There’s a lot going on in the storage wars — Cloud? Drive-based? Compact flash? SDHC? The only real limiting factor is size, and with any form of high quality video, you need a bunch of space. Enter Atomos’ line of SDI video recorders with their hard drive based solution.
The Ronin is their entry for a rack-mounted or studio-based unit, whereas the others in the line (Samurai, Ninja, Shogun) are primarily for fieldwork. (Actually, they are all compact enough and so simple to use that you could interchange them just about anywhere.) The Ronin, however, has a few unique advantages. Here’s a closer look.
Around the Unit
It’s small. A child’s lunchbox comes to mind. On the front is the 5-inch touchscreen/monitor (800×480), and there are surprisingly few buttons. Pretty much everything is done through the touch-enabled screen.
I’m usually not a fan of “touch” controls, but it only took about five minutes to become familiar with the AtomOS interface, which speaks volumes to simplicity. There is a power button, a hard drive slot and an 1/8-inch headphone jack with channel selection for monitoring. On the back are inputs for HD-SDI on standard BNC, control via LANC and the coolest feature — two channels of balanced XLR audio in/out.
There are also two battery bays, mains AC and outputs for DC devices. The Ronin charges the batteries when connected to AC power and instantly switches to battery in the event of AC loss. Also, when one battery is nearing depletion, it can be hot swapped with a fresh one with no interruption. Three battery options give you anywhere from 4 to 12 hours of operating time. Add a carrying handle on top as well as flip out legs for desktop use, and you have quite the little recording box.
Audio/Video
With its single HD-SDI looping input, you can record up to 1080i@60 in varying increments. The signal is auto-sensed and locks on straight away. If HDMI is your thing, Atomos has adapters available. There are 12 channels of audio on embedded SDI as well as the two balanced analog inputs. Both these inputs loop and are always active. There are gain adjustments for the analog side as well up to +24db. Smallish meters on the touchscreen allow for visual confidence as well as the aforementioned headphone out.
While the screen itself is not the 1280 wonder of its other siblings, at 800×480 it’s still better than most other device screens and is vibrant and rich in color. There are a number of picture adjustments as well. — Zebra, false color and black and white for focus assist. The unit can be triggered to record via SDI or by LANC, if that’s your thing. Time code is available in three different modes.
For recording, the Ronin uses 2.5-inch hard drives, and Atomos has an extensive list of drives that are compatible. You can use platter based or hybrid drives, but it’s highly recommended to go with an SSD. You get three different flavors of Apple ProRes, and Avid DNxHD is available.
I ended up with a 240GB SSD and was able to get more than two hours at ProRes HQ. Atomos has you insert your drives into plastic caddies, and five are included with the unit. Drives are hot-swappable, and using the included drive adapter on USB or Firewire allows for easy file transfer to a computer for edit or archive. There are also options for changing file-naming conventions if the default doesn’t work in your workflow. Software updates are regular and consistent, and Atomos even supplies an SDK to write your own controls if you want.
Playback
Playback is just as easy as recording, though I would hesitate to use it for playout on a show; the menu structure doesn’t really allow for a clean way of coming out of black. But for reference and clip checking, it’s great. There are also flags for marking favorite or undesirable clips.
The Ronin is a ½ RU sized unit, so two fit comfortably side-by-side in an optional rack pan. While the unit is available by itself, you can purchase the dual-record system if redundancy is your thing. Included with the Ronin itself are all cables, five drive caddies, docking station, two 2400mAh batteries and a D-tap connector. With the cost of recording to ProRes now being cheaper per minute than to conventional digital tape, hard drive recording is here to stay, and the offerings from Atomos are worth every penny.
At a Glance
A ½ RU Recorder, Monitor and Player
The Ronin recorder, player and monitor is a ½ RU rack-mountable recorder, player and monitor that comes with a five-inch touchscreen monitor with an easy-to-use, button-minimizing interface. Standout features include two channels of balanced XLR audio in/out. While positioned as a rack-mounted or studio-based unit, it is compact enough to be interchanged just about anywhere.
Atomos Ronin
Pros: Compact, user-friendly touchscreen interface, easy to transport, use and recharge. Able to record up to 1080@60 in varying increments; auto-sensed signal locks on right away. The unit can be used with adapters for HDMI recording, and there are two channels of balanced XLR audio in/out on the back.
Cons: Although the Ronin can be used for playout of a show, PLSN’s reviewer felt most comfortable using the Ronin for reference and clip-checking only.
MSRP: $1,295 (single)
$1,995 (dual)
More Info: www.atomos.com
