Atomos Ninja. User Manual
Contents
1. Atomos Ninja Version 1 0 March 2011 Website www atomos com Sales sales atomos com Support support atomos com Contents Warranty 8 Conditions o oooococcococcocococococnococononos 1 INMTOdlUCUOA nr claes 2 1 Wha s included 0 3 2 What you also need oooooooccocccccocococncoccnnnnnnnnnnnnons 3 What drives should YOU use o occccccccccoccccconcoconcnoncnnoconnnnos 3 Solid Sate Drives SSDS sc ecscccsnssemedodotracrowndswtenwcsdedeiatedende 3 Mechanical Vibration ia 3 Backing up and archiving ciczccosecersscacdenwcedasiedesoneeddbaamsesonele 3 ADMI Cables cenre anne r EEA EE E 4 3 Mounting disks in the Master Caddy 6 4 Connecting and powering UP ooooooccccccocccccccccoccnnos 7 A A 7 RO Power Ad aserserascadospn croata SE 3 Power ON Power OFF asii aida 3 5 Ninja CONNecti0NS ooocococcococccococococococononononononnnnnannnzs 8 6 Other physical features oooooococococcccococococcoconos 8 Master Caddy Insert Eject o oocococcccccnococccnocnoconcnnos 9 SISW MOUNIS cocer noo liso d lena ceda 9 7 Using the NU sisi iii tos 10 The User Interface in detalil oooococcococccnoccononono 10 llo ego AA SP 10 The Home creen ocococcococcccoccccocncnnconnoconnncnnnnnonnncnnnnnnnos 10 Batteries O arrolla 12 Auto Switching Manual SwitChing oocoococcocccccocoo 12 82. When you touch the Play button you are taken to the navigation screen for the clips Scene amp Shot Take f a Display 227 T J Options Power Off In the Play navigation screen select the shot you want to play back and press the Play button on the right of the screen which is only visible if you have selected a valid clip for playback Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 11 7 Using the Ninja cont Scene Shot Allows you to arrange your recordings Just touch Scene amp Shot and you will be taken to a screen where you can chose which Scene and Shot you wish the clip to be known by The Takes will automatically start from 1 and increment up upon start and stop recording Date amp Time Allows you to adjust the date and time shown by the clock and calendar in the Ninja Touching the Date amp Time takes you into the Date and Time Screen At the top of the screen is the date and the time of day The month day and year are selectable by touching them at which point a scrollable list of dates months or years will show below depending on which option has been selected To enter a date for example begin by touching the month at the top of the screen and then select the required month from the list below Then touch the day and then the year selecting the required value from the list below Setting the time is done in exactly the same way Date formats i e dd mm yyyy or mm dd yyyy are selectable
3. ATOMOS grants you a personal non transferable and non exclusive right to use the copy of the Software provided with this EULA You agree you will not copy the Software except as necessary to use it with the ATOMOS Ninja You agree that you may not copy the written materials accompanying the Software Modifying reverse engineering translating renting copying transferring or assigning all or part of the Software or any rights granted hereunder to any other persons or reverse engineering the hardware on which the Software runs is strictly prohibited The software is license not sold You acknowledge that no title to intellectual property in the Software is transferable to you You further acknowledge that title and full ownership rights to the Software will remain the exclusive property of ATOMOS and or its suppliers and you will not acquire any rights to the Software except as expressly set forth above All copies of the software will contain the same proprietary notices as contained in or on the Software All title and copyrights in and to the Software including but not limited to any images animations video audio text incorporated the accompanying printed materials and any copies of the Software are owned by ATOMOS or its suppliers 3 Reverse engineering You agree that you will not attempt and if you are a corporation you will use your best efforts to prevent your employees and contractors from attempting to reverse compile deri
4. Monitoring and Recording o ooococccoccccocccoccoo 14 Connect to Input oococcococcccccnccococnncnnnnconcnnonnncnnnnnonnns 14 Before Scolari aplic 14 Anti shock technology canadian 15 9 Connecting and Editing o ooooooo o 15 Connect to IRE cirrosis a iieiea 14 Importing Ninja Footage into Final Cut Pro 14 Anti Shock Technology ocoocoococooccocooncononnonnnnnanononons 15 10 Software Upgrades o oooococcoocococcocoococonnoccocononnns 15 Updating ATOM OS Firmware ocooccoccoccocccnccccnoconnnnono 17 Problems when installing Firmware oooocoococccccoccccccooo 17 11 Technical SpecificationS oococococccconccocccnnnnnos 18 Conventions To keep things simple but clear we ve only adopted two conventions in this manual e oo oo o pone n en eo eo oo secos poor c n eos copas o cs o e e oon eo eo ocooo oo o o A helpful tip suggestion or something to note because it s not obvious at first Important note about disk types HDD SSD Disk Drives etc To avoid any confusion when were talking about traditional spinning disk drives we ll refer to them as spinning disks Solid state drives we ll refer to as SSDs Solid State Drives When we want to refer to both types of drive we just call them disks Safety Instructions The Ninja is de
5. and status 1080150 Play Headphone Line Out volume Audio input level meters ProRes HQ iL Currently active battery 1or2 00 00 00 01 01 46 18 lt 7 ATOMOS Recording time remaining Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 10 7 Using the Ninja cont ES The Play button will be dimmed and disabled if no media to play back from is available i e the disk has been ejected Rec Record This is the icon you touch to begin a recording Touch it again to stop a recording While recording the Rec icon changes to a Stop icon Once your recording has started you have the option to touch the Mon icon to view the signal you are recording Mon Monitor Pressing this icon connects the incoming video signal to the screen so that you can use the Ninja as a field monitor More about monitoring in the next section Os The Mon icon is dimmed and unselectable if there is no valid video input Pa The Rec con is dimmed and disabled if there is no valid video input OR if the disk is full There is no point in being able to make a recording if there is no incoming signal or if there is no storage available Pressing this takes you into a number of options which we will explain here Touch this icon to play previously recorded clips Ninja uses a Scene Shot and Take convention to organise clips we ll look at this in the next section and you can navigate around the stored shots quite easily using this
6. combination of hardware the physical object or thing and software the program running inside the device that allows it to operate The software inside devices like the Ninja is often referred to as firmware which simply means that it is used by the device to run itself as opposed to being like an application you might see on an iPad or on your computer The Ninja s firmware is called ATOM OS e Go to www atomos com ninja downloads e Find the latest software for your Ninja e Download it onto your computer e Connect a Ninja drive to your computer using the docking station e Copy the file to the drive e Insert HDD SSD while the Ninja is off e Turn on and the Ninja will find the dowload and install As Please make sure your batteries have plenty of charge and that you do not interrupt your Ninja while its firmware is upgrading You will see a randomised colour bar display on the screen top and bottom of the screen while updating is taking place When it is finished it will turn off When you turn it on again it will be running the new firmware Problems when installing ATOM OS Firmware Very occasionally the firmware update process can go wrong This might be because of an incomplete or corrupted download or any number of other unlikely but possible causes With many devices this can cause major problems with distinct possibility that your device could become bricked as unresponsive as a dense
7. company Trademarks NINJA ATOMOS are registered trademarks of ATOMOS Apple the Apple logo AppleShare AppleTalk FireWire iPod iPod Touch Mac and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Inc Final Cut Pro QuickTime and the QuickTime Logo are trademarks of Apple Inc All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders International Hardware Limited Warranty ATOMOS warrants that e the main product not including TFT LCD or any external accessories will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 1 years from the date of purchase the user may upgrade to a 3 year warranty upon registering their product at www atomos com e the TFT LCD batteries battery charger and HDD SSD docking station will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 1 year from the date of purchase This warranty is exclusively for the benefit of the original purchaser and is not assignable or transferable If during the warranty period the product is shown to be defective ATOMOS may at its option a replace the goods or supply equivalent ones b repair the goods c pay the cost of replacing the goods or of acquiring equivalent ones and d paying the cost of having the goods repaired The customer must notify ATOMOS of any defect in the goods in writing prior to the expiry of the warranty periods set out above The customer will be solely responsible for returning the goods to ATOMOS o
8. lump of building material We want you to be able to upgrade your firmware with confidence so we have built in a recovery mechanism in case your Ninja should ever brick itself All you have to do is press and hold the on off button for 10 seconds If you do this your Ninja will revert to it s factory condition and you will be able to retry the firmware update later taking due precautions to identify and remove possible reasons for the failure of the previous attempt Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 17 11 Technical Specifications Dimensions without Batteries 115 W x87 H x41 D mm Operating Power approx 6 3W TFT max brightness recording ProRes HQ to WD 7200 rpm Scorpio Black 500 G drive approx 3 0W TFT max brightness monitoring only Batteries 2 x Small 7 4V 2600mAh recording time 5 hrs HQ 7 hrs 422 9 hrs LT 2 x Medium 7 4V 5200mAh recording time 10 hrs HQ 14 hrs 422 18 hrs LT 2 x Large 7 4V 7800mAh recording time 15 hrs HQ 21 hrs 422 27 hrs LT at 1080i60 extreme detail video better at lower rates or with typical video Automatic and manual switchover of battery for continuous operation Colour 16 9 TFT Touchscreen Size 4 3 diagonal Resolution 480x270 Aspect Ratio 16 9 Native 4 3 Letterbox Video Input HDMI Uncompressed Supported Input Formats HD 1080i60 1080i59 94 1080i50 1080p30 1080p25 1080p24 1080p23 98 720p60 720p59 94 720p50 SD 480i 576i from firmware v1 1 Recording
9. on the right of the screen Just keep touching the date format icon until it shows the format you want to use Display Options Allows you to modify the brightness of the screen You are presented with a horizontal slider Touch it anywhere on it s length to increase or decrease the brightness of the display or you can slide up and down the blue bar Ninja Info Shows the software version of your Ninja device This will be useful if you ever have to speak to Atomos technical support or a support agent from your reseller Power Off Turns the Ninja off You need to press Power Off for four seconds Alternatively you can press the physical On Off button on the right side of the Ninja for four seconds to achieve the same result Time Code allows you to chose between dropframe timecode and non dropframe timecode Fy Remember that pressing a large blue arrowhead will always take you back to the previous menu you were In Smaller controls and indicators around the Home Screen There are a number of smaller controls that double up as indicators around the Home Screen Input 1080i50 At the top left of the screen is not actually a control but will change to display information about the signal being input to the Ninja at the time If there is no input it will say No Input When a valid signal source is connected the display will change to for example 1080i50 ProRes Format ProRes HQ At the top middle of the scre
10. quality headphone amplifier that is quite powerful This is so that it can easily power all types of headphone device So you need to be careful that you do not have the level set too high as excessive levels could be harmful to your hearing Audio In 112 gt Audio In is in the bottom left corner of the screen just below Headphone Monitoring Level There are four small squares each of which represents an audio input Inputs 1 and 2 are the two analogue inputs and inputs 3 and 4 are the two digital inputs which come from the HDMI source These four squares also act as approximate level and signal present indicators Touching the Audio In icon takes you to the Audio In page where you can choose to record from either HDMI or the analogue inputs or both for a four channel audio recording There is also a slider to control the analogue gain Audio In Record HOMI y Record Analog Analoque Gain Fes lt is not possible to vary the gain if the signal input is from the HDMI connection because this is digital and is embedded in the signal You can usually adjust this from the camera see your cameras manual for operational details Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 13 8 Monitoring and Recording Connect to Input As soon as you connect an input source of a type that is supported by the Ninja you will see the Record and Monitor icons go solid and light up If you want to use the screen as a field monitor just p
11. side of a motor bike With spinning hard drives use a new drive or one that has very little usage Do not use old drives Do not use drives that have been dropped On all drives when handling keep fingers away from the SATA connector at all times as static electricity can damage the electronics inside Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 18 Sales amp Technical Support Atomos Website www atomos com Sales sales atomos com Support support atomos com ATOMOS COM O Katana Ltd Hong Kong trading as Atomos under license Sept 2010 All trademarks are the property of their respective owners QO AT 0 M 0 S
12. SPONSIBLE FOR BACK UP AND PROTECTION OF DATA Software License Agreement IMPORTANT PLEASE READ CAREFULLY THIS IS A LICENSE AGREEMENT This ATOMOS software related documentation any included sample images and other files the Software is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties The Software is licensed not sold This End User License Agreement EULA is a legal agreement between you either an individual or a single entity and ATOMOS with regard to the copyrighted Software provided with this EULA Use of the Software provided to you by ATOMOS in whatever form or media will constitute your acceptance of these terms unless separate terms are provided by the software supplier in which case certain additional or different terms may apply If you do not agree with the terms of this EULA do not download install copy or use the Software By installing copying or otherwise using the Software you agree to be bound to the terms of this EULA If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA ATOMOS is unwilling to license the Software to you 1 Eligible licensees This Software is available for license solely to purchasers of the ATOMOS Ninja who have purchased a unit manufactured by ATOMOS Ninja and purchased through an ATOMOS authorized reseller with no right of duplication or further distribution licensing or sub licensing 2 License Grant
13. Time HDD SSD CODEC 300GB 500GB 750GB 128GB 256GB ProResHQ 3hrs 5hrs 7 5hrs 77min 2 5hrs ProRes422 4 5hrs 7 5hrs 11 5hrs 2hrs 4hrs ProResLT 6 5hrs 11hrs 16 5hrs 3hrs 4 5hrs all video input formats supported Audio Input HDMI 2 Channel Embedded Line In 2 Channel Line Level Audio Analog gain adjustment Audio Output 2 Channel 0 5W Balanced Headphone or Line level output LANC LANC In and Out Loop for integration with Camera LANC and Accessories LANC Loop feature Master Caddy Specs Dimensions 75x105x12mm Supported Storage 2 5 SSD or HDD minimum 5400rpm Standard 9 5mm height or slimmer drive supported Master Caddy Dock 2 5 SATA to Firewire 800 USB2 0 3 0 Supported Computers Mac All MacBook MacPro iMac and MacPro Models for SATA adapter Windows All USB2 0 3 0 compatible Notebooks and Desktops Note Apple ProRes Quicktime Application required to run ProRes on Windows Applications Final Cut Studio All Apple ProRes supported versions Quicktime Mac and Windows Accessories Universal Battery Charger 110 240V Tripod Screw mounts and adaptors Protective cases and Travel Bags SSD HDD Usage Notes With spinning drives you need to be careful in handling when recording The drives will generally stand light medium occasional bumps without problems and the Ninja has an anti shock buffer However spinning drives are not suitable for use in high vibration or movement environments for example if the Ninja is strapped to the
14. all parts Insert screw i E Ensure all 3 parts aligned K and insert 4 x screws supplied Do not over tighten screws or e alignment can not be guaranteed We suggest squeezing the corners e together near the screw you are tightening for optimal fit Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 6 4 Connecting the Ninja and powering up Batteries The Ninja is a battery powered device and has a special feature to ensure that you never have to interrupt a recording to change a battery We will come to this shortly Like all batteries you will need to take care of them Make sure that you don t short circuit the connections because this can result in very high currents that can damage the cells and could pose a fire hazard Charge new batteries before using them The supplied Ninja charger can charge two batteries simultaneously There are four red LED indicators for each battery This will show the approximate stage the charging process has reached Fa Batteries do not charge in a linear way At first they charge very quickly and then the rate slows down to a trickle While charging one or more red lights will blink When 90 charge is reached all the lights will flash lt is perfectly OK to use the batteries at this point and we recommend stopping at this stage for the longest battery life If you leave the batteries on charge after all four lights are flashing the charger goes into trickle charging mode for the final 10 Event
15. anges the way you use storage Built in or card based camera storage is a miracle of science but that doesn t stop it being expensive when you use it with HD video Video takes up SO much space So you have to compress it Even though MPEG compression like h 264 and MPEG 2 are very clever technologies they re nowhere near perfect and they certainly weren t designed for the rigours of editing HOM HIGH DEFINITION MULTIMEDIA INTERFACE Ninja solves this by using Apple ProRes compression It s much kinder to your video because it doesn t compress it as much By using 6 8 or 10 to 1 compression instead of 20 or 30 to 1 its much better for editing because it doesn t have lots of frames that have to be reconstructed from other frames Every frame is there in full So because it doesn t compress as much it needs more storage And because of the plummeting price of hard disk storage it s tens of thousands of times cheaper than it was just fifteen years ago the 2 disks used by the Ninja are very cheap The cost of storage is no longer an issue Buying a disk for the Ninja is just like buying a tape except that with a disk you have instant random Non Linear access to your material this eliminates the need for log and capture using a standard capture card Ninja is easy to use so this isn t a long manual We will issue software updates for your Ninja on a regular basis Please keep an ey
16. battery in one battery in which case you would change to a freshly charged one Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 12 7 Using the Ninja cont Storage Capacity Indicator 05 39 447D is in the bottom right of the screen When a disk is inserted the Storage Capacity Indicator will show the recording capacity of the drive in hours minutes and seconds based on the currently selected version of ProRes which of course will determine the recording bitrate Touching onthe Storage Capacity Indicator will take you to the Media information and format screen The Media Information indicates the drive you have present in this case a Hitachi 500GB spinning disk Media Hitachi HTS725050A9A364 500GB Format HDD SSD Touching Format HDD SSD will format the drive inside the Ninja A confirmation screen will give you the choice to continue or cancel the process formatting Format cancel E The Nina file system is FAT32 You must format each disk with the Ninja and not your computer Headphone Monitoring Level Located in the bottom left corner of the screen just above Audio In Touching this brings you to a page where you can select whether to monitor the incoming Analogue audio signal or the Digital signal on the HDMI input You can also adjust the headphone monitoring level by touching the slider control to set the required headphone output level Audio Out Q Monitor gt Analog Ey The Ninja uses a high
17. ded There s a lot of mythology about HDMI cables Most people can t tell the difference in picture quality between expensive ones and cheaper ones There shouldn t be any difference if as long as all the digits going through the cable arrive at the other end And yet some supposedly top end cables can cost hundreds of times more than you necessarily have to spend It is rare to get a cable that is bad enough to affect the picture but keep in mind that the longer the cable the more likely it is to cause problems There is at least one good reason for spending a bit more on an HDMI cable the physical quality HDMI was designed as a living room standard So most cables are designed to be fitted behind TVs and rarely moved That s completely different to the type of use they will get with the Ninja when they will be moved all the time and need to be strong but flexible Some of the cheaper HDMI cables might work properly but are almost completely inflexible Flexible cables will put less strain on the HDMI sockets on your camera and on your Ninja but in any case it is worth considering some kind of cable management cable ties or clips near each HDMI socket especially since HDMI is not a locking connection Some cameras and camcorders use a mini HDMI connection to save space Cables with a mini connection at one end and a standard one at the other end are freely available A If the HDMI cable is remov
18. e more vulnerable when running Harsh treatment that may not actually damage the drive may interrupt recordings at a much lower level of severity We recommend that you experiment with your drives by testing them in the conditions that you normally work in Spinning drives have a gyroscopic effect that you will feel faintly if you rotate the Ninja up or down or from side to side They are particularly sensitive to this type of motion If you do this too quickly while the drive is spinning you may get a small gap in your recording Be very gentle when changing batteries if you are recording Practise this manoeuvre so that you are able to do it smoothly It is always better to do this in between takes Do not bang or jolt the Ninja while recording Gentle and cushioned movement may be OK You will find enormous differences in the ability of drives to withstand shock and to continue recording during vibration and movement As we receive reports of drive durability and reliability we will post them on www atomos com Your Ninja is able to detect when the drive is under stress and it will recover from any break in a recording by waiting until the drive is ready to continue and then resuming from that point If frames have been dropped because of shock or vibration a Skippy Kangaroo symbol will appear on the home screen on the Ninja just above the disk capacity indicator This means that you will not normally have to restart the Ninja e
19. e on www atomos com ninja to see if any upgrades are due We hope you enjoy your Ninja Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 2 1 What s included Your Ninja arrives as a complete system you don t have to add anything except 2 5 storage media you can buy additional packs of empty Master Disk Caddies from your Atomos Reseller and some cables to suit your set up like HDMI All other parts necessary to use the Ninja including cables are included in the carry case Here s the complete list e Ninja body the Ninja itself with touchscreen inputs and slot for Ninja disk caddies e 2 x empty Master Disk Caddies 8 Screws for fixing disks e Master Caddy Docking Station with a USB 2 amp 3 Cable Under dock b Firewire Cable Under Ninja body c USB 2 0 power cable under dock for extra USB power when required e Battery Charger with Power Supply Unit located underneath e 2xAtomos 7 4 V 2600milliAmp hour mAh Batteries e Ninja Carry Case e Ninja Quick Start Guide not pictured ES Atomos does not sell storage and your package will not contain any spinning disks or SSDs You can buy these locally to keep running costs as low as possible We recommend drives please refer to Part 12 Technical Specifications of this manual For the most up to date information please visit www atomos com ninja HDDSSDSupport pdf Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 3 2 What you also need 2 12 Disk Drives These are the raw stora
20. e results from all other drives Mechanical Shock and Vibration Hard disks are precision mechanical devices that need to be handled carefully You will be using the same type of drives that are normally used in notebook computers and you can use this as a guide to whether you need to use mechanical drives or Solid State ones for any proposed projects If you think a particular usage scenario would be suitable for a notebook computer then it will probably be OK for a mechanical drive inside a Ninja If you think the drive inside your notebook might suffer damage then don t use a mechanical drive We can t give rigid guidelines because there are so many different kinds of drives each with different mechanical properties You may even find variations between drives of the same type What we have found is that mechanical drives are suitable for most purposes that don t involve harsh vibration or mechanical shocks They will be perfect for tripod mounting and also for the majority of hand held work We would advise against hard mounting them on moving vehicles but they would probably be OK if cushioned against the body of the camera operator and we would not advise using mechanical disks if there is a likelihood that they might be dropped onto a hard surface Here are some things that you should bear in mind when using spinning disks e Even though spinning drives can withstand substantial shocks when they are not in use they ar
21. ed while recording the Skippy image will also be displayed To remove touch skippy and he will disappear ready for his next notification Refer to Part 8 Atomos Anti skip Technology for more information about Skippy Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 5 3 Mounting disks in the Master Caddy Mounting drives in the Master Caddy This is simplicity itself Just insert the disk into the caddy and secure Spinning disks and SSDs are very sensitive to damage from static with four screws The caddy is light and the disk just needs to be held electricity Please observe all the usual precautions when handling them securely Don t over tighten the screws There are no connections to especially DO NOT EVER touch the exposed SATA connector as make because pushing the caddy into the Ninja or the Docking station static electricity may be harmful to your disk makes all the connections for you The Master Caddy can t be inserted the wrong way round Always make sure that the disk connector faces the slot in the Ninja You have to be quite firm to push the Master Caddy into place but don t push too hard just in case something isn t set up or aligned properly There is very little that can cause problems and the most likely thing is that the Master Caddy isn t properly flush with the drive inside A quick visual check will confirm this i 1 E Carefully assemble the Master Caddy and disk e Insert screw Align
22. en shows which version of ProRes you are using You can change between versions LT HQ and 422 by repeatedly touching the indicator Battery Indicator Shows whether you ve got one or two batteries connected Orange indicates which battery is being used at any given time Touching the Battery Indicator takes you to the Batteries screen where you can closely monitor the status of the batteries with a display of the voltage levels on each device The Battery Indicator is made from two small Battery icons which will flash when it s corresponding battery is running low Batteries Screen The battery screen indicates the active battery in orange and the level of each battery is shaded in 1 4 increments In this case Battery 1 is full and active and battery 2 is 1 4 depleted Batteries 8 5V a Warning If both of the Nnja batteries are running low the unit will turn itself off You will know this will hapen because the Ninja will flick to the battery screen every 10 seconds indicating you are about to run out of power To avoid this always have one replenished battery on the Ninja unit Auto Switching Manual Switching The Ninja will automatically switch to a new battery when the current battery is depleted You may also switch between batteries at any time by pressing on that battery icon The new active battery will then turn orange You may need to use this if you have for example 3 hours recording but only 2 5 hours of
23. er It is obviously important for you to know that you have suffered from an interrupted recording and the user interface will display a warning in the form of a Kangaroo sign clearly above the disk capacity display on the main screen If you find you are working on a very active project where you are seeing a lot of Skippys then you probably need to switch to SSDs and only use spinning disks for gentler environments ES To remove Skippy warning simply touch the icon and he will disappear ready for his next notification 9 Connecting and Editing To access and edit your recorded material connect the Master Caddy Docking Station to a Mac or Windows editing workstation via USB 2 0 USB 3 0 or FireWire 800 port Eject the Master Caddy from your Ninja and insert it into the Docking Station After a short wait the recorded video will be accessible to the target computer via a standard disk FAT file system Ps Optional power input May be required when using USB USB Firewire 1080150 ProRes HO Play 00 00 01 10 05 39 447 Skippy warning Pa The Master Caddy Docking Station is a sophisticated device supporting three different data interfaces Firewire 800 USB 2 and USB 3 Note that when using the Master Caddy Docking Station you may need to connect an additional USB cable to the 5v power input This is because when it has to power a disk drive and its interface electronics the D
24. ge medium for Ninja E You can use either traditional spinning disks or the new solid state ones Choose spinning drives if your Ninja is going to be attached to a tripod or if it is not going to be subject to excessive vibration For harsher conditions choose a solid state drive Which drives should you use There are so many drives available and new models appear all the time Speed and reliability are the main factors Some tips on working with disks e Disk drive data rates tend to be given in megaBYTES per second and codec data rates are normally given in megaBITS per second It s very easy to get confused But there s no need to be because all you have to do to convert megabits to megabytes is divide by 8 So if you re recording at 220 megaBITS per second that s going to result in 220 8 megaBYTES per second which is 27 5 megaBYTES per second e To see what works for you you may want to start working with relatively fast drives 7200 RPM and then try slower ones 5400 RPM This gives you a frame of reference for comparison Just remember that the higher the bitrate of the Apple ProRes you re using the faster the drive needs to be Solid State Drives SSDs These are Flash memory devices that come in the same form factor as 2 Y2 disk drives and they are fully supported by the Ninja See the section below about when you should consider using SSDs We only recommend Intel SSDs at this stage as we have had unreliabl
25. imple To investigate it touch Menu and then Shot and Take You will be taken to a screen that has Scene Shot and Take written across the top To select a scene select Scene in the top left hand corner of the screen Scene will be underlined and you will see a list of scene numbers that you can chose by touching them When you make a selection the number you ve chosen will appear above the line in a slightly larger size Do the same sequence to select a shot and a take Then you re ready to record If you don t have time to set this up the Ninja will record anyway putting your most recent footage in the shot folder that you last used This is a system that is very easy to understand once you have used it Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 14 8 Monitoring and Recording con Atomos Anti Shock Technology Spinning disks are very reliable in a controlled environment where movement and vibration are minimal and within the capabilities of the devices They are ideal for low cost recording but will suffer reduced performance if they are jolted or receive a sudden impact Should one of these events occur the Ninja will sense the hard disk slowdown If there is a break in the recording it will detect the number of frames involved and will then continue to record when it is safe to so so This means that even if you suffer a momentary break in your recording the video capture will continue without any intervention from you the us
26. it The Ninja introduces an Atomos technology called Battery Looping for continuous power When power is running low on one battery the Ninja will automatically switch to the second battery you can remove one of the batteries and replace it with a fully charged one Ninja will continue to operate as you do this You can continue this process indefinitely Ps Ninja Battery Looping circuit will not operate if an AC adaptor is attached You can purchase a Sony NP Series 8 4V AC adaptor used by Sony Cameras that have the same NP series battery plate WARNING Do not connect batteries or AC Adaptors rated at greater than 8 4 volts The Ninja will power off if it senses excessive voltage AC Power Adaptor The Ninja does not come with an AC power adaptor however there are AC cable versions of these batteries which connect to an AC adaptor to give mains power to the Ninja Sony and other manufacturers make such plate AC adaptors for the NP Series battery plates the Ninja uses Es The AC adaptor must not deliver over 8 4 Volts to the Ninja or the unit will shut down due to over voltage Ey When the AC adaptor is present BATTERY SWITCHING AND LOOPING IS DISABLED Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 7 4 Connecting the Ninja and powering up cont Turning ON power to the Ninja The power on off button is located on the right hand side of the unit as you look at the screen Momentarily press the circular button on the right side of the Nin
27. ja as you look at the screen to power up the unit After about a second you will see the Atomos logo and then the Ninja Home Screen Turning OFF power to the Ninja On Off To turn the unit off press the on off button for four seconds or touch menu on the home screen and then press the red Power off icon for 4 seconds the icon will go white when touched to indicate activation of the button The unit will then power off Turning OFF power via touchscreen Menu wenn gt power off Fa Four seconds can seem like a long time We ve made it this way to make absolutely certain that the Ninja can t be turned off accidentally 5 Ninja connections HDMI Connect camera to Ninja using HDMI cable LANC Remote Optionally control the Ninja using LANC remote control connected here use 2 5mm TRS 3 pin plug lt Share remote control with other devices loop thru by connecting them to the Audio second LANC connector Stereo Line In Stereo Line Out or Headphones HDMI The video input to the Ninja is HDMI This is a standard Audio There is a 3 5mm Stereo Line In socket for recording audio in full size connection but you may find that your camera or camcorder sync with incoming video Depending on your set up you may find that has another type A common variant is the Mini HDMI connector this gives you better results than the microphone on the camera Whichever version you have it is easy to find cables with the appropria
28. ocking Station may consume more power than is available from a single USB port We supply you with a USB to 5v Power Supply socket for this purpose Insert Master Caddy Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 15 9 Connecting and Editing con Importing Ninja footage into Final Cut Pro You can import Ninja footage into Final Cut Pro FCP in just a few You ll see the folders in the Ninja drive Select the folder containing the simple steps footage you want to import First connect the Ninja Docking Station to your Apple Mac using the Firewire 800 port USB 2 0 will also work Insert the Ninja Master Caddy containing the disk with your footage into the Docking Station and you will see the drive appear in your Finder window Start FCP and open your project or start a new one The screen will look like this Go to the File menu and select Import gt folder Clase Tab Clo e Othar Tata Close Project Civ Prajact Save All even Projec Restore Project Import Laud dips Your Scene Shot and Take folders now appear in the project window Share ox ready for use in your FCP project Export Match Lisi Send To Cinema Tools Telecine Log fateh Expert EDL Bach Capture FCP will show you a browse window Look for the Ninja drive and click on it Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 16 10 Software updates Updating ATOM OS Firmware Most modern electronic and digital systems are a
29. r its authorized distributor Upon acceptance of a warranty claim by ATOMOS where ATOMOS repairs or replaces the goods it will be responsible for reasonable shipping costs incurred in sending the goods to the Customer provided that customer is located in a country in which ATOMOS has an authorized distributor or repair centre or agent Warranty Exclusions This warranty applies only to defects in workmanship and does not cover defects caused by e A failure to comply with the then current operating instructions issued by ATOMOS e Neglect e Improper or negligent acts or omissions e Unauthorised repairs or attempted repairs e Tampering with or modification of the goods e Connection to incompatible equipment or power sources e Exposure to water or weather e Exposure to magnetic fields or corrosive liquids or substances EXCEPT AS STATED IN THIS WARRANTY ATOMOS IT S VENDORS AGENTS RESELLERS AND DISTRIBUTORS DISCLAIM IN THEIR ENTIRETY ALL OTHER WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE THE REMEDIES OUTLINED IN THIS WARRANTY ARE THE EXCLUSIVE REMEDY A CUSTOMER HAS ARISING FROM DEFECTIVE GOODS WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO THE WARRANTY ATOMOS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE GOODS WILL OPERATE IN A MANNER WHICH IS ERROR FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED THE GOODS ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE THE PRIMARY OR ONLY DATA STORAGE DEVICE FOR DATA CUSTOMERS ARE SOLELY RE
30. ress Mon To record the incoming signal press Rec To play back previously captured footage press Play NO INPUT No Input ProRes HQ Play READY TO RECORD 1080150 ProRes HQ Play 00 00 01 10 05 39 44 Before Recording Check that there is a valid signal by noting the input display and checking that the Record and Monitor icons are lit up Then press the Monitor to check the integrity of the source feed After this press the Record button and the recording will start Notice that the Record icon changes to a Stop icon when in record mode To end the recording press Stop RECORDING 1080150 ProRes HQ 00 00 15 19 06 02 33 MONITORING 00 01 00 17 The Ninja has a high quality video screen that adjusts to the scan frequency of the incoming signal for a smooth accurate display eoceerecwr reece eee eee eee eee reece eee eee eee eee eee eee ere seer ere eee eee ere eee eee o nocsono one e neo sre reer eee eee eee ee eee eer esreresoe eee eee wre eee eee eee eee es eereereee ree ere reece reese eee eee ee eeresereeoe reese Organising Material on the disk Ninja uses a simple familiar convention to organise your material Clips are stored under a hierarchy of Scene Shot and Take You can think of this as being like a folder structure Choose a scene number and a shot number and the Ninja will automatically increment each take The actual process of navigating through the organisational structure is s
31. signed to a high standard but there are some things you should be aware of to prolong the life of the unit and for your own safety Batteries and power supplies The batteries supplied with the Ninja are powerful professional devices designed to retain enough energy to supply the Ninja for hours You should avoid short circuiting the battery connections because this can cause a high current to flow which can damage the cells and even pose a fire hazard For example you should not carry batteries in a bag or pocket where they may contact other metal objects such as coins The power supply and battery charger included are intended for use with the Ninja and nothing else Keep the power supply plug and cable away from water and unplug from the mains electricity socket when not in use Disconnect power supplies before cleaning the Ninja or its components Using the Ninja safely Although the Ninja is very lightweight compared to all the devices it replaces it is still a solid object that could cause injury if misused e Always make sure that the Ninja is mounted securely and is unable to fall onto anyone nearby This is especially important when there are children present who might be tempted to pull on cables e Always ensure that cable runs to the Ninja are clearly visible and do not present a trip hazard e Do not place on uneven or unstable surfaces e Do not insert anything but Ninja Master Disk caddies in the Master Disk slot on
32. simple to operate while in use Ninja s touchscreen Ninja features a very high quality video touchscreen Most of us are now familiar with the idea of touchscreens but there is an important difference between Ninja s screen and those you might find on a smartphone Ninja s screen is pressure and touch sensitive It takes more than a glancing brush of a finger to trigger the screen For some applications like dragging and dropping this would be a disadvantage but for the Ninja it is an important feature because if the screen was too sensitive it would be easy to accidentally trigger Ninja operations potentially interrupting a recording for example With the Ninja screen you have to firmly push the screen for an instruction to register This gives a very positive feel to the device and confidence that commands won t be given in error Be definite and deliberate in your pressing on icons on the screen and the Ninja will be very responsive Remember this is not a capacitive touch device like many Smart Phones holding contact with the icon for a millisecond will ensure accurate and rapid response The Home Screen This is the screen you see whenever your are not in a sub menu or function and it is the first screen that the Ninja boots into when you turn it on There are four brightly coloured icons labelled Rec Play Mon and Menu We ll deal with these in turn Battery power remaining NINJA Current video input format
33. te You can switch between Analogue Audio Line In and HDMI as your audio connectors at each end sources in the user interface where you can also adjust the analogue LANC Remote You have the option of controlling the Ninja remotely AI MPUbIadaL using the LANC remote control protocol The Ninja has a LANC input and There is also a 3 5mm output that doubles as a Line Out or Headphone a LANC loop through connector to allow you to chain LANC controllable Out which has it s own independent level control in the user interface devices together Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 8 6 Other physical features Master Caddy Slot On the left hand side of the unit as you face the screen is a slot for Ninja Master Disk Caddies To insert a caddy gently push until it clicks into position Release and remove Master Caddy To eject it use the latch on the right hand side of the Ninja as you look at the screen pictured right The Master Caddy is hot swappable so you can do this at any Release time even while the unit is turned on But don t do it while latch recording or you will get a corrupted file that may be unplayable Fa Ninja Master Disk Caddies are held in place firmly Push the latch upwards and grip the protruding part of the Ninja Master Disk Caddy at the top and bottom pulling strongly but carefully You may want to practise this manoeuvre a few times until you are completely familiar with the process Screw moun
34. the side of the Ninja Do not touch the Ninja s screen with sharp metallic or abrasive objects The Ninja can become warm or hot with prolonged use Do not place it in contact with your lap or any part of your body where such warming could cause discomfort or injury e Do not expose to strong electrical or magnetic fields e Do not expose to or use near liquids rain or moisture e Do not dispose of the Ninja or its batteries in municipal waste and do not incinerate it or its batteries but follow local regulations for safe disposal Care of disk drives Spinning disks and SSDs are very sensitive to damage from static electricity Please observe all the usual precautions when handling them Please see the section Mechanical shock and vibration later in this manual for information about how to handle and care for your disk drives Small parts The Ninja carry case contains small parts that could be a choking hazard for small children Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 2 Warranty Conditions Notice Copyright O 2011 ATOMOS Global Pty Ltd referred to as ATOMOS All rights reserved All information in this document is subject to change without notice No part of the document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying or recording without the express written permission of ATOMOS A reference to ATOMOS includes its related entities subsidiaries and parent
35. ts The Ninja features standard tripod screw mounts on the top and bottom of the unit allowing you to configure your recording setup various ways Ya Screw mount top 00 00 00 00 13 01 42 4 14 Screw mount base Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 9 7 Using the Ninja Using the Ninja The Ninja is controlled via an intuitive touchscreen interface There are large obvious controls for Record Play Monitor and Menu as well as the following information e Current input format and status e Apple ProRes variant currently in use e Remaining battery power e Which of the two batteries is currently active e Headphone Line Out volume e Audio Input Level meters e Remaining Recording time on Disk e Timecode gt Fa Watch out for any items on the screen that are marked by a small blue arrow If you touch these items you will be taken to other options depending on context If you touch them sequentially you will cycle through related options take you out of lower level menus back to the main Fs A large blue arrow in the top right of the screen will control screen Input Codec used for recording The User Interface in detail Even though the Ninja is an extremely sophisticated and technically advanced device we have taken a minimalist approach to the interface We ve only included controls that you really need This is important in a device that has to be ready for use at all times and must therefore be
36. ually when trickle charging is complete and the batteries are at 100 charge all the lights will go out Always use battery slot 4J for the first battery This is effectively your primary battery and the Ninja will not start without it Battery slot No 2 is the secondary or back up battery and is not marked Once the Ninja has been started from battery slot No 1 it will operate on battery slot No 2 alone No 1 is only required for start up To insert the batteries gently slide them down into the slot and lock them into position To remove a battery push the latch to release it Each battery has its own latch which is located to the right of batter No 1 and to the left of batter No 2 as you look at the back of the Ninja Pull the latches towards the batteries to release them r Battery number 1 il Gently slide down into I battery slot s and lock into position r Push latch to release battery y Ninja batteries are held in place very tightly because they are on the outside of the device and there has to be no possibility whatsoever that they could work loose so you will have to be quite firm with the battery latches We suggests that you familiarise yourself with the force required to remove the batteries so that you can do this quickly in the field Make sure that you hold the top and the bottom of the battery when sliding it off to avoid dropping the battery when it is released from the main un
37. ve circuits modify translate or disassemble the Software and or the Atomos Ninja in whole or in part Any failure to comply with the above or any other terms and conditions contained herein will result in the automatic termination of this license and the reversion of the rights granted hereunder by ATOMOS ATOMOS reserves the right to terminate this license without prejudice to any additional recourse ATOMOS may have against you if you violate any of its terms and conditions Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 1 Introduction Your Ninja comes with a standard 1 year warranty on all parts and accessories You can upgarde to a 3 year warranty on the Main Ninja Unit alone exluding TFT LCD by registering your Ninja online at www atomos com ninja registration This will enable us to let you know about updates to the product and other important information surrounding your purchase Thank you for buying an Atomos Ninja your 10bit Production Weapon for HDMI equipped cameras It s going to transform the way you work with video Ninja preserves the pristine uncompressed video quality from your camera s sensor by encoding it into Apple ProRes directly Then it goes straight to the timeline of your NLE It s the fastest and best quality workflow possible today The reason that Ninja exists at all is because of the relentless march of technology and the way that this changes the economics of almost everything Most of all though it ch
38. ven if a recording has been interrupted by mechanical disruption to the disk drive see Recording and Monitoring Atomos Anti shock Technology for more information Taking into account most usage scenarios we think that mechanical disks will be suitable in the majority of cases Spinning disks are most sensitive when they are rotating It is obviously best to avoid dropping them but many disks now have a drop detector that will lock the most fragile mechanical parts in place and protect them from surprisingly hard knocks We recommend that if you want to experiment with this you do so with a drive that doesn t contain the day s shoot Backing up and archiving Remember that no storage medium including tape optical disks spinning disks and flash memory is completely immune from failure You should bear this in mind when deciding how to manage your recorded content At the very least you should consider the consequences for you and your business if your storage medium were to suffer from a sudden failure and you should back up your content accordingly Hard drives that you can use for archiving are becoming increasingly affordable You may find that it is completely feasible for your to keep your master Ninja disks on a shelf just like tapes and as a backup store copies on large hard drives RAID arrays or Network Attached Storage NAS Atomos Ninja User Manual V1 01 4 2 What you also need cont HDMI cables not inclu
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