TimoK

Hi James,

we tried both versions and gave the slate to a lot of different clapper / loader. The first reaction when they saw it was the same like yours but once they tried it they loved it. With the vertical handle you gain a lot more control. Have you tried it, yet?

Hi everybody,

as promised: You talk, we listen.

 

We manufactured a free of charge upgrade kit for the ACN-LS to enable for one handed operation and add customizable friction to the sticks. The hardware mod will be done or organized by your local dealer. It is only a 5-10 minutes operation and the kits are either already at your local dealer or on their way.

All ACN-LS slates sold now, are of course already equipped with the upgrade.

 

Please watch the quick and dirty video to learn about the details:

 

http://vimeo.com/98522035

 

Thank you

 

Timo

Hi everybody,

as promised: You talk, we listen.

 

We manufactured a free of charge upgrade kit for the ACN-LS. The hardware mod will be done or organized by your local dealer. It is only a 5-10 minutes operation. All ACN-LS slates sold now, are of course already equipped with the upgrade.

The kits are either already at your local dealer or on their way.

 

Please watch the quick and dirty video to learn about the details:

 

http://vimeo.com/98522035

 

Thank you

 

Timo

Great mods/additions. I am quite interested in this slate and also wondering whether Ambient is considering this a work in progress and may be incorporating some of the changes that have been suggested.

Jeff,

We will publish or own mods very soon.

Eric,

Awesome mods! I love your handle!

I'll be back with some news.

Cheers

Timo

A boom pole love letter   From a single carbon fiber string to one of the most used booms in the world

 

 

 

Twenty five years ago, two production sound professionals working as boom operators and sound mixers decided to share their knowledge and gear. (Günter Knon & Chris Price) With their collective wealth of field experience, they set out to design better versions of the equipment they used  starting with their boom poles.



Applying great attention to detail, especially boom stiffness, handling noise and durability, they proceeded to implement their improvements. A short time later, the design was finalized and went into production, immediately becoming very popular.

Since that time a lot has improved, but not the idea that every detail matters.
 For the first time in 25 year history, we would like to offer a look behind the scenes, and proudly show you how an Ambient pole is produced today:

 

Video "Manufacturing the Quickpole"

 

Read the complete love letter.

 

Incl. a description of the details, leading to the final products,

how we produce the individual parts, and

why we decided to go for four seperate boom pole series and what seperates them, ... .

 

 

Step by step explanation of "Manufacturing the Quickpole"

TC 0:06

From a rack with dozens of carbon coils, single fibers are pulled into the production line.

TC 0:12

All strings are pulled through an epoxy basin over a steel bar to take off the excess epoxy, and into the pulltrusion assembly line. This proprietary and confidential machine now weaves, extrudes and bakes the fibers simultaneously to form a perfect tube (Not in the video).

TC 0:19

Aircraft aluminum blanks are pushed into the turning machine.

TC 0:21

Here different metal parts of the booms are milled out of blanks with high precision by the fully automatic, new, state of the art machine.

TC 0:38

Afterwards, the parts fall into a basin with water and special purifier to cool down and clean off microscopic particles.

TC 0:46

Every single metal part is examined for tolerance and finished by hand.

TC 0:48

Now, we are back in the carbon factory to show how QS tubes are made. The special grinding machine polishes the QS tubes after each carbon layer.

TC 0:58

A new layer of carbon fiber is pressed onto a stainless steel bar and afterwards reeled up under high pressure by a special machine. Afterwards the pole with the new layer is baked and ground again. This process is repeated until all layers we designed are added and one tube is finished.

TC 1:01

During the anodizing process the aluminum parts are cleaned in a huge acid bath and afterwards immersed into different anodizing basins.

TC 1:20

To ensure the perfectly smooth action of the QS segments the quality control measures the tubes with a tolerance of only 5/100 mm.

TC 1:24

The final assembly is done by hand in our small manufactory close to the German city of Passau.

 

 

 

Hi Diego,

thanks for that input, I wrote it on our list. To be honest, this is already a very long list as you can imagine... Thus depending on how time consuming the programming of this gadget would be, it might be implemented in a future update or it would have to wait until all major features are integrated.

 

Cheers

 

Timo

Hi Nick and Ao,

thanks so much for the constructive feedback. We are aware of these legitimate requests and are working on a solution as we speak.

As Ao stated, the Slate is modular thus stands, handle and a clapstick with stronger magnet are easily attached afterwards. Of course we will ensure that no one of the first buyers will regret his quick decision. For the brightness, a night modus is on the list for the next firmware updates.

 

Nick, good to hear you like the user interface as we worked long to make it as easy as the Lockit one.

 

Cheers Timo

 

Btw. I'd like to share a picture of the beautiful bag of Diego Casares who customized his Petrol 602

 

Quick observation regarding new slate.

Will there be a small slate body? While it is great to be able to detach the TC display for doc work,it will still be useful to still be able to have an audible clap in some situations. I put my clockit slate in the front of my bag all the time- perfect size. Always clap when I can.

Thank you

John.

P.S. Thanks for the input! Of course we do appreciate feedback from you

Out of curiosity, would there be an example of a PDF sound report generated by the Tonmeister app somewhere ?

There is, but in German so far. I could translate it rudimentary but I don't want to publish unfinished results, as these tend to pop up in other forums or discussions. I'm sorry.but I have to kindly ask for your patience.

As our team is working hard with all their effort to get all these new products ready for our release in June I don't want to pull them away from their work to create something which isn't even completely perfect, yet.

What I can tell you now is:

The Tonmeister App is able to create slate based reports, clip based reports, soundminer exports, wave agent exports, global edl. We now can create editable xml files as well as pdfs. These reports can be send as mail or/ and are uploaded to the production cloud server, into folders with dedicated user rights. Thus no need to look for the right recipients for your reports anymore as new reports will automatically show up in their folders when they are published by you.

Looking at the slate in front of me, it would not be easy to chop the sides of the board. I'd like to see the a trimmed down clapper board option- more along the lines of the profile that the original lockit slates had. Is this going to be available Timo?

The slate is very very cool. Bright beyond description. Very clear. Lots of options for brightness and LED flash for times when the LEDs are too small to be read. It slips in and out of the clapper board with little effort, 4 phillips head screws.

John,

I noted this down. There will be more boards coming out but i hope you understand thati don't want to go into details now.

P.s. glad you like it!

Hey Timo,

Is the sound report app available yet? I thought i read it would come out April 7th, but i couldn't find it on the app store.

No the Tonmeister App is announced to be published in June

Hi Timo,

While the new ACN apps look great, I've been waiting for the basic Clockit app to gain the timecode note taking feature that your website suggested was going to be available. This being a simple way to take written notes logged to incoming LTC (audio) timecode coming in the iPad headset connector, which can subsequently be exported as text or a spreadsheet. Are you still planning to upgrade the Clockit app, or is there any way you could add the LTC audio reading capability from that into either of the new apps, as an alternate source of time stamping?

You may wonder why this would be required... I use a variety of different recording devices to capture long Concerts / Theatre shows. When using hardware devices only - such as JoeCo recorders, Sound Devices recorders, or recording audio onto the EVS systems in TV trucks, I'd like to capture 'marker' positions that can be imported into the ProTools session that this material is going to be posted in. These markers are usually at positions within the audio files, so the file-based metadata method these devices use isn't appropriate. If the Tonmeister or LockitSCRIPT app could do this and export the notes as text, I can use EdiMarker software to import them into the ProTools session.

nick

Hi nick the app already exists. We integrated our ltc reader module into the free of charge Adobe prelude live logger app.

An app exactly covering your needs.

Cheers

Timo

whilst i am only guessing at how Ambient achieve their network, i am speculating that it as an ad-hoc wifi network. though not sure how much bandwidth that it takes up.

but bear in mind, if you are using wifi for data and need multiple transmitters in a small area, you can only use 3 channels without overlapping any of the bandwidth as it uses a fair amount of spectrum. 

zaxnet on the other hand is more like the UHF transmitters we are used to and uses much less bandwidth compared to wifi. but then the data it is transmitting is much less than you would need for wifi - zaxnet audio is 20Hz-12KHz, and then the data signal updated at 1KHz which i guess will include timecode and remote control / zaxnet info.

 

and as zaxnet is a proprietary system whos only similarity to wifi is that it uses a 2.4GHz range signal, it probably wont happen, possibly not due to a lack of willingness, but hardware involved or the scale of the task to have both systems running in the same unit and keeping the cost and size practical.

 

The ACN is not WiFi but also a low profile proprietary network with a very small footprint allowing for better range and more reliability for metadata and commands. (Even in crowded 2.4Ghz areas like the NAB showfloor) The interaction with WiFi is very low. Additionally the ACN allows you to choose between 16 channels. This way you'll always find a slot to work with severall 2.4GHz systems. Be it WiFi, Bluetooth or Zaxnet. 

 

We are in good contact with Glenn and will sort out the possibilities we have with given hardware pretty soon.

What about displaying the actual meters ?

Will that be available or did Sound Devices kept this feature exclusive for their app ?

As the CL-WiFi meters are far away from accurate we decided not to implement them. But we implemented a clipping indicator. Do you think you'll need the meters?

If get the current version of the slate.  Will it be upgradable when the backlight feature is available.?  This is one of the hinderances for me getting this slate right now.

Of course you can.

You just unscrew the four screws holding the clap stick slide out the module and slide it into the backlight version. It's a 30 seconds job and can even be done in a run and gun situation.

By any chance, would there be an example of the PDF sound report created with Tonmeister ? Customizable header with logo, columns, general data ... a little like "WaveAgent meets MovieSlate" ?

I will create one today during the show and post it tonight. The sample reports i have right now are German.

By the way, Timo, I didn't mean to rain on your parade. This is a very exciting set of new products and I'm very keen to try them out asap!

Nobody's offended actually i was hoping that somebody would share his experience with streaming boxes.

 

The actual idea of integrating streaming into the apps was:

Tonmeister app: To give the sound mixer a picture to show framing etc before the shot can be very helpful.

LockitSCRIPT: What we learned from script and continuities we interviewed is that delay is not that big issue for them but offering an instant wireless access to the recorded proxys in your app with all the metadata ready for review and correction is something they were waiting for for a long time.

 

Yes, the camera audio embedded into the SDI to your streaming box is included in the livestream and the proxies.

AFAIK the Teradek products on their own have a delay of 10-100ms depending on the product. So it would probably be similar here?

Thanks Constantin

Yes it's the same here and as you stated, the delay even differs within their product range. That's why i don't want to give any numbers we don't have control of with our gear.

I can see myself with a MasterLockit in the bag along my 788 managing TC and getting video monitoring; documentary GOLD. (Provided Teradek get rid of their fan in the txs)

Ambient; please try to team up with Paralinx too !

You don't need the Master Lockit for the livestream. You just type in the IP of your Vitec or Terradek box in your LockitSCRIPT or Tonmeister app and that's it

I'll admit to being a bit blinded by science on the whole networking of audio, video and take numbers etc.

Does the system offer 'live' video relay and if so with how much delay? it seems to suggest this. And is it doubling for video playback of audio and picture takes?

 

P.S. Yes, the LockitSCRIPT as well as the Tonmeister apps offer a live view directly from the streamingbox. As you get the metadata etc. via Bluetooth WiFi for streaming connection is still available. Therefor the video delay is the standard WiFi streaming delay of the system you use.

 

The ACN-ML additionally stores the Teradek and Vitec recordings as proxy files to its built-in memory, connects them with the metadata and makes them available for later review in the LockitSCRIPT app.

Great gear! How does the timecode module fit into the slate face? If dropped will it come apart?

Thanks!

The clap stick is screwed to the board with four screws and holds the diplay module in place. So, no normal drop will make them fall apart.

 

By the way, we also added a simple board marker holder (and a board marker)...

 

 

I'll admit to being a bit blinded by science on the whole networking of audio, video and take numbers etc.

Does the system offer 'live' video relay and if so with how much delay? it seems to suggest this. And is it doubling for video playback of audio and picture takes?

 

Please see the following video which explains the system.

 

The only update to it is that the apps now are able to send reports and receive script and call sheet directly from the cloud.

 

http://vimeo.com/74214120

Please post pics of new slate bodies. Will there be a backlight version?

First of all we will publish the CAD of the Slate body. So everybody can build his own dream slate. To provide a working clap function with the hall sensor we offer two ready clap sticks.

The standard clapper also included in the regular slate made out of POM with white colored inlays.

ACN-LSC

and an alternative maple clap stick with uncolored maple inlays

ACN-LSCW

a backlight body is already in development but not yet ready.

ACN-LS Now Shipping!

We added some new neat features:

• Back slate sensor: flips the tc display when the slate is turned upside down.
• Light sensor: automatically adjusts the LED brightness when activated.
• ACN clap time transmission via ACN
• Rugged, interchangeable polycarbonate board
• Backup Supercap: Holds the tc for more than 4 minutes without batteries
• Reads vari speed and reversed time code

The good old facts:

• Highly accurate time code generator
• Extremely bright LED TC display
• Drift of less than 1 frame a day (~0,1ppm, 0,0ppm within ACN))
• Supports all used frame rates
• Adjustable TC offset
• Generator buffered time code transceiver
• Full Ambient Clockit Network support

• OLED Display for configuration
• Conversion between LTC and MTC (via USB)
• RS232, USB and GP I/O Port
• Stand alone mode
• More than 2 days working time with only 4 AA batteries
• Machined, pearl blasted, anodized aluminum housing
• Dimensions display module:

  210 x 65 x 27 mm

• Dimension with slate body:

  280 x 215 x 33 mm

• Weight display module: 404 g
• Weight Slate: 1100g

Prices:

ACN-LS $ 1337

ACN-LD (display module only) $ 1202

Availability:

Shipping starts now

The Ambient Beetle (ACN-BT)

The ACN-BT is a Bluetooth dongle that adds versatility to ACN-equipped Lockit devices and the Sound Devices 788T. When used with the 788T, it serves as an alternative to the CL-WiFi, and offers a very reliable wireless connection and low power consumption.

When used with a Lockit device (ACL 204, ACN-TL, ACN-LS, ACN-ML), the Beetle enables wireless connectivity between the ACN and iOS devices. In more detail, the ACN Lockit collects and buffers time critical metadata with highly accurate timestamp, while the ACN-BT module transmits this non-time critically to the LockitScript app.

The ACN-BT Beetle has a Binder connector, which enables use of different cables for connection to other devices. It has Bluetooth 4.0, or low energy (LE), which works immediately with all recent iOS devices consuming less energy. Thanks to the external antenna, range is comparable with WiFi while more robust.

Price: $ 250

Availability: June 2014

The Ambient Tonmeister App

The Tonmeisster app is a versatile sound report tool, and so much more. In addition the comprehensive sound report features, an optional CL-WiFi plug-in will be available for complete control of the Sound Devices 788T.

• Import scripts from Final Draft or Adobe Story
• Import call sheets via free LockitScript account
• Receive slate numbers from LockitScript app*
• Integrated Teradek and Vitec Video Livestream
• Comprehensive sound report including comments, tags, etc
• Name tracks by mic and actors from call sheet
• Export as pdf, XML, Soundminer
• Transmit scene, take, notes, and rec tc to LockitScript app*

Optional CL-WiFi plug-in features:

• Arm and name tracks
• Remote record stop
• Track clipping indicator
• Route inputs, outputs, and headphones
• Display and meter brightness control
• Edit scene, take, add notes for upcoming and all recorded takes
• Automated clip list synchronization with LockitScript app*
• Works with CL-WiFi and ACN-BT

*ACN-ML required

Price: Host app free, CL-Wifi Integration $ 9.99

Availability: June 2014

The Ambient "Sound Fish" Hydrophone ASF-1

The ASF-1 is completely designed and manufactured by Ambient Recording in response all the requests for a professional-quality, yet affordable hydrophone designed specifically for use with standard audio gear. We exceeded our expectations. The result is an extremely natural sounding, low noise underwater microphone. Well, it took us nearly 3 years but finally we did it.

»Crystal clear, low noise audio from infra- to ultrasound«

With the development of the Ambient "Sound Fish" we focused on high audio quality with best handling. Therefore we designed a linear, low distortion microphone preamp offering a linear frequency response from 10Hz- 40kHz.

»Works with standard 48V Phantom power«

Following our idea to create an underwater microphone for professional sound recordists, we worked hard to build a hydrophone which can be fed directly from standard 48V Phantom power. Thus, this microphone works right out of the box with all professional audio gear using standard XLR connections. No adapters are required!

»Waterproof up to 100m«

The ASF-1 is machined out of high-quality, stainless steel (V4A) and can easily withstand the water pressure of 100m depth. Additionally, the cable material (specially formulated NBR, V4A polyurethane) was selected for its long term resistance against seawater corrosion.

»Included 10m underwater cable with professional underwater connector«

Within the purchased parts package we included a 10 meter underwater cable with sealed AHS V4a underwater connector. Thus, the AFS-1 can be used right out of the box without additional adapters or cables. Other cable lengths are available on request.

• Frequency response: 7Hz- 40kHz (-3dB)
• Polar Pattern: Omni directional
• THD: 0,1% (10Hz-40kHz)
• Dimensions:180mm x 25mm
• Max depth: 100m
• Housing material: V4A stainless steel
• Encapsulating material: Special formulated NBR
• Weight (without cable): 270g
• Power Supply: 48V Phantom
• Included detachable 10m underwater cable
• Special designed stainless steel AHS underwater connector

Price: $ 1596

Availability: Estimated shipping June 2014

We are very excited to announce six new products at NAB! In addition, we will show some updates to a few products we currently offer.
 
Since the introduction of the ACL 204 at NAB 2011, we have doubled our software engineering resources, and partnered with some of the biggest companies in our industry like Arri, Adobe, Sound Devices, and more... to create the products we will now introduce to you.
 
Finally, our hardware and software meet in the middle so we can offer a very powerful and comprehensive on-set metadata system – the Ambient Clockit Network.
 
We invite every single one of you to our NAB booth #C544, where we look forward to giving you a detailed demonstration. We are bringing Ambient's largest NAB booth staff to date to best answer all your questions. We hope you will be as excited about these new products as we are!

 

The Master Lockit ACN-ML
The all new ACN-ML is the most powerful time code device we have ever built.

 

It is a time code master, wireless video proxy server, and "On the Set" metadata synchronization hub.
 
The ACN-ML Master Lockit is both the flagship and hub of the sophisticated Ambient Clockit Network System. It provides a rock solid, highly accurate, temperature compensating time code generator. With a powerful, new processor architecture, it delivers established ACN features like 0.0ppm drift (thanks to continous jam) as well as generator buffered time code transceiver mode, and more.

 »Built-In WiFi enables ACN communication between iPads«
 
The built-in WiFi router enables iPads running LockitSCRIPT and Tonmeister apps to automatically sync all metadata. It serves as the metadata synchronization hub as it's onboard webserver collects and stores all metadata on the set. Meanwhile, iPads running LockitSCRIPT and Tonmeister apps maintain a local data backup.

 

 

»ARRI ALEXA communication plus collection of critical metadata with most cameras«
 
Ambient has partnered with ARRI to integrate ALEXA metadata protocol into the ACN-ML via ethernet. This enables the Master Lockit to provide the ALEXA with the driftless time code while the Master Lockit simultaneously collects metadata . In addition, it has built-in GP I/O and LANC ports, enabling the Master Lockit to collect record start / stop positions of most cameras, including Red, Blackmagic, and Panasonic.

 

»Wireless video proxy distribution directly into the LockitSCRIPT app«
 
Thanks to our partnership with Teradec and Vitec the ACN-ML can interface with their recorders, store up to 64GB of video, and distribute video proxys directly into the LockitSCRIPT app. These video clips are associated with the collected metadata. Now you can use the LockitSCRIPT app to reference actual video clips within associated takes and scenes, while accessing all data collected during that shot!

• WiFi routing for communication between LockitScript and Tonmeister apps
• Proxy streaming and recording with Terradeck or Vitec streaming boxes
• Collects and stores all ACN distributed metadata
• Forwards metadata to iOS devices via WiFi / Bluetooth LE
• Integrated webserver
• Reads and stores Arri Alexa metadata via ethernet
• Reads and stores rec start/stop tc of all cameras with GP I/O or Lanc
• Highly accurate Lockit time code generator
• Generator buffered time code transceiver
• Drift of less than 1 frame a day (~0,1ppm)
• No drift at all within the ACN
• Supports all used frame rates
• OLED Display readable even in brightest sunlight
• Adjustable time code output for recording TC on audio track

Price: $ 1337
Availability: June 2014

 

The LockitSCRIPT app:

 

The Ultimate Communication Tool for Motion Picture and Television Production

 

 

The Ambient LockitScript iOS app is designed to quickly simplify, organize, and edit documentation for continuous communication through all departments on a production set, and continue communication through the post-production process. Designed for Script Supervisors in mind, has an easy to use intuitive communication tool developed in close cooperation with industry professionals to simplify, enhance, and automate every aspect of production communication.
 

 

 

Features:

• Import and synchronize preps, schedules, and call sheets from Preproducer via a free-of-charge Ambient LockitScript account.
• Script import from common solutions as Final Draft or Adobe Story. Add comments, and mark off-dialogues with simple to learn gestures.
• Intuitive GUI with value-added tools including stop watch (editable), stage documentation, and integrated iPad camera function.
• Integrated Teradek and Vitec Video Livestream

• Split scenes and stops
• Comprehensive schedule reporting for all departments
• Customizable shortcuts and quick access documentation tools including: equipment in use (cameras, lenses, …), pre-sets and settings, often used take comments, etc.
• Multiple cameras with all used file counting models
• Creation of lined scripts with on and off passages and comment function
• Automatic generation of PDFs or editable Excel report sheets. The optional Ambient LockitSCRIPT* cloud-based production service is available for ALE and XML export files, instant delivery of customizable reports and exchange files directly to post production!

 

Future (June) free of charge updates:

• Automatic time code and metadata integration over the Ambient Clockit Network (ACN) on production sets using ACN-equipped Ambient Lockits with the ACN-BT Bluetooth Dongle.
• Within the ACN clips are automatically created when a camera or 788T are in record
• Transmits the slate numbers to the Ambient Tonmeister App
• Video proxy distribution with Teradek and Vitec streaming systems in combination with the Ambient ACN Master Lockit.

*Additional services like customized reports or ALEs are available at affordable daily rates. More details will be available soon.

Price on appstore: $ 44.99
Availability: On iTunes store on 7th of April

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSzyfyrRJo&feature=player_detailpage