Thomson Grass Valley Venom Flashpak, Revpro & Infinity Digital Media Recorder

Grass Valley FlashPak (Venom) is a dockable solid-state recorder that extends the capabilities of the Grass Valley Viper FileStream Digital Cinematography Camera System and Grass Valley LDK 6000 mk ii WorldCam multi-format HD camera.

“Venom FlashPak is easy-to-mount, is a solid-state recorder with no moving parts, making it durable and rugged,” explains D.I.T. Alan Gitlin, who recently used Venom on a feature called I Come with the Rain starring Josh Harnett.

It captures the uncompressed output of the Viper Camera. When shooting with the camera in Film Stream or RGB mode, each Venom FlashPak module has a 10-minute capacity; storing all footage in 4:4:4 HD mode. Shooting in the 4:2:2 HD mode of the Viper camera, the capacity extends to 18 minutes.

FlashPak also supports the LDK 6000 mk II WorldCam camera, for HD production. The 18-minute HD capacity makes it an ideal camcorder for field productions, episodic and dramatic television series as well as commercial.

“The Venom’s low profile also helps while shooting with Steadicam or any tight or cramped shooting space,” Gitlin adds.

A removable disk-based media, REV PRO media and drives provide real-time, non-linear access in a compact, durable, and portable package. REV PRO media is very similar to a videotape-based workflow, without any of the drawbacks. It combines the advantage of hard drive technology (speed, reliability, and non-linear access) with the benefits of videotape (portability, ease of use and low cost).

It provides fast random access to all materials recorded or stored on the disk. Content is organized in a typical hard drive file-based structure for easy searching, moving, deleting, and archiving. It is possible to store different file formats and files on the same piece of media.

REV PRO has a 35gb storage capacity that provides over two hours of SD (or HDV) or 45 minutes of high-quality high definition.

REV PRO was developed jointly by Grass Valley and Iomega. The disks are engineered for reliability and resistance to stress. The cartridge holds only the magnetic media and motor. The drive heads and electronics are in the REV PRO drive.

The INFINITY DIGITAL MEDIA RECORDER is positioned as a VTR replacement for broadcasters. It works like a tape machine but uses the removeable disk. The DMR has the benefits of true-life file-based nonlinear media access.

It records and plays back numerous video formats and standards, switchable by user input. It provides support for 525i 60, 625i 50, 1080i 50, 1080i 60, 720p 50 or 72op 60.

Operators use traditional VTR controls such as play, search, and record buttons or a jog/shuttle knob to quickly search for clips. The front-panel LCD allows greater control over the deck including videomonitoring, clip management, output and compression configuration and more.

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