Atomos has finally released the multi-camera switching update for the Shogun 7.
The update has been released in the form of AtomOS 10.4 which is available today as a free download from the Atomos website.
What can you now do?
The update adds touch-controlled switching, quad monitoring and ISO recording functionality to the Shogun 7. This allows you to switch back and forth between four live HD SDI video streams of up to 1080p60. Tapping on an input stream’s window in the quad-view will switch to that source as the program feed – which is then output via HDMI, SDI, or both simultaneously. You can record all four streams, with the switched program output as a fifth stream. This is all done asynchronously, without the need for genlocked sources.
The streams are all recorded to the same SSD drives you are already using. Each camera is recorded as a separate ISO in either Apple ProRes or Avid DNx, which is handy when you need multiple, synchronized camera angles.
All input switches are recorded in metadata with a choice of transition type. Once you’ve finished capturing your streams, simply import the resulting Apple Final Cut XML file along with your ISOs into your NLE and the timeline automatically populates with all the transitions in place.
Audio is also taken care of: every ISO can record the 2-channel embedded digital audio from each source, as well as analog stereo channels coming into the Shogun 7 (via optional XLR breakout cable). The program stream always records the analog feed and can switch between audio inputs for the on-camera audio to match the switched feed.
On-screen, you can choose to view the four input streams at once in a quad-view, or a full-screen view of any one of the four input streams. In full-screen you can access tools like waveforms, magnify or engage peaking check focus for each angle.
“This latest update takes the Shogun 7 – a product that costs less than $1500 – to a whole new level by giving an extremely powerful, new storytelling tool to our customers. This switching update is absolutely fundamental in driving forward Atomos’ goal of democratizing video content creation. With live switching now available to any filmmaker, on a simple-to-use, touchscreen device, we’re taking multicamera video out of the purely professional domain and giving every content creator access to this more engaging form of storytelling. “With this update now out there to download, we’re very excited to see how creatives will use this to give even more depth to their productions and also to see the bottom-line impact for businesses of adding this new dimension to their content.”
Jeromy Young, CEO Atomos
While quad camera recording and switching is nothing new (Convergent Design has being doing it for many years), the Shogun 7 certainly makes it a lot more affordable and viable option for those users looking for a cost effective way of doing multi cam recording.
AtomOS 10.4 is available now as a free download from the Atomos website. This replaces the earlier limited beta and users of that version should update to AtomOS 10.4.
