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MillimeterAJA Ki Pro Review
Oct 27, 2009 12:00 PM, By Barry Braverman
A versatile diamond in the rough.
The AJA Ki Pro: simple and elegant.
Few products come to mind that have so shaken the tripods of shooters and our collective industry bones. One can think of the Sony DCR-VX1000 in 1995 that ushered in the DV revolution, the Panasonic AG-DVX100 in 2002 that brought 24p to the masses, and the Panasonic AG-HVX200 three years later that offered economical HD recording to solid-state media. These products were all game-changing in their own way, and now the AJA Ki Pro joins this elite group. Without a doubt, for many folks, the Ki Pro will be the ultimate convergence tool, merging the demands of production, postproduction, and distribution in a single low-cost box.
Still, the AJA Ki Pro is not without some rather significant foibles at this early stage in its development. These shortcomings, mostly mechanical in nature, however, do not change my overall opinion: The Ki Pro's versatility, ease of use, and simple workflow are compelling and reflective of a masterful design.
Phenomenon of 2009
The world's acceptance of the Ki Pro portable recorder has been remarkable with thousands of units ordered and already in the pipeline. What is it about the Ki Pro that has elicited such a positive response from shooters and producers?
In this case, the market is speaking loud and clear. Shooters are demanding a smooth, unfettered workflow without transcoding, opaque file structures, or convoluted workarounds that require third-party plug-ins. For users in education and low- to middle-market applications, the matter of recording directly to Apple Final Cut Pro-ready QuickTime files lies at the center of this impetus. The success of the JVC GY-HM100 and GY-HM700 camcorders attests to this single inescapable fact: Shooters and producers care more about a simple, straightforward workflow than the arcane subtleties of 4:2:2 vs. 4:2:0 color, intraframe vs. long-GOP compression, or recording to pricey, proprietary solid-state media.
Choices, choices, choices. Many features, including FireWire and RS-422 support, are still to be implemented as of the initial release of the Ki Pro.
The Ki Pro is the beneficiary of years of research and product development at AJA, especially with respect to the company's proficiency for scaling hardware. The conversion capabilities of the Ki Pro are extremely compelling, converting an HD-SDI or component analog signal to ProRes 422 720 or 1080 upon input or output with zero latency—a major consideration when shooting multicamera through a switcher.
By the way, Ki Pro's ProRes 422 support will expand soon to include ProRes LT and Proxy capabilities. This will be achieved via a firmware upgrade coming at the end of the year, according to the company.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.