ALEXA XR Module Workflows
Contents
1. ALEXA XR Module Workflows WHITE PAPER 3 July 2013 Codex Introduction Most of the big Hollywood features that were shot in ARRIRAW were recorded on Codex recorders The technology used by Codex its reliability smooth workflow and their reputation led us to engage in a close partnership to create a more powerful integrated recording module for the ALEXA The fruit of this collaboration is the ALEXA XR Module which for the first time allows uncompressed in camera ARRIRAW recording This not only makes for a smaller and lighter ARRIRAW camera package it also simplifies setup and operation and enables a faster more reliable and more versatile workflow on set This document provides an introduction to the workflows related to the ALEXA XR Module Changes This is a revision of the first ALEXA XR Module Workflows white papers that were published on March 6 and 27 The first revision contained changes to the Capture Drive Format Overview and some performance test results for the three example workflows This revision adds a paragraph about metadata in the camera setup and corrects some information for the single dock setup Table of Contents ntir odU TOM si a a A aAa E 2 Change Sinaran a a 2 TADIS OFCOMIENIS onmi a 2 TE AR ModE ea aa a aa aa a A E a aaa aa aia 3 THeXR Capture DEV 6 incising e Aa Aa 3 SxS Camera Adapter for SxS PRO Carrds ssccccccessseecceeseeeeeenseeeeeeeseeeseesseeseoeneeesonens 3 ARRIRAW T LINK2. Depending on the amount of footage per day the internal RAID storage provides enough space for a few shoot days worth of ARRIRAW footage This gives a production some buffer to confirm that the material is OK before the storage needs to be cleared bhie aAa ar et L ALEXA XT XR Capture Drive Dual Dock Mac Pro Available functions 7 Clone Capture Drives to transfer drives maintaining the VFS Checksum verification Generate files for review edit and post Clear the data from the recording media Optional Features Executive Dailies Codex Storage option to keep footage in the VFS Codex Offloader option for verified copies to external drives or LTFS tape Edit Performance Test We ran speed tests in Mac OS X 10 6 8 on a Mac Pro 2x 2 26 GHz Quad Core Intel Xeon with 14 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM Mac and Dual Dock were connected with the ATTO Express SAS H680 interface card The files were written on a SAN over a Fibre Channel connection with a reported write speed of about 360 MB s Black Magic Design Disk Speed Test We timed each transfer using a simple copy command without verification e A full XR Capture Drive containing ARRIRAW footage 455 GB took about 40 minutes to transfer The ARI files were generated at approx 190 MB s e A full XR Capture Drive containing ProRes footage 229 GB took about 11 minutes to transfer The QuickTime files was transferred at approx 360 MB s A
3. for example readily processed DPX files MXF DNxHD and or QuickTime ProRes proxies next to the original ARI files on the Codex volume Except for the recorded data on the drive none of these additional files actually exist It s only when these files are requested that they are generated on demand and on the fly Hence the term virtual ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 5 of 11 The file formats file naming and directory structure that will be presented by the VFS are fully configurable through the Codex Platform software This makes the VFS a highly flexible tool for providing exactly the material you require when you want it without redundant processing and storage overhead on your drives SETUP codex Configuration Backup and Dailies felAnis fe ASC CDL xml feirhis fe ves CodexShot xml feVir is fe Metadata txt feVirj is fe a oz The default VFS configuration for the output of only ARRIRAW files uses the following file path lt Extension gt lt Roll gt lt Shot gt lt Shot gt lt TC Frames gt lt Extension gt 3 O i 2 Codex VFS x 1 of 86 selected Na o o E o A Size Kind v ari Folder v B A001R33F Folder gt A001C001_130326_R33F Folder gt A001C002_130326_R33F Folder gt 9 A001C003_130326_R33F Folder A001C004_130326_R33F Folder v A001C005_130326_R33F Folder A001C005_130326_R33F 1886772 ari 7MB _ ARRIR Image A001C005_130326_R
4. Drive Single Dock MacBook Pro Available functions Copy Capture Drives to external storage Checksum verification Generate ARI files for post production Clear the data from the recording media Optional features Codex full VFS license to enable VFS configuration Executive Dailies Codex Offloader option for verified copies to external drives Resolve Performance Test We ran speed tests in Mac OS X 10 8 2 on a Retina MacBook Pro 2 3 GHz Intel i7 with 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM The Mac was connected via USB 3 0 to a Codex Single Dock The files were written to a 6TB Western Digital My Book Thunderbolt Duo Disk with a reported write speed of about 230 MB s Black Magic Design Disk Speed Test We timed each transfer using a simple copy command without verification e A full XR Capture Drive containing ARRIRAW footage 455 GB took about 49 minutes to transfer The ARI files were generated at approx 160 MB s e A full XR Capture Drive containing ProRes footage 229 GB took about 26 minutes to transfer The QuickTime files was transferred at approx 150 MB s Important Note This setup will provide basic access to the ARRIRAW files and may be sufficient for small scale projects with a predictable amount of footage However the hardware was not designed for processing large amounts of data Therefore we do not recommend using a lightweight setup like this for a deliverables workflow on a longer production that shoo
5. Outpt cies te a a aa e ia a aa e 3 Recording Format OVErVIEW crenn a A O ee cachs 4 EA EET E o E E E E 5 PROGUCHION Metadata srian a a damien a aie eee 5 MedIS ACCESS Dirien aaa aa a A a a AS a NEE E eed aen toe 5 Uncompressed ARRIRAW Recording cccesccccsececceeceececeeessuseeceuseecseeeessaneessaeses 5 The Codex Virtual FIE System VES Jurie a a a aN 5 The Codex Plallorm nsere e decries te wae Poececuationctewunct las oaceesdossacdoienoseecostuted 7 Compressed ProRes or DNXHD Recording ccccseeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeaeeeeeesnees 7 Building your ARRIRAW Deliverables Workflow ccccsccssseeseseeeeseeeeseeeeneeeeneeeneeeenes 7 SINGle DOCK SetUDiasi dcet pai a dont aaiel eta atiola dashes hae tndiaeanneaeste 8 Dial DOCK SETUD anaa a eso Sa aoe sade tometer 9 Codex VAUIN escent a ieee Ged edu cetcades 10 Accessing UDF Volumes XR Capture Drives and SxS PRO cards 06 11 Scalig your WOrklOW wessesscecsczsreccavessacecessuccesesatccecastacetceniiacaascenbesesanncienseateecstetecessaareuees 11 More Informatio M ceicssiel ew ciecasrcctayce ties a a a a a anaa 11 ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 2 of 11 The XR Module All ALEXA XT cameras come with the XR Module which was co developed with Codex The XR Module is a camera side panel that replaces the popular SxS Module and thereby completes the selection of formats that are available for in camera recording Also being available as an
6. options for managing the camera footage A basic light weight setup with a MacBook Pro and a Single Dock will get you started on small scale projects To get the performance and dependability that is needed to endure larger productions you should replace the MacBook with a Mac Pro and go for the Codex Dual Dock If you can t bring your rigged DIT Magliner and need to go with a more compact and rugged yet high performance setup you should consider the Codex Vault On a feature film with different camera units there could be a combination of a Mac Pro amp Dual Dock for studio work and a Vault for location shooting or multiple Vaults Although some consistency in workflows is important every production is different so it is difficult to present you with the one workflow to rule them all The following pages therefore just show some basic examples of workflow setups that you could put together with the available Codex hardware This should give you an idea how the data travels from location to editorial or to the screening room and how the data can be backed up or archived For each example we also state some speed test results Please note that these results highlight only one parameter which by itself does not represent the overall performance of a particular setup in real life conditions Obviously there is a difference between copying one drive in a single test and running the entire set of data management tasks for ten drives on a d
7. upgrade for all classic ALEXA cameras the XR Module is another manifestation of the modular upgradeability that ARRI built into the ALEXA design from the very beginning The XR Module allows in camera ARRIRAW ProRes and DNxHD recording up to 120 fps onto the exceptionally fast XR Capture Drives Removing the need for the external recorder makes shooting ARRIRAW easier and faster than ever before The camera package becomes more compact solid and lighter There are no more cables to worry about and less configuration that needs to be done ProRes and DNxHD recording on XR Capture Drives provides significantly longer recording times while it is also possible to continue using SxS PRO cards in the XR Module with an SxS adapter from ARRI The XR Capture Drive Capturing 120 fps of uncompressed ARRIRAW data requires a throughput of almost 850 MB per second Clearly this calls for something much faster than SxS PRO cards The XR Capture Drives by Codex are equipped with highly reliable solid state drive technology in a small and rugged aluminum housing They share the same mechanical interface as the Codex Onboard S Capture Drives 60 fps max and Transfer Drives 2x capacity not for recording and can be accessed using the standard Codex docking stations As with SxS PRO cards you can record different frame rates codecs resolutions or aspect ratios on the same Capture Drive The ALEXA formats the drives with different file systems for
8. 2 HQ 2K 0 75 40 14 min 8 min 0 75 48 28 min 14 min 16 9 ProRes 422 HQ 2K 0 75 60 19 min 7 min 0 75 60 38 min 15 min 16 9 ProRes 422 HQ HD 0 75 60 21 min 8 min 0 75 120 43 min 8 min 4 3 ProRes 422 2K 0 75 48 21 min 10 min 0 75 48 43 min 21 min 16 9 ProRes 422 2K 0 75 60 28 min 11 min 0 75 60 57 min 11 min 16 9 ProRes 422 HD 0 75 60 32 min 13 min 0 75 120 65 min 13 min 4 3 ProRes 422 LT 2K 0 75 48 30 min 15 min 0 75 48 61 min 31 min 16 9 ProRes 422 LT 2K 0 75 60 41 min 16 min 0 75 60 82 min 16 min 16 9 ProRes 422 LT HD 0 75 60 46 min 18 min 0 75 120 93 min 18 min 4 3 ProRes 422 Proxy 2K 0 75 48 68 min 34 min 0 75 48 139 min 69 min 16 9 ProRes 422 Proxy 2K 0 75 60 92 min 36 min 0 75 60 186 min 36 min 16 9 ProRes 422 Proxy HD 0 75 60 104 min 41 min 0 75 120 211 min 41 min 16 9 DNxHD 444 0 75 60 12 min 5 min 0 75 60 24 min 9 min 16 9 DNxHD 175x 185x 220x 0 75 60 24 min 9 min 0 75 120 48 min 9 min 16 9 DNxHD 115 120 145 0 75 60 36 min 14 min 0 75 120 72 min 14 min The fps range is divided into regular speed 0 75 60 fps and high speed 60 120 fps mode Switching modes requires a reboot ProRes is a variable bit rate codec The actual file size data rate and resulting storage requirements vary with the image content DNxHD recording is temporarily unavailable on cameras with an XR Module DNxHD 4
9. 33F 1886773 ari 7 MB ARRIR Image A001C005_130326_R33F 1886774 ari 7MB _ ARRIR Image A001C005_130326_R33F 1886775 ari 7MB _ ARRIR Image A001C005_130326_R33F 1886776 ari 7MB ARRIR Image A001C005_130326_R33F 1886777 ari 7MB _ ARRIR Image g A001C005_130326_R33F 1886778 ari 7MB _ ARRIR Image g A001C005_130326_R33F 1886779 ari 7MB _ ARRIR Image g A001C005_130326_R33F 1886780 ari 7MB _ ARRIR Image i A001C005 130326 R33F 1886781 ari 7 MB ARRIR Image amp Codex VFS ari A001R33F A001C005_130326_R33F ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 6 of 11 The Codex Platform You could call it Codex s universal remote control The Codex Platform software is used to operate recorders or their docks manage recorded footage and metadata select add or edit the VFS configuration and to manage capture drives and mass storage A003C005_130118_R66E Virtual File Setup Take 99 cement A Filename e ri s e Width 1920 LUT 2x LUTS Compression ProRes 422 ikina Ahok Audio Al Sound Rot Burnin 2 x templates Timecode 00 192117 Duradon 00 00 16 18 Created 14 jan 13 175535 Awx Timecode 00 00 00 09 Pinel Aspect Square Rolt A00 JAGSE Desktop 1 Awdio NONE Foemat 74301 1620p 56 00 Lom 12 tt Bayer RGB Template etaut Codex offers a number of documents ranging from quick overviews to detailed operation instructions Three documents that will give you a good overv
10. 44 is planned for a future software update ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 4 of 11 Camera Setup Without an external device to mount and no extra cables to run rigging the camera for an ARRIRAW shoot takes no longer than setting up the recording for SxS cards It is that simple With an integrated XR module all settings need to be configured only once and some settings are completely gone as they were automated or became redundant As a matter of fact all you need to do is set the internal recording mode to ARRIRAW load an XR Capture Drive and be ready to shoot Of course you also need to set up time code ASA rating white balance and so on but that also goes for recording ProRes Changing frame rates or switching between 16 9 and 4 3 however does not require a trip into the recorder s menus which is a great time saver ARRIRAW recording is configured under Quick format Capture Drive gt MENU gt RECORDING gt INTERNAL which was named SxS Cards previous to SUP 8 0 The menu controls if the camera records uncompressed ARRIRAW or a compressed format like ProRes later also DNxHD on the XR module ProRes or DNxHD files can be recorded on Capture Drives or SxS PRO cards with an SxS adapter Production Metadata The camera offers a small set of general production metadata This data is usually needed or at least very helpful when the recorded footage will be organized by the editors Rather
11. ARRIRAW recording and compressed recording Therefore compressed ProRes or DNxHD clips and uncompressed ARRIRAW footage cannot be recorded on the same drive SxS Camera Adapter for SxS PRO Cards With the optional SxS Adapter it is also possible to keep using SxS PRO cards for ProRes and DNxHD recording in the modes that were available from the SxS module except for simultaneous output to two cards dual recording ARRIRAW T Link Output ALEXA XT cameras and cameras that are updated with an XR Module will no longer output ARRIRAW via T Link The Codex Platform can generate other file formats directly from the ARRIRAW data on a Capture Drive see Media Access below Parallel recording of an editing proxy in addition to ARRIRAW data therefore has become redundant ALEXA cameras with an SxS Module continue to offer T Link output DNxHD recording is temporarily unavailable on cameras with an XR Module ALEXA XT or upgrades from classic models Cameras with an SxS Module and cameras with an XR Module are running on two different software branches Classic cameras running ALEXA SUP 7 0 2 therefore are not affected ARRI has not validated the Codex Onboard S Capture Drives for use in ALEXA XR upgraded or ALEXA XT cameras but the OBS Capture Drives have been tested by Codex To record and play back footage in 4 3 or 16 9 aspect ratio the camera needs to be switched to the according sensor mode ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Pag
12. LEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 9 of 11 Codex Vault The Codex Vault is a modular location based media management system which works as a standalone unit with an easy to use touchscreen interface The base unit Vault S Process offers media ports for Codex Capture Drives and Transfer Drives SxS cards 1 8 and 2 5 SSD drives and depending on configuration other camera media External drives can be connected via SAS eSATA and USB 3 0 The Vault is available directly from Codex The Vault can be used to clone the contents from a Datapack or Capture Drive to one or more Codex Transfer Drives or an internal storage With an optional dual LTO 5 module it is also possible to create incremental archives of the camera footage directly on location The Vault an be used to clone Codex Capture Drives to one or more Transfer Drives or an optional RAID protected internal storage Cloning creates a verified identical copy of a Capture Drive and maintains the VFS with all options The Vault can generate a wide range of deliverable formats and even allows synching audio that was brought in from an external sound recorder You can expand the Vault with a storage option to get 7 TB of internal RAID protected storage and an archive option to get two LTO5 drives for automated offloading to LTO tape Linear Tape File System The storage option should provide enough space for a few shoot days worth of ARRIRAW footage of cours
13. MB 140 Mbits 65 GB h 0 63MB 125 Mbits 57 GB h 0 66MB 130 Mbits 63 GB h 0 49MB 100 Mbits 45 GB h 0 44MB 90 Mbit s 40 GB h 0 29MB 60 Mbit s 27 GB h 0 22MB 45 Mbit s 20 GB h 0 19MB 40 Mbit s 18 GB h 1 83MB 350 Mbit s 159 GB h 0 91 MB 175 Mbits 79 GB h 0 60MB 115 Mbits 52 GB h 35 min 47 min 70 min 93 min 107 min 105 min 140 min 160 min 158 min 211 min 241 min 228 min 305 min 347 min 513 min 687 min 780 min 85 min 170 min 255 min 17 min 9 min 35 min 37 min 21 min 52 min 56 min 32 min 31 min 42 min 48 min 45 min 61 min 69 min 102 min 137 min 156 min 34 min 34 min 51 min The fps range is divided into regular speed 0 75 60 fps and high speed 60 120 fps mode Switching modes requires a reboot ProRes is a variable bit rate codec The actual file size data rate and resulting storage requirements vary with the image content DNxHD recording is temporarily unavailable on cameras with an XR Module DNxHD 444 is planned for a future software update 32 GB SxS PRO Recording Time 64 GB SxS PRO Recording Time Recording Time Recording fps Range Time fps Range 4 3 ARRIRAW 2 8K 16 9 ARRIRAW 2 8K PZ jets max fps 24 fps max fps 4 3 ProRes 4444 2K 0 75 30 9 min 7 min 0 75 48 19 min 9 min 16 9 ProRes 4444 2K 0 75 40 12 min 7 min 0 75 60 25 min 10 min 16 9 ProRes 4444 HD 0 75 40 14 min 8 min 0 75 60 29 min 11 min 4 3 ProRes 42
14. aily basis Using the Vault or a setup with a Dual Dock therefore delivers much more than just faster transfer speed It s also the number of processes that can be run simultaneously that decides which system outruns the others over a long distance The reason for the reduced storage space is that currently only one SSDs inside the XR Capture Drive is utilized for recording ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 7 of 11 Single Dock Setup The Single Dock USB3 accepts one XR Capture Drive Codex Capture Drive or Transfer Drive at a time It connects to a computer via USB 3 0 and comes with the basic version of the Codex Platform software Mac only A license for full VFS configuration options is available directly from Codex The Single Dock USB3 can be ordered from ARRI or Codex A MacBook Pro with USB 3 0 and Thunderbolt a Single Dock and RAID protected storage could be a light weight setup for backing up ARRIRAW footage to e g a RAID and shuttle disks With the basic Codex Platform software the VFS is limited to output ARI files and Codex shot lists in a fixed file structure Providing debayered image formats audio or for example CDL data requires an upgrade to the full version of the software We do recommend however that deliverables will be created on another machine as just the backing up of footage will consume a considerable amount of time with this setup Hard Drive i j ALEXA XT XR Capture
15. e depending on the amount of footage per day This gives a production some buffer to confirm that the material is OK before the internal storage needs to be cleared LTO 5 ld ALEXA XT XR Capture Drive CODEX Vault Functions Copy Capture Drives to internal storage 7 Clone Capture Drives to transfer drives maintaining the VFS Checksum verification Generate files for review edit and post Clear the data from the recording media Product detailed production reports Optional Features Vault S Storage option to keep footage in VFS temporarily Executive Dailies Vault S Archive for automated verified archiving to LTFS tape Edit Performance Test We ran a speed test on our Codex Vault running UI version 2012 r2 2900 A full XR Capture Drive containing ARRIRAW footage 455 GB was cloned to the internal storage in 11 minutes Generating ARI files on an attached SAS RAID took about 25 minutes ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 10 of 11 About the Vault The Vault is designed to simplify and standardize workflows It guides the operator through all necessary media management tasks with a simple and intuitive user interface The configuration of these tasks is done by an expert user admin before a Vault is sent off to a production This admin could be a workflow supervisor who knows which deliverables will be required or a rental technician who has been briefed accordingly As an example
16. e 3 of 11 Recording Format Overview Aspect Ratio fps Range Output Pixels XR Capture Drive File Size per Data Rate Data Volume Rec Time Rec Time 24fps max fps ARRIRAW 2 8K ARRIRAW 2 8K ProRes 4444 2K ProRes 4444 2K ProRes 4444 HD ProRes 422 HQ 2K ProRes 422 HQ 2K ProRes 422 HQ HD ProRes 422 2K ProRes 422 2K ProRes 422 HD ProRes 422 LT 2K ProRes 422 LT 2K ProRes 422 LT HD ProRes 422 Proxy 2K ProRes 422 Proxy 2K ProRes 422 Proxy HD DNxHD 444 DNxHD 175x 185x 220x DNxHD 115 120 145 4 3 16 9 4 3 16 9 16 9 4 3 16 9 16 9 4 3 16 9 16 9 4 3 16 9 16 9 4 3 16 9 16 9 16 9 16 9 16 9 0 75 48 0 75 120 0 75 48 0 75 60 0 75 60 0 75 48 0 75 60 0 75 120 0 75 48 0 75 60 0 75 120 0 75 48 0 75 60 0 75 120 0 75 48 0 75 60 0 75 120 0 75 60 0 75 120 0 75 120 2880 x 2160 2880 x 1620 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1152 1920 x 1080 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1152 1920 x 1080 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1152 1920 x 1080 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1152 1920 x 1080 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1152 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080 Frame 24fps 24fps 9 33MB 1 79 Gbit s 806 GB h 7 00MB 1 34 Gbit s 605 GB h 2 19MB 425 Mbits 195 GB h 1 66MB 320 Mbits 146 GB h 1 44MB 280 Mbit s 128 GB h 1 44MB 280 Mbit s 130 GB h 1 09MB 210 Mbits 98 GB h 0 95MB 185 Mbits 85 GB h 0 96 MB 190 Mbits 87 GB h 0 72
17. ftware and VFS using e g the Single Dock for XR Capture Drives or standard ExpressCard 34 card readers for SxS PRO cards such as the Sonnet Qio E3 eSATA reader the Sonnet Echo Pro ExpressCard 34 Thunderbolt adapter or a built in ExpressCard 34 reader These readers can be found in several PC notebooks and some of the older 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pro models QuickTime ProRes or MXF DNxHD clips therefore are accessible directly from a Windows machine a Linux machine or a Mac whereas ARRIRAW files need to be accessed through the Codex VFS which is only available on a Mac Scaling your Workflow To overcome a situation where you will be faced with more footage than a setup can handle the obvious solution is to add a second setup Sometimes it may be more beneficial to combine setups including a Single Dock and a Dual Dock or a Dual Dock and a Vault and to use the different feature sets to distribute the workload Sometimes not even related to the amount of footage higher efficiency may be gained by splitting tasks between location and post production One example would be creating multiple deliverables for editorial dailies projection streaming on the web iPad etc which can be done more efficiently using a dedicated dailies tool Archiving to LTO tape also does not necessarily need to happen on location especially if postproduction is close by and possibly connected over e g 10 Gig Ethernet More Information For more informa
18. iew of the basic software functions are the Main Tab Guide the Storage Tab Guide and the VFS Virtual File System Guide This and more information is available at http www codexdigital com support media stations Once you understand the main concept you can proceed with other in depth guides covering the whole setup To see what the Codex file workflow looks like in an ARRIRAW production you should read Processing ARRIRAW with the Codex Transfer Station Compressed ProRes or DNxHD Recording When an ALEXA is set to record ProRes 2K HD or DNxHD an XR drive is initialized as a UDF volume which offers 229 GB of storage space This equals over 100 minutes of 16 9 ProRes 4444 in 2K or three hours of ProRes 422 HQ at 24 fps Using the UDF file system on XR Capture Drives as well as on SxS PRO cards maintains compatibility to the established ALEXA ProRes DNxHD workflows Thus little to no time will be required to adapt existing workflows to the XR Capture Drives As with SxS PRO cards an XR Capture Drive containing ProRes 2K HD or DNxHD clips can be accessed directly without the need for but also without the benefits of the VFS The file names and directory structure created on the drives or cards are the same for old SxS Module and the new XR Module Building your ARRIRAW Deliverables Workflow Whether you are on a production with a small budget or on a big feature film recording ARRIRAW to the XR Capture Drives opens up a number of
19. than making the data wrangler add this shoot you can copy the info from one camera to another with a user setup on an SD card under User Info 2 MENU gt User setups gt Save Load current setup information for every take when the footage is transferred Prod Company gt from the capture drive the camera can automatically do that Director gt for him once the meta data has been entered Cinematographer S The most important information is Camera Operator MENU gt Project gt Camera index l MENU gt Project gt Production info gt Production Location 7 MENU gt System gt System time date Scene gt Entering all production info can be somewhat time Take gt consuming When more than one ALEXA is used for the User Info 1 2 gt Media Access Depending on the recording mode of the XR Module uncompressed ARRIRAW or compressed ProRes DNxHD a capture drive is formatted with different file systems Uncompressed ARRIRAW Recording When the XR Module is set to uncompressed ARRIRAW recording an XR Capture Drive is initialized as a Codex volume which offers 455 GB of storage space This allows for 47 minutes of 16 9 ARRIRAW recording at 24fps or 9 minutes of ARRIRAW at 12Ofps The Codex Virtual File System VFS When a Capture Drive with ARRIRAW footage is loaded on a computer it shows up like a regular external drive Operating underneath however is the Codex Virtual File System VFS The VFS can present
20. the configuration of the Vault s Generate task controls which file formats will be created which image dimensions text overlays burn ins and output color space the files will have how they will be named and which directory structure they will be put in During production the operator simply needs to follow the pre configured standardized workflow All complexity that results from the versatility of file based workflows is taken off his her mind by the expert user s configuration Once a Vault is prepped it therefore can be operated by anyone who is thorough about his her work Unless the operator is handed administrative access it is not possible to deviate from the pre defined workflow This makes the entire process very safe which typically contains the following steps e Unload a Capture Drive from the camera and replace it with an empty drive e Take the camera footage to the Vault and run all media management tasks e Start over e Archive the day s footage e g to LTO tape e Create a daily report sheet e Wait for OK from post production before clearing footage from the internal storage This is probably as close as we can get back to the original job of the 2 AC or clapper loader Accessing UDF Volumes XR Capture Drives and SxS PRO cards XR Capture Drives or SxS PRO cards containing ProRes or DNxHD footage are formatted using the UDF file system They can be accessed without going through the Codex Platform so
21. tion about the ARRI ALEXA please visit http www arri com alexa For more information about Codex products and workflows please visit http www codexdigital com If you have comments or questions about this document please send us an email to digitalworkflow arri de Please note that all data is subject to change without notice ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 11 of 11
22. ts several hours of footage per day ALEXA XR Module Workflows White Paper Page 8 of 11 Dual Dock Setup The Dual Dock offers two slots for loading XR Capture Drives Codex Capture Drives or Transfer Drives The dock needs to be connected to a Mac Pro workstation using Serial Attached SCSI SAS for the data channel and USB 2 0 for control The Dual Dock ships with the basic version of the Codex Platform software Once hardware and software Ya are installed you can obtain a free upgrade to the full version of the Codex software The Dual Dock is available from ARRI or Codex A Mac Pro with an internal RAID and a Dual Dock can be used to transfer ARI files to the internal storage or to clone Capture Drives from one slot to Transfer Drives in the other Cloning creates a verified identical copy of a Capture Drive which maintains the VFS with all options The VFS can generate deliverables on shuttle disks or if the Mac is connected to post e g via 10 Gig Ethernet it can act as a file server for direct footage access through a network share Codex offers a storage option that allows you to turn the internal RAID of the Mac into a 6TB Codex volume Capture drives then can be cloned to the internal RAID If the Mac is used as a file server this can save disk space as the VFS can generate all files on demand Adding the Codex Offloader option further enables verified copies of the VFS on connected external disks or LTO tapes for archiving
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