HDX900 ECU Data Save?

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Hi Jay,

The equivalent to the ECU data save is most easily accessed from the RC10. I recommend putting it on as soon as one powers up the remote. Hit the Function button on the controller and scroll through until you see the “RC data save” function and switch it from off to on.

Hope this helps,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, AG-DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

[John Sharaf]

Jan,

Does one have to enter this command everytime you powerup or does the controller remember your intention to save the settings once it’s been instructed to do so?

JS

[Jayfarrington]

Thanks Jan – I can deal with that.

As John says, I hope it’s something the paintbox remembers – that would be the normal/equivalent of ECU Data Save at least.

John, I will test this when my HDX900 gets back from it’s current rental and post results here.

-Jay Farrington
DIT/HDX Owner/Asset Hole
http://www.chatercamera.com

[Tony]

Jay,

Retaining the paint setting created with a paintbox when disconnecting the unit from the camera head is indeed possible with Sony Cameras via the scene files or internal paintbox dip switches for camcorders way back to the BVW-600.

The correct dip switch settings on the RCP-9 internally were the secret to allowing the bvw-600 to retain the paintbox settings. This was a little known secret which many operators overlooked when using the RCP-9 with the BVW-600.

One of my favorite method was Ikegami’s use of the personal function switch to automatically recall a specific scene file or other parameters. The personal function can be left in the “on” position and whenever the paintbox was disconnected the camera would revert to that specific scene file for recall whereas when the paintbox or RCP is connected that would override any manual switches at the camera head.

Tony Salgado

[Jayfarrington]

Tony,

Where were you in my BVW600 days?? That RM-P9 trick would have been a great thing to know about! I’m so glad that Sony tucked it so thoroughly away that I never found out about it until right now, when I haven’t used a betacam camera in years. Typical. But good for you for knowing what others didn’t!

Scene files don’t get “everything” as you well know, so I’m not a fan of relying on that, not to mention the time taken to write them for each location/paintjob. Minutes, I know … But when I speak of painting and unplugging to let the DP do his thing – it’s when the producer and DP have both said “no”, and I paint it quickly anyway, unplug, and let them do their thing. What they remember in post if I DON’T do that is, “that guy’s camera didn’t look so good on the b-roll”. Argh!

I haven’t been available to get to my HDX900 and paintbox to test whether or not the paintbox remembers to save the data after power cycling or not. I’ll post when I get to it.

Speaking of Ikegami, have you seen the new RC10 paintbox? What a throwback! It’s a slightly beefier RCP-50 basically! I love it! And finally Panasonic allows the video signal to come down the paintbox cable to the RCP (without gobbling up a port on the camera). It has it’s “own” downconverted VBS out, color, with menus, frame markers, you name it – all separate from the Video Out and Monitor Outs from the camera. Really nicely done.

-Jay “It’s no F900R, but …” Farrington
DIT/Happy Owner

[Tony]

Jay,

Little secret to tell you.

I showed my Ikegami RCP-50’s to the Panasonic engineers years ago to push them to produce a paintbox similar to the RCP-50 or RMB-750 to finally harness the power of what could be done creatively with such a unit.

Regarding the scene files yes it is true they do not get everything as they are not “all files” so I use instead the memory card files to quickly store all my settings as snapshots. I always have separate cards loaded into the cameras for multicam work which allows me to use the eight memory card files as registers for the individual cameras.

Regarding the RM-P9 I think I may have learned that secret from the guys at MI I guess they may have not told you about it when you worked there.

Take care,

Tony Salgado

[Jayfarrington]

John,

So finally I have had a moment to test, and indeed, when the RC data save is “ON” at the RC10’s “function” submenu, it will remember what’s been painted for channel A or channel B on the camera. And powering down the RC10 does not reset this – great news indeed (for me).

-Jay Farrington
DIT/Owner
http://www.chatercamera.com