C Bit Depth: 24-bit Sample Rate: 48kHz Weight: 94g Dimensions: 21.6mm (diameter), 171mm (length) image credit: RØDE The VideoMic NTG offers an auto-on mode in which it will automatically power on once the host camera is switched on. That way, you don’t need to worry about battery life since the mic will also automatically power-off once you switch off the camera. battery life is 30+ hours and you can recharge it within 2 hours using the USB-C port. The correct output level can be dialed in using the gain control on the rear of the microphone. Pricing and Availability At time of writing this article, there’s no intel about pricing, unfortunately. I’ll update this article once the information is available. Same goes for availability. UPDATE: The VideoMic NTG will cost $249 US and shipping should start very soon. image credit: RØDE This new VideoMic NTG seems to be much more than just a microphone. Use it with a camera, or a smartphone, or a computer using USB. Your choice. All the built-in tech is here to help but you really don’t need to worry about it, it just works. 3.5mm auto-sensing, automatic power-switching, built-in preamp, headphone out when using USB-C, variable gain control, high-pass filter, built-in ADC. When reading this, it could be the description of a dedicated audio breakout box, but it’s just a microphone. Pretty neat, I’d say. Link: RØDE website What do you think? Could this be your next on-camera mic? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

At this year’s Inter BEE, we had the chance to talk to Ryuji Nurishi, the managing head of the Canon Sumire Prime lens line. A perfect opportunity to chat a little bit about the idea behind this line of character-driven glass. What’s new and why soft might be the new sharp. Canon Sumire Prime Lenses kit – Image credit: cinema5D Canon Sumire primes are a newly developed line of lenses which, as opposed to the “original” CN-E cine primes, come with a certain character applied to their optical performance. They are a bit softer, yet deliver a very high resolution. They tend to flare a bit more yet these well-controlled flares add to the image rather than ruining it. And if you happen to wonder how to pronounce “Sumire”, Canon is here to help: Canon’s new line of cinema prime lenses named Sumire Prime (pronounced “Soo-mee-ray”) – associated with the beauty of a flower whose petals are open. These Canon Sumire Prime lenses seem to deliver what DPs and camera operators tend to ask for these days: character. It’s not about super high-resolution, ultra-sharp image rendition and zero optical “errors”. That’s upon the shoulder of modern digital cameras. But to tell your visual story you need more than technical superiority and perfect images. Canon Sumire Prime Lenses Character is the buzzword here and the Canon Sumire Prime lenses tend to deliver exactly that. However, character is not to be confused with inferior lens design here. These Sumire Primes are outstanding pieces of technology, no doubt about it. It’s just that Ryuji-san and his team managed to implement a certain look without impacting the quality of the lens itself. The promo video below was shot by Canon with a Canon C700 FF along with – of course – Sumire Primes. In order to create the Sumire lenses, Canon gathered a lot of feedback from pro customers around the globe. The clear trend was (and still is) the desire to deploy a lens as a creative tool that adds to a certain look rather than an optically perfect (as in neutral) piece of glass which sole purpose is to direct light towards the sensor plane. Canon Sumire Prime Lenses kit – Image credit: cinema5D The result of all this research is the Canon Sumire Prime line of lenses and as you can read (and watch) in our review here, the look and feel of these lenses are rather impressive. The Canon Sumire Prime line of lenses consists of the following focal lengths (for now): 14mm T3.1 20mm T1.5 24mm T1.5 35mm T1.5 50mm T1.3 85mm T1.3 135mm T2.2 Each lens covers full frame sensors and is capable of delivering up to 8K resolutions, yet adding a softer overall look to the image. According to Ryuji-san, contrast and resolution are not the same thing and therefore, the same lens can produce pleasingly soft contrast yet delivering very high resolution at the same time. Each lens, except for the 14mm one, accepts a 105mm front filter. All lenses sport a smooth 300-degree focus throw, a 11-blade aperture and a unified housing so focus and iris gears are on consistent positions. Same goes for the unified 114mm front diameter and the presence of focus and iris marking on both sides of the lenses. PL mount is standard but all lenses can be swapped for an EF lens mount. Pricing Cine lenses tend to be pricey pieces of kit and the Canon Sumire Primes are no exception to the rule. They aren’t uber-expensive, compared to other offerings but I think rental houses might still be the more likely customers rather than owner/operators. Additional information about the Sumire lenses can be obtained here. What do you think about the Canon Sumire Primes? Do you like the look or do you prefer other offerings? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Wireless video transmission has replaced a good amount of SDI cables on film sets around the globe by now. It’s reliable, delay-free and it used to offer decent 1080p quality. At this year’s NAB show in Las Vegas, Teradek introduced their new line of Bolt 4K wireless video transmitters and receivers. Among them: the ultra-performing Bolt 4K MAX – which is now shipping. 4K 10-Bit 4:2:2 zero-delay HDR wireless video up to 5000ft, that’s the promise if you implement the Bolt 4K MAX system to your workflow. That sounds a bit like pushing the laws of physics but I must admit, it seems to be a very capable setup even for the most demanding setups. The MAX is, of course, the flagship product in the Bolt line of wireless video systems by Teradek and you get what you pay for. Teradek Bolt 4K MAX Teradek offers a kind of modular system in order to build your very own Bolt 4K MAX setup: both the transmitter and the receiver sport multiple antenna ports which you can fit with either vertically polarized omnidirectional antennas (“V” Antennas) or, in order to improve range and signal strength, you can attach two so-called horizontally polarized omnidirectional antennas (“H” antennas) to the outer ports of each device. To really push the system to its limit (and to the advertised 5000ft range) you’ll need an external dish antenna array to which the receiver module attaches. You’ll have to equip that receiver with a dual battery mount for this to work. For more in-depth intel about the correct choice of antennas, head over to Teradek’s knowledge base article here. The whole Teradek Bolt 4K MAX system is a no-compromise version of the company’s already very capable Bolt 4K line of wireless video systems. It really is MAX in range, MAX in performance and, you guessed it, MAX in price. In terms of connectivity, the Bolt 4K MAX offers 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 inputs plus a loop-through 12G-SDI out on the transmitter and two 12G-SDI outputs plus an HDMI 2.0 output on the receiver unit. Cross-conversion from HDMI to SDI is built-in and signals up to YCbCr 4:2:2, 10-bit/ HDMI: RGB 4:4:4, 8-bit can be processed with virtually zero-delay from TX to RX modules. When using SDI as an input, Bolt 4k MAX can transmit metadata, timecode, and start/stop flags from most camera manufacturers as part of the data stream. Specifications The 4K MAX can handle HD, as it can handle 4K. The following resolutions are being supported: 4Kp23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 1080p23.98/24/25/29.97/30/50/59.94/60 1080psf23.98/24/25/29.97/30 1080i50/59.94/60 720p50/59.94/60 480p50 576p59.94/60 480i(NTSC)/576i(PAL) You also can cross-convert incoming HD to output 4K on the receiver or vice-versa, if your attached monitor can’t handle 4K resolutions. Embedded audio is supported too, up to 48kHz 24-bit PCM can travel alongside the video stream. In broadcast mode, a single transmitter can broadcast to multiple receivers and each RX unit can cross-convert the incoming signal to match the device downstream. You can control each device directly on the unit or by using the dedicated Bolt 4K app. Both, Gold mount and V-mount versions are available. The Teradek Bolt 4K MAX system leaves nothing to be desired but all that functionality comes at a premium and you’ll need (very) deep pockets to get it. Maybe one of the other tiers, such as the Bolt 4K 750 or the 1500 (feet, that is) might be a better, as in slightly more affordable, choice. But if you just want it all, a non-compromise powerhouse, the 4K MAX is for you! Link: Teradek Do you use wireless video systems? What do you think about wireless 4K video? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

ZEISS Supreme Prime cine lenses might not be the go-to glass for an average indie job but these lenses certainly are a cutting-edge state of the art pieces of technology. The latest addition to the family goes by the name ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance. Optically superb, yet slightly warmer and with added character. ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance Lenses. (image credit: ZEISS) This new line of high-end cine lenses comes in seven focal lengths to start with: 21mm / 25mm / 29mm / 35mm / 50mm / 85mm  and 100mm. All of them share the same specs other than focal length: fast T1.5 aperture length: 119mm (4.7″) / front to PL mount flange 95mm (3.7″) front diameter weight: 1.22 kg (3.13 lbs) -> 50mm up to 1.7 kg (3.74 lbs) -> 100mm close focus (from image plane): 0.26 m (10″) -> 25mm up to 1.1m (3’9″) -> 100mm new T* blue coating These are the facts, but what’s the story? ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance These new lenses are branded Radiance, as in Glow or Luminosity, even Vibrancy, maybe. According to ZEISS, they produce a slightly warmer overall look in comparison to the original Supreme Primes. However, the real magic here is how these Radiance lenses handle flares. The cinematographer should be able to obtain control if and how a given lens is flaring and to use these ‘optical errors’ to a creative benefit. And that’s exactly the promise of the new T* blue coating. Rather than removing the lens coating in order to gain character, ZEISS decided to improve the formula of their already unique T* coating in a way that flares can be reproduced and controlled while still fighting nasty side effects. Watch a sample clip below but keep in mind that YouTube’s auto-compression algorithms are not considered a cinematic gold standard. At all. According to ZEISS, they intentionally left out the more extreme focal lengths the regular Supreme Primes offer, 15mm or 200mm for example. Both lines mix’n’match just fine so you could add one or two Radiance versions along with a set of regular Supreme Primes. Here’s a behind the scenes of the above clip: Controlling flares without their nasty side-effects such as loss of transmission or loss of contrast should be easier using these new lenses and adding a bit of a character to modern cine glass really seems to be the path the industry is heading down. With all these high-K cameras with ultra-low-noise sensors, the glass in front of it becomes the one thing in the chain you can choose deliberately to apply a certain look to your footage. The blue-ish flares of these Radiance primes are just gorgeous, at least to my eye. Judge for yourself in this final clip, a side by side comparison between Supreme Primes and Supreme Prime Radiance lenses: Just like the Supreme Primes, these Radiance variants come with support for ZEISS eXtended Data technology which is based on Cooke’s /i technology but adds ZEISS’s own distorting and shading lens data for streamlining post-production. Pricing and Availability As mentioned earlier, this is not a cheap set of lenses. To be honest, this not even a set of lenses you would buy at all. It’s more targeted at rental houses or really big production companies, I’d say. One lens is about $24,000, the whole set of 7 clocks in at around $170,300. The ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance lenses start shipping in March 2020. Link: ZEISS  

Heads up, stop motion fans! Edelkrone has just released a new stop motion module, which seamlessly connects its HeadPLUS series with the industry-leading Dragonframe stop motion software. Dragonframe is the de-facto standard if you are into fully-fledged stop motion projects. With it, everything regarding stop motion becomes less fiddly and more creative, because the software takes care about almost everything. You can easily jump between frames, line up objects with half-translucent overlays of previous frames, keyframe lights, sync audio to your character’s mouth movements and manage huge amounts of captured stills, while always staying on top of things – try that without such a piece of software! With the so-called Arc motion control workspace within Dragonframe, you can control third-party hardware in order to pull of stunning moco shots of your animations. However, in order to integrate such hardware into Dragonframe, a rather expensive  Dragonframe Master Controller (DMC-16 or DMC+) box is necessary. These boxes are highly advanced controller boards for multiple stepper motor drives, DMX control for lighting and camera triggers. Another door into the motion control world of Dragonframe has just been opened by Edelkrone. Their popular HeadPLUS series of 2-axis motion control heads offers full integration into Dragonframe. For this, you don’t have to buy one of the DMC boxes, only a relatively cheap controller called stop motion module. That’s it. You now can control your HeadPLUS from within Dragonframe. Add a SliderPLUS with Slide Module v2 and a focus motor for a full 4-axis motion control system. Edelkrone and Dragonframe This setup is pretty neat, as it lets you control your camera in a number of ways. Most importantly, you are able to move the camera by hand while the software tracks the exact position of each axis. This is super helpful, because fiddling a camera into position by clicking some buttons in a user interface is somehow annoying (had that before, it really sucks). Furthermore, you can control the whole setup with a PS4 controller (but only if your setup is hooked up to the Dragonframe software). The stop motion module doubles as a focus controller if you have attached a focus motor – which is a good idea when pulling off a motion control shot. If you opted in for the Bluetooth controller, which comes with Dragonframe 4 as an option, you can control the software (and the camera attached to the HeadPLUS) with it, too. Other Options As stated above, there are other options of integrating motion control hardware into Dragonframe, but it won’t be cheap. Edelkrone products are not exactly cheap on their own, but the DMC+ interface you’ll need to attach other hardware alone costs almost $3,600. Another possibility is to go with DitoGear hardware. They have a dedicated DragonBridge interface for connecting their own lineup of motion control hardware to the Dragonframe software. Edelkrone stop motion module. So, the Edelkrone stop motion module offers high value for relatively little money and if you already own some Edelkrone motion control hardware, this might come handy when wanting to explore the world of motion control a little further. Pricing The Edelkrone stop motion module itself is only $99 – but you sure need a lot more than that, otherwise the little interface becomes pretty much useless. As a bare minimum you’ll need the Dragonframe software and a Edelkrone HeadPLUS or HeadPLUS PRO, in order to get started. Add a SliderPLUS with an attached Slide Module v2 and a focus motor. Throw in a bunch of batteries and a camera, of course, and you’ll end up with a big hole in your wallet. To be fair, you get a lot of value in return here. A computer-controlled fully-fledged motion control system, which fits in a backpack for around $4,000 (and add your camera of choice)? Unthinkable just a few years back! One cable to control everything. The beauty of this setup is the modularity. You can use all of the Edelkrone products standalone (focus motor and stop motion module not so much), as well as the Dragonframe software without any attached hardware, except for a camera, just fine. Meaning, you can use the Edelkrone pieces for all your motorized camera movement needs and for stop motion workflows. And if you have such gear already, the little adapter for under $100 might be well worth the adventure. Just make sure that your camera is supported by Dragonframe (check here) before buying. Links: Dragonframe | HeadPLUS What do you think? Is stop motion something you want to get into? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Canon has just released their latest addition to the EOS R lineup of mirrorless full-frame cameras: The Canon EOS Ra. As the name suggests, this camera is a close relative to the EOS R but the little ‘a’ hints to its real purpose: Astrophotography!  The new Canon EOS Ra (as in astrophotography). Background image credit: Brian McMahon via unsplash.com This new, special version of the original EOS R is not a whole new camera, however it does come with a bunch of features dedicated to astrophotography. If you are into this rather complicated field of photography, you’ll know how difficult it is to capture a decent shot of the milky way. There are a lot of details to take into account and a light setup can quickly grow big and cumbersome. The new Canon EOS Ra is here to help. Canon EOS Ra – Focused on Astrophotography One of the major hurdles you will run into, when specializing on astrophotography is a matter of physics: There may not be as much visible light in outer space, but there is so much more invisible infrared radiation that pollutes other wavelengths, such as so-called H-alpha rays! And these hydrogen alpha rays (Ha, 656.28nm) are exactly the ones you want to capture in order to create an accurately colored shot of distant galaxies. So the IR blocking filter of the original EOS R has been modified, in order to let these wavelengths saturate the sensor – without being polluted by infrared light. With this modification, the Canon EOS Ra is able to capture about four times the amount of these rays in comparison to the EOR R camera. Distant nebulas and other celestial objects can be captured without the need of dedicated accessories or further modifications. In order to aid with focussing, which is tricky when shooting (very) far away objects in combination with wide angle lenses, the Canon EOS Ra offers a 30x magnification within the EVF and in live view. The original EOS R offers a mere 10x magnification. This camera is a special kind of tool for special tasks. So don’t go buying one of these if you just want to capture normal worldly images: Due to the tweaked IR filter the colors will be off! You can, however, add another filter in front of your lens to counteract the modification. While that somehow defeats the purpose of the camera a bit, it still offers you the possibility to use the EOS Ra as a normal camera, which is good. Specifications As stated above, the Canon EOS Ra is pretty much an EOS R with some modifications, so the specs are pretty much the same, as well: 30.3MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor Max resolution (stills): 6720 x 4480 Internal video recording: mp4/h.264 UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) @ 23.976p / 24p / 25p / 29.97p FullHD (1920 x 1080) @ 23.967p / 24p / 25p / 29.97p / 59.94p External recording 4:2:2 10-bit UHD Digital 5-axis image stabilization (video only) The absence of image stabilization in stills mode might sound strange, but in reality you will use a tripod for capturing galaxies. Always. Is it Worth it? If this camera is a worthy addition to the R lineup? Well, it’s a special camera for a special purpose. If you’re an astrophotographer this might be big news: A fully self-contained full-frame mirrorless camera dedicated for capturing stars? Sounds great! However, if you’re a regular normal stills shooter or an indie filmmaker, this camera might not be for you. Personally, I would be more content seeing a “pro” version of the EOS R more suited for filmmakers, of course, but who am I to judge… The Canon EOS Ra is currently available for pre-order and it should ship pretty soon. Link: Canon Website What do you think? Are you into astrophotography? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Finland-based company Loupedeck just released its second hardware controller for accelerating creative workflows: The Loupedeck CT (as in Creative Tool). While the original Loupedeck+ was aimed more at a dedicated Lightroom workflow, the new Loupedeck CT is a more versatile beast: Everything is customizable plus the embedded multi-function wheel with touchscreen dominating the surface is really cool! One versatile controller to rule them all. That’s the dream of everybody working in the creative space. But how does this dream matches reality? Well, the new Loupedeck CT comes close, very close! It is smaller than the original Loupedeck+ so it can sit next to your keyboard (which is still a thing, believe me). Its housing is made of aluminium rather than plastic, so it’s more rugged, too. But the real advantage over the original Loupedeck+ lies in its flexibility: Most of the buttons are not pre-labeled anymore, 12 of them aren’t even real buttons but LCD screens which you can label (and map) to whatever function you like. Loupedeck CT Next to these LCD buttons you’ll find 6 dials which –again– are mappable to custom functions. In order to maintain a clear overview, the current function is displayed right next to it. However, the real star of the whole device is of course the giant mutli-function wheel with embedded touch screen dominating the center of the Loupedeck CT. And if you ever worked with such a hardware controller you’ll know how delightful it can be to be able to adjust two setting at once without taking your eyes off the screen. The company claims that most of the current pro creative apps, such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro X and Ableton Live are supported by the Loupedeck CT. Later this year support for Autodesk Fusion 360 will be added. One thing, that immediately caught my eye was the missing support for DaVinci Resolve. This is disappointing but to be fair, it’s not Loupedeck’s fault. Blackmagic Design chose to only support a very limited number of hardware controllers beside their own lineup. Back to the device itself, here is a little introduction video for your viewing pleasure: In terms of usability the Loupedeck CT is much more versatile than then dedicated Lightroom-centric Loupedeck+. You can use it with Premiere (read our article here) but all the labeled buttons and dials need to be remapped for that so this solution is not exactly intuitive. Enter the Loupedeck CT: 12 mappable LCD buttons, customizable dials with custom LCD labeling and of course the giant dial with touchscreen in the center. Loupedeck offers a dedicated software for mapping and tweaking almost everything on the Loupedeck CT but they also offer presets for most apps so you can dive straight in. Here is a quick demo of the device and its feature while using it in Adobe Premiere Pro: I think this device is really a next-gen controller. I do use the Streamdeck (article here) a lot and I really like it but it only offers buttons. The Loupedeck CT with its dials and buttons and especially with its ARRI Mastergrips styled center dial is really next-level I think. No DaVinci Resolve ’round here Resolve does support several control surfaces beside their own giant Advanced Control Surface. But since they expanded their lineup with the introduction of the Mini and Micro Panel the company seems to cease support for new third-party devices. Supported devices such as the Tangent Wave 2 were implemented into Resolve before the introduction of  their lower tier micro and mini Panels so they are still supported but you can’t customize them since their buttons and dials are hard-mapped to the software. Blackmagic Design’s own Mini Panel. No way around it for now. Although I can understand Blackmagic’s policy here (give away the software for free, earn money with the associated hardware) some problems arise here: The dedicated Blackmagic control surfaces only work with Resolve. Using several other pro creative tools? Bad luck. Users can’t take advantage from other companies innovations, such as the Loupedeck CT. The CT doesn’t come with a trinity of color wheels, sure, but maybe we are looking at a growing system of modular control surfaces here. Maybe another Loupedeck device which adds these color wheels in the future? Yes, please! Add support for these third-party devices in DaVinci Resolve? Yes, please! So if you want to use this pretty handy and versatile Loupedeck CT with Resolve, let Blackmagic Design know! Loupedeck even offers an open SDK for third-party developers, so if you’re a skilled dev feel free to adapt this device to your choice of creative software! Loupedeck is now accepting open integration requests by third party developers, interested in expanding our software compatibility by creating a hardware enabled integration. Pricing and Availability The Loupedeck CT is not exactly cheap  ($549 / 499€) but please bear in mind that Loupedeck is not a giant corporation but a rather small company making innovative stuff for creatives. Shipping starts November 11th. Links: Website What do you think about this device? Do you use other control surfaces for your creative work? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

For the second time this year, Lesspain Software releases a new version of their popular asset management and review tool, Kyno. Version 1.7 adds support for extended metadata workflows as well as ProRes export on Windows machines. There’s more, of course, so let’s dive in! Kyno is a simple, yet powerful media management tool for both Mac and Windows machines. It does not depend on a proprietary database but builds on your OS file system and adds metadata to that very file structure. Add any storage to your system, Kyno can handle it. With Kyno you can offload, browse, review, tag, log, organize, transcode, rewrap and export your footage. A one-stop-shop for all things media and it supports all the professional codecs of course (although you need the pricier Kyno Premium for some of the more advanced codecs and some other features – see below). Kyno 1.7 – More Metadata and ProRes Export on Windows The new version 1.7 adds crucial features to the already impressive roster. Windows users now can export any flavor of ProRes to cater to ProRes workflows within their projects. Windows 7 or higher is required for this. For Mac users, this isn’t anything new but the next feature will be: The support for metadata has been significantly increased. Now you can send all metadata, including XMP based fields straight to your NLE of choice, such as Final Cut Pro or FCPX. Ratings, custom tags and everything else are available through the corresponding XMP file. Turning it around, you can export any custom metadata, such as annotations, markers, tags or keywords via XML straight to Kyno. The software will ask you which fields you want to merge with the existing set of metadata. This results in a very neat and organized library of media assets with consistent metadata throughout any project (and beyond that when archiving your assets). Furthermore, you can paste metadata onto existing master clips. This is handy when proxy clips have been logged, and you want to merge the resulting metadata with the original master files. This works even if the (transcoded) proxy files come with a different file extension than the unaltered master files. 32-Bit Files on macOS Catalina Yes, Apple has done it again. Some bridges have been burned with the latest OS and as a result, no 32-bit binary can be opened any longer. In particular, any media files which have been created using the Quicktime 32 framework won’t run on macOS 10.15 Catalina. But fear not, Kyno 1.7 can find these legacy assets and you can transcode them into something more future-proof. Interestingly this feature even works on macOS Catalina! This feature is especially useful if you’re a FinalCut Pro X user since older versions of that NLE used to output Quicktime 32 based media assets. But please make sure that your app of choice is being supported by Catalina before upgrading to this OS. Since it is dropping support for all things 32-bit some apps may be broken after upgrading. Other Features for Kyno 1.7 HEVC is here to stay. More and more cameras rely on this rather new codec, also known as h.265, as an acquisition format. Kyno is now able to tap into your operating systems hardware-acceleration for decoding (playback) HEVC footage on Mac and Windows and encoding (export) on Mac machines. Your computer needs the respective hardware for that, of course. LUTs can be applied from within Kyno, too. The drilldown feature is one of the most popular features within Kyno. With it you can click on a single parent folder and Kyno will relentlessly search for compatible media assets in that folder and all of its sub- and sub-sub-folders. With Kyno 1.7 you can finesse this feature even more: Filter for a certain folder name and Kyno will search for all media files within your desired folder (or drive) but only in folders with the name you specified. For example, you could select an external drive, enable drilldown and specify the folder name “dailies“. Each and every asset within all folders which are labeled “dailies” on that drive will pop up immediately. Neat! Here’s a full list of features (all editions): Support for exporting all flavors of ProRes on macOS and Windows 7 or higher Support for macOS Catalina A new checkbox in the transcoding dialog allows you to mirror the directory structure to the destination when transcoding, enabling powerful proxy and metadata workflows Copy & paste metadata from one clip to other clips (Cmd/Ctrl-C, then select one or more other clips and select “Paste Metadata…” or Cmd/Ctrl-Alt-V) New filter for legacy Final Cut Pro media Full Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro metadata import support (via XML and drag and drop for Final Cut Pro) Kyno now offers full metadata support for Premiere Pro via XMP. Rating, Tags and Angle metadata will be transferred when sending to Premiere Pro Playback and transcoding of HEVC is now hardware-accelerated on macOS and Windows. HEVC encoding support has been added on macOS Adjustable playback resolution for ProRes clips Support for simple boolean expressions in filter queries e.g. “car and drone”, “sports or food”, “car and not b-roll” New filter for containing folder name, for example, to show all clips in all folders named “dailies” We’ve made the display of dates in the list view more flexible in width and localized according to your system preferences The “Date created” column was added next to the existing “Date modified” column Set a marker’s or subclip’s description as note when sending to Final Cut Pro Added playback support for DNxHR 444 12bit clips The frame rate filter now allows identifying clips with variable or constant frame rate (CFR/VFR) If you prefer to always display zero-based timecodes, we’ve added a preference for that (Preferences/Settings – Advanced – Use zero-based timecode) Added support for playback of Canopus HQ/HQA Added support for playback of MJPEGB encoded Quicktime clips We’ve implemented hardware accelerated decoding and playback of H.264 clips on Windows Improved matching of files when importing metadata (Kyno, Final Cut Pro XML, Final Cut Pro 7 XML), now supporting powerful proxy workflows Derive export file name for FCP7/Premiere xml from folder name These new features are exclusive to the Premium edition: Upload clips or subclips including metadata to Frame.io, convert hi-res footage before sending and apply LUTs or burn in timecodes Use the brand new Archiware P5 Archive integration to archive folders or clips including metadata from within Kyno (setup in Preferences – Integrations) You can now play back, manage and transcode Avid Op Atom MXF files, even directly from the Avid MediaFiles folder Support playback of spanned MOV/ProRes proxies from RED camera cards We made a number of performance improvements for RED RAW R3D playback Pricing – Kyno vs Kyno Premium There are two editions of Kyno, Standard and Premium (and Enterprise, but that’s not important for us here). Both editions share the same pricing structure, pay once and get a year worth of updates. There is no subscription, which is good! Kyno is €159 (including tax), updates for another year (aka “renew your license”) clocks in at €79. For the Premium edition, these prices translate to €349 for the license and €169 for another year. Note: you don’t have to pay for each year. Your version won’t get any updates after your license period ends but the version you’re on will still work as usual. Links: Lesspain Software Do you use Kyno for managing your media assets? If not, do you use any other software solution for that matter? Share your thoughts in the comments below!